Unit 57: Photography and Photographic PractiseProject Proposal

(P2, P3, M2, M3, D2, D3)

Candidate name: Emily Aldred

Theme: Architectural Exploration of Salford Quays

Predicted final outcome

I will go to Salford Quays to do my landscape photo-shoot. I will hope to produce 50 high quality images of the area and of other areas near the quays such as Manchester. At Salford Quays, one of my main focuses will be the water as it surrounds most of the Quays, also Media City as it is a big part of the Quays. Out of these 50 images, I will then choose my best 10 and place them into Adobe Photoshop to edit. My images should appear to be a professional level as my goal is to make them look like they are images used for a promotional shoot for Salford Quays

Reasons for selection of theme (including inspiration from the work of others)

Salford Quays is a great place for landscape photography as it has so many focus points, such as the Lowry, the War museum, Media City, the bridges and the water. I would like each of these to be the focus point in at least 2 images each as they are so interesting to photograph.For my inspiration, I found 3 landscape photographers and will use their work as inspiration for my own shoot. The first photographer I found is called James Maher. Maher spent many years assisting commercial photographers as well as attending New York school of Visual Arts. His work is mainly around New York at night, he also uses long exposure to capture it all, then edits in black and white. Examples of his work:

The second photographer I looked at was called Alfred Stieglitz. Alfred Stieglitz was born in 1864 as was one of America’s most famous photographers. Stieglitz is also known for the introduction of New York Art galleries that he ran in the early 20th century, where he introduced many avant-garde European artists to America. Examples of his work:

The third photographer I looked at was called Thomas Merek. He is a German born photographer and focuses mainly on editing his image in black and white or dark sepia tones. A lot of Marek’s work is based on reflections of landscape and or involve the use of water. Examples of his work:

The photo imaging equipment and medium that will be used and why

With the cameras, I would either use the Nikon D3100 which has better colour depth and a higher quality of image compared to the other option of camera, the Canon 7D, which has a faster shutter speed and a larger viewfinder. Both cameras will do a great job for landscape images, but one will do better than the other depending on the technique used,

Techniques that will be used and how they will help convey the visual message

Some of the techniques I would like to use would include a long exposure of the shutter speed during a night time visit, due to the lights all being lit up which would highlight the area in a different way than during the day. I would also use depth of field quite wisely by only focusing certain parts such as the main feature in sharp focus or have the main feature blurred so the background is more noticeable. I would also use the 3X3 grid on all my images so I know the focus point of the picture is the main point and that is portrayed to the audience.

Location of shoot: Salford Quays

At Salford quays, I would like to shoot from the media city angle, to be facing the Lowry and the war museum, to shoot from the war museum angle to get wide shots of Media City and the bridges. I would also like to get close up shots of the Media City buildings as they are mainly huge glass panels which allow you to see detail from inside the building. In the above screen shots, I have circled the areas I would like to visit during the trip, I would also like to visit Salford Quays at night as well as all the lights of the buildings would be a great focus point.

Risk and health and safety considerations

I will complete a risk assessment of the factors of the risks which could be dangerous or non-threating.