Shoot one

Shoot One

Plans for shoot:   For this shoot i plan to take images of neon arcade signs and edit them in a way that exaggerates the bold colours. 

Research influence,

Sharon Blance~ Blance is a Canadian photographer, but it based in Melbourne Australia , typically she creates human centred photography for brands and businesses, her neon signs series depicts the beauty of neon signs adjacent to unlit buildings and darkened skies. The visual contrast of these eye-catching designs offer a stunning and peaceful tribute to the noble gas. Blance has always loved neon, and wanted to capture the last of these iconic coloured glowing signs before Hong Kong completely gives way to the ​​LED age, the gas-filled glass icons illuminate the night in electric red, green and blue. Hong Kong’s neon age reached its peak in the 1960s-80s, but now that age is dimming as LED lighting becomes cheaper and easier to maintain. Tighter building regulations means the Buildings Department is removing hundreds of signs each year for failure to meet code. Her Neon Signs project really accentuates the beauty of signs with the bold and bright light of neon lighting.

Contact sheet,

Image bank (containing 5 images),

My Best images (target 4 - 6), Images that require improvement.,

AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

My idea for recording this shoot was to  take images of neon arcade signs and edit them in a way that exaggerates the bold colours. 

      With reference to my best images, I feel that although I could not create photographs exactly like my image bank photos, and Sarah Blance's work, I did create a set that was in the style of the work i portrayed in my image bank and with the use of my artist research i further edited my work  . I am happy with the overall outcome of my images and feel that they all show the contrast of light and dark within an image as well as showcasing the bold colours of the neon signs. i decided to edit my images to make them sharper and isolate them from the background  in order to eventually reflect my artist influences work on the bold colours.

With regards to some of the images that did not come out as I expected, I struggled to adapt my  positioning the get the light right, i also struggled to take my actual images as i had to travel to southend and due to it being a busy day at the seafront, i had to time my images perfectly in order to avoid tourists, as well as the signs being almost animated and constantly flashing on and off it was hard to capture this shoot .

AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

Shutter speed: 1/200 second
Aperture: f/10
ISO 100, flash fired for some images in order to get the reflective components of the signs to standout.

AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

The artist research was very useful during these shoots as I had some inspiration on how to tackle the more surreal element of photography , as well as photographing the subjects and their intricate details. My research of  Sharon Blance's work helped me to focus on the colours of the signs in my images. I found this helpful because i could easily create this within my outside location and within Adobe Photoshop.

The research on colour photography and Blance's work was helpful to this study and I feel that I shot some good photos that had enough contrast between the colours and saturation to bring out the boldest colours within my images.

AO4: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements. 

Progression: you must refer to what you will do next to improve on either the shoot you have done or how you will develop your project in the next shoot.   

For my next shoot i will develop my work more by incorporating outdoor signs instead of indoor signs.