RESEARCH: Future Employment & Current Job Opportunities

I plan to do my PGCE qualification next year at Edge Hill University, and to continue with that I need to obtain at 2:2 classification in my BA degree. I am working really hard with my modules so that I can achieve this and move forwards with my passion for teaching. In the meantime, I have been working on my CV and cover letters for teaching jobs, as well as building a varied portfolio and knowledge on all aspects of photography, especially studio lighting, product photography and landscapes. My work this year has seen me focus on the technical side of landscapes and astro photography. Whilst I have no actually taken any photographs, I have shadowed successful landscape photographers and learnt technical skills that I can bring into the classroom, in the event of a student needing support and guidance within that subject. 

I have also been buying a lot more photography books, the most recent being 'FRONTLINES' by Sean Smith, which is a book documenting his photographic career out in Iraq. It is not my usual interest, but I understand that my career into teaching will involve me engaging with students with different interests, and broadening my knowledge in all the subject areas can only aid me in finding a job. I took three books to my interview; 'EXPOSURES' by Jane Bown, a Vivian Maier book and a Cecil Beaton book. The teachers at the interview were really impressed with my passion for physical photography books and how I would use these in lessons rather than getting students to engage with websites and articles on the photographers. Therefore, in the future, I plan to buy one photography book a month on a different subject, so that my students have access to books the college may not.

I went onto Indeed.com to search for current openings within the FE sector that related to my subject specialism. Upon looking on here, there are not a lot of opportunities for photography teachers within my area, on a permanent, full time basis. Most of these opportunities require you also to be able to teach GCSE as well as A Level, which I would have to train for as well. Therefore, I am considering being trained in a subject specialism of art and design, to broaden my talent, and therefore, broaden my job search base.

Upon re-searching for art and design jobs, in future education, a few jobs came up that fitted my criteria and were in my local location. I understand that if I want to pursue a career in teaching, I may have to travel some miles to work, which is fine. However, most jobs that are available currently seem to be down south, in London and Essex, which is out of my reach. Hopefully, my course will give me more insight into how I can obtain a job, and career paths I can take into education.

PDP Development - Task 3 - Beauty Shoot

I looked at my portfolio and realised I did not have beauty shots. I decided to contact an agency and get in contact with a model to take some beauty shots to benefit both of our portfolios. I also work with one of my best friends Kelly, and a model I have used recently, Brittany. We all worked well together as a team, and managed to get two pink themed looks done on Emma, and a classic red lip done on Brittany, with a creative purple smokey brow on Kelly. This shoot real,y helped my Photoshop skills, as I gained the ability to use the clone stamp to airbrush skin, but keep texture.

PDP Development - Task 3 - Styled Shoot

I decided to do a styled shoot last week with a model I met on Facebook called Shazia Parveen, and an amazing make up artist from my University called Steph Brennan. We experimented with sports luxe and dressing up different styles of fashion with a pair of Topshop culottes. This really sparked my interest in fashion photography again, and I felt that I learnt a lot more about lighting a white background. I used a large soft box to the right of the studio that lit the model and the background, apart from causing a shadow to the left of the model. I then softened this using another light to the left with a snoot on it. We planned to shoot again in a couple of weeks, but I plan to experiment with colour and using gels.

PDP Development 3: MMU Lookbook

I was asked by some fashion promotion students from MMU to help them with their fashion look book for their final year project, upon recommendation from UCLan students whom I helped last year. They hired a studio called We Are Kin in Northern Quarter, and I just had to take photographs. Their theme was based around the gypsy skirt, and they were styling it using modern day clothing in an attempt to bring it back. 

There have been many lessons learnt from this shoot, one being to always check with the studio that they support your camera with the equipment they have. They had Bowen's flash heads, but they adaptor to trigger the lights from your camera only worked with Nikon cameras and higher end Canons. Therefore, I had to use my on camera flash to trigger the lights, which left a harsh shadow round the right hand side of the model and made using the lights and editing the final images. I had to make the best of a bad situation, and although the images did not come out brilliantly, and I shall not be using them for my portfolio, I have now ordered a trigger so that this situation does not happen again.

PDP Development - Volunteering

I recently went to an interview for Bolton Lads and Girls club, and have been initially accepted as a arts and crafts volunteer, which may open up more opportunities as I progress through the club. I will be working with the junior and senior club at the beginning of my training, which covers ages from 8-18. This also spans the age group of children that I plan to obtaining my teacher training qualification in, which will be excellent practice before I begin my PGCE. I have began to plan activities, that cover a broad range of arts and crafts, such as photography, painting and sculptures, so that when I join I have some creative ideas that I can hopefully impress the children and management with, to show them I have a genuine passion for teaching and the arts.

WORKSHOP: Online and Physical Portfolios

Moira held the session today looking at portfolios and websites, both online and offline. She brought in her own physical printed portfolio for us to discuss. She also gave us some questions to think about whilst we were researching:

Does the template provide links to social media, and is that important?

What do you want to do with your website, or what do you want it to do? (Interactive, front page, lots of thumbnails, text based, moving image based)

Have you looked at your website on your phone, tablet, netbook, computer, etc?

Do you want Flash?

Can you search archives, or just current work?

Do you want thumbnails that enlarge to full sized images?

RESEARCH (Online Portfolios)

Jamie Simonds used Indexhibit, although his site is pretty basic and is focused upon the photographs that he has taken rather than the website design. He has no links to social media, or any external links apart from the Indexhibit website, which could mean he hasn't paid for the template. I was not impressed with his contact page, the text is so small that you could miss his contact details if you glanced. I then decided to research more into the Indexhibit website, which is also horribly laid out, the colours are really bad on the eyes and the layout is harsh and difficult to follow.

Rankin's website has an opening page, with separate links to different parts of his website, such as his photography portfolio, his film portfolio, his magazine page and his creative content agency founded by himself. His photography portfolio has a link for a mailing list, whilst having a rolling series of images of different projects he has undertaken recently.

Tom Hoops has a simple website designed on Wordpress, that has a rolling scroll of images under each title, such as recent, ladies, gents and editorial. I had a website like this last year, but decided to change it as the format was not suited well to people viewing on a windows computer as the scrolling was difficult on the mouse. He has external links to Facebook, his personal blog and his Twitter feed but a small contact page with a form and email address.

Morgan Norman's website is a similar style to the type of website I am designing now. His layout is in a collage format, and the photographs act as thumbnails to link to external pages. Under each image, it will be assigned to a section category such as news, editorial, celebrity and advertising, and some of the series will be under numerous categories as they relate to the same topic. There are no links to external social media apart from a contact page which consists of his Instagram name and his Pinterest boards.

Anna White's website is quite long, and her website was smaller on a laptop format. However, her website is formatted to mobile phones so it is easier to view. Her website was created using Cargo Collective. Upon researching, you have to apply for an account and get accepted for a free website hosting page, where you can have a limited number of megabytes and project space.

Is it free, or is there a cost? What are you paying for?

Wix do offers for £50 for a years subscription, and their templates are super professional and easy to edit and make personal. They are who I have my website with at the moment, as I have moved from Format. Their website is easy to create templates, but their are no free options. Some portfolio hosting websites, including Wix, offer free hosting, but you have to advertise their name underneath or on your page, as well as having their name after your domain, e.g. www.laurajaneparkinson.wix.com.

What is the advantage of having a website, rather than a blog?

The advantage of having a website rather than a blog as people see you as more professional, and will automatically see you as a professional photographer rather than an amateur. It also is good to have a collection of your work online, as if people type in your name into Google and your website comes up, they can see all your work in one place, with good formatting. I was given to option to have a blog link on my page, but learning from the past, I always forget to update my blog so people might get the impression I do not care about photography or do not participate in lots of different project to excel myself. I then looked at my website on my phone and found that it is automatically formatted to be shown on a tablet/phone. This is a really good, time saving way to have as part of my website package, as it means I do not have to format my website for each individual screen resolution. 

Do you want links to social media and external sources?

I personally love having external links to social media and other pages I am active on. My website is updated every two weeks, whereas my Instagram is updated every day. I have a big following on Instagram, of 1,100+ followers, whereas my website is rarely viewed unless I give out a business card or someone tries to find me. I also have links to my Facebook page, which has 900+ likes, as people can see the history of my projects that were produced before my website was built.

Do you want a biography?

We had a biography writing workshop, and since then I have developed it and published it to my new website, I think it is a good thing to have on my website as it gives the viewer an insight into my style and interests before they view my work. I also think it gives a face to the name, rather than the viewer imaging what someone could be like. I have also added my selected commissions and exhibitions to my page so people can see what I have been up to recently. I am also planning to include a PDF link to my CV.

PHYSICAL PORTFOLIOS

Moira then showed us her physical portfolios from her BA degree and her current professional practice. Her BA portfolio consisted of a folder with high quality sleeves with her work in a chronological format. She also had a sleeve at the back, which consisted of her press clippings from exhibitions, slides that she presented in her first solo exhibition. She then showed us her A4 box portfolio, where she places all her work, from landscapes to documentary, in poly pockets so she can mix and match for different interviews. In the past I have used a massive A2 carry along portfolio to print my images and place in. Now I realise that the presentation of this is not satisfactory, and a smaller portfolio is definitely better. She recommended the London Graphic Centre, Sliverprint, Plastic Sandwich and Cowling & Wilcox for classic portfolios, especially leather bound portfolios. Moira recommended a maximum of 15-20 images in our printed portfolio, as we have not yet had enough opportunities to showcase. As we grow as professional photographers, we can extend this maximum image count.

This was a really helpful workshop, I feel like now I can start thinking about printing my portfolio for submission to Professional Frameworks as I know more about what styles are available and how they look in real life. I also can develop my new website now, having looked at alternative examples of other professional photographers. I plan to buy my porfolio box or book this evening and start planning for my final submission.

Business Plan/Invoices

Invoices and business plans are important for freelance photographers who are wanting to take on work and gain payment from their clients. I have had experience sending invoices to Sportsfive, and the University helped me compile this together in a professional way. I have also had to send invoices to clients for weddings and photo shoots in the past.

I have presented here a mock up invoice showing how my invoice template is presented, and price breakdown of services provided and expenses covered. I decided to use a type font for my invoice, as it is easy to read and professional looking, with my logo in the left hand corner.