Resources

Artist Statement

Cover Letter

CV

Evaluative Summary

Invoice

Statement of Intent

Website

Evaluative Summary

Please find under the break my evaluative summary for the whole of this unit of work.

CV

Please find my CV under the break.

I have worked hard on my layout to make it look professional and simple, including relevant information such as a short statement, relevant qualifications, professional experience, skills, and references. My references include a client from a commercial job, and my tutor from my foundation degree.

Group Presentation

Group Presentation Notes

My Presentation Notes

Cover Letter

As mentioned in my statement of intent, as well as a possible career involving moving image, I am also interested in the possibility of teaching sixth form students photography. Due to choosing to undertake a work experience module next semester, I have tailored my cover letter to suit a possible placement I will apply for at the Post-16 Center at Ashton Park School. This is a speculative cover letter, as I have not seen a position advertised.

Invoice

A printscreen of my invoice can be viewed after the page break.

I used Calumet Photographic in Bristol as my equipment rental, as I decided to use companies based in Bristol and therefore more local to my shoots. In a similar move, I decided to shoot my studio images in Jefferson Studios on West Street to keep it local. My book will be made at Blurb as I have heard good feedback about them and they are quite flexible in design for the book. 

A few points need to be noted about my invoice:

• I actually hired out a D700 for six days and a D800 for five. However, I intended to book out the D800 for those six days but couldn't due to it being used for HDSLR workshops until Friday, which was not good for me as I had my graduation that day. I instead booked out the D700 so I could get it at an earlier day. Calumet didn't have a D700 in stock, so due to this and the aforementioned reason, I stated that I used a D800 for the 11 days.
• My Blurb book costs £31.12 due to the selection I made. I chose to make a standard landscape book (from £12.95), with 20 pages (with no extra payment), hardcover with a dust jacket and charcoal-coloured linen, "proline white" endsheets, and matte-finish paper. The majority of these choices bump up the price of the book. 
• I have completed six shoots for this project.
• I also had to buy walking-style shoes and walking socks for cultural descriptions due to the rough terrain at the location of my shoots.

I was surprised how costly the expenses of my cultural descriptions were, and I am very thankful for the free rentals of the equipment and studios at uni! I'll be taking advantage of them as much as I can during the remainder of my time at UWE.

Invoice/Budget Resources

Equipment Resources
I am researching the different places where I can get the equipment I need for the project. I would hire the equipment that I don't already own to spend less money

• Calumet Photographic
• Pro Centre
• Direct Photographic

Studio Resources

As I will be shooting still-lifes in a studio, I am researching different photography studios available for hire in Bristol.

• Jefferson Studios
• Photographique
• Farm Studio

Book Resources

As my final images will be presented in a book, I am researching different companies that make photobooks.

• Peak Imaging
• Albelli
• Bob Books
• Blurb

Invoice/Budget

Following the budgeting workshop from last week, I will begin to research into forming my own budget/invoice.

In order to begin my invoice/budget, I will list everything that I have and will use for my cultural descriptions project, including the things that I will do and use between now and the hand-in on the 9th January.

Things used:

• Canon 600D (owned)
• Canon EFS 18-55mm lens (owned)
• Canon EFS 55-250mm telephoto zoom lens (owned)
• Nikon D700 (used once, Thursday - Tuesday)
• Nikon D800E (used once, Friday - Tuesday)
• Nikkor 50mm 1:1.4G
• Tripod (owned)
• Studio (used once - four hours)
• Assistant
• Book (for final prints)
• Boots (suitable for the terrain)
• Transport
• Food

I will research different equipment and studio rentals, as well as photobook companies to finalise the budget.

Budgeting Workshop

Estimating - Production - Invoices

• Working out and accertaining production costs is a key skill for photographers
• Being able to price cots effectively and efficiently will make your persnoal work be more productive and will win you commissions if a potential employer knows that they are getting value for money
• Being able to account and bookkeep for incomes and expenditures in everyday life will help to stabilise your career

Paperwork

Estimates are based on the information/brief originally given by the client and should include:

• Agency and Client
• Photographer
• Job description
• Media use
• Right to a credit
• Exclusivity
• Fees
• Expenses
• Base usage rate
• Contingency (10%)
• Terms and Conditions printed on reverse

Working out a fee

There
 are 
no 
standard 
fees
 in 
photography
 and should therefore
ideally 
always
 try and
 get 
an 
idea
 of 
the client’s 
budget 
before
 you
 begin 
an 
estimate.





Your 
fee 
or 
day‐rate 
needs
 to 
encompass
 not 
only
 your
 creativity, experience 
and uniqueness, 
but 
also 
the 
tools 
of 
your
 trade, including 
the 
running
 of 
a 
studio, equipment
 purchases 
and maintenance, 
plus 
other 
miscellaneous
 expenses.




As 
a 
rough 
guide
 here 
are 
the 
fees
 photographers 
in 
different disciplines 
can 
expect/hope
to
 charge:


• Advertising
: 
£1000 
‐ 
£3500
 per 
day


• Design/Corporate
: 
£500 
‐ 
£1500
 per 
day


• Wedding
: 
£500
‐
£2500
 per
 day
 (mainly
 weekends?)


• Editorial
: 
£50
‐
£450 
per 
day

Working out a day rate

Quick points to consider:

• No one works 365 days, or 52 weeks a year
• Figure out how much income you need for fixed and non-fixed overheads - then divide that by how many days you will idealy work: 50 for newbies, 100-150 for more established photographers
• £400 a day is the figure to aim for

Fixed overheads

These can include:

• Rent
• Portfolio, test shots
• Marketing
• Mobile phone
• Stationary
• Banking and overdraft charges
• Repairs
• Insurance

Insurance

http://www.williamsoncarson.co.uk/ is an insurance company originally designed for the entertainment industry. It has since expanded to other industries, such as meat, catering, and travel, but still has it's strong creative industry base,

Non-fixed overheads

Examples of these include:

• Studio hire
• Equipment hire
• Assistant

How to calculate a day rate

cost of fixed overheads + cost of non-fixed overheads = the cost of producing one day's photography

the number of days worked

Questions to ask regarding a brief

•  How
 many
 ads/portraits 
are
 required?

• Where
 will 
the 
ads
 be
 going 
–
 final 
format, 
portrait, 
landscape,
 DPS, 
48 
sheet 
billboard?

• Budget 
for 
locations?

• Is
 a 
casting
 required?

• Will
 the 
models 
need
 styling/hair and 
make‐up 
- if so, 
what 
budget?

• Will
 client 
and 
what 
other members
 of 
creative 
team
 will
 be
 on
 shoot?
• Ascertain 
how
 many 
days 
to shoot

• Ascertain 
what 
camera
 format to
 shoot 
in,
 35mm/MF/LF

• Ascertain 
number 
of 
scouting and 
casting
 days 
required?

• Ascertain 
need
 for
 stylist 
and/or
 hair 
and
 makeup

• Ascertain 
how
 big
 the 
crew
 is for
 logistics
 and
 subsistence

Fees
 & 
Expenses
 in
 Real
 Terms


• Commission 
Fee 
– 
Your 
personal
 fee
 for
 your
 talent 
and creativity,
 but
 will
 also
 include insurance 
and 
bought equipment 
costs

• Pre
Production 
Fee 
– 
All 
the
 time
 you
 have 
spent 
scouting, calling,
 casting
 and
 organising the 
shoot. 
Fee 
will 
not 
always be 
met.

• Post
Production
 Fee 
– 
Digital 
capture, 
RAW
 processing 
and retouching 
of 
files. 
A 
way
 of getting
 money
 back 
on 
your digital 
investments.


• Base
 Usage 
Rate (
B.U.R) 
– 
a 
percentage 
table 
indicating
 how
 much
 one
 can
 charge 
for licensing 
and
 future
 licensing dependent 
on 
certain 
factors 
such 
as 
geographical 
territory

Equipment suppliers

• Pro
Centre
 

• Direct 
• Metro
 
• Team
Work
 

• The
Flash
Centre 

• Calumet
 


10% contingency

A 10% contingency rate should be applied to any project in order to get funding. It gives an extra 10% of the budget, just in case something goes wrong, that way you have enough money in the budget to cover yourself in case of unseen costs.

lornarollingsphotography.com

The homepage of my website includes a long bar consisting of the name of the site - "Lorna Rollings Photography" - and four hyperlinks to different pages of the website. The image on the homepage is from my current project Mori, which I used to replace the slideshow that came with the original layout design. I personally don't like slideshows to display work on websites unless the accompanying music (if any) relates to the work. I don't like ones with transitions as they remind me of the special effects I used to put on Microsoft PowerPoint slideshows when I was a kid - it feels childish to me personally. When looking through photographers websites, I often get impatient waiting for each image to change on the slideshow, so I'd like my website to reflect what I'd like to see from a photographer in terms of design.  

I removed the original layout on the "About" page that featured a large image with text in a white box over the top of the image, as after a discussion with Shawn, we decided it looked like a text box and wasn't professional looking. I instead put in two smaller pictures from my project "Water". All images on pages like these can be found on the website in their respective project pages. The short bio includes how long I've been practising for, my university education in regards to photography, and the exhibitions I've participated in.

(Please note that this screenshot was captured by reducing the webpage in size so I could fit it all in one capture. The title does not appear like that on the actual page at 100%)

The "Portfolio" page shows all three projects I have uploaded to the website. Each image is linked to the corresponding page and gallery when clicked on. I have also included a small summary next to each picture to describe the work. The images are laid out in a zigzag style pattern as to not have too many blank spaces (as it would if all the images were aligned to the left of the page). I think this makes the page seem fuller, however I may edit this if I add more projects on.

As well as clicking on the images on the "Portfolio" page, you can access each project by hovering over the "Portfolio" link, where a dropdown menu listing the projects will appear. 

Each project page features a picture from the project on the left, with a summary of the project underneath. The images in the project are displayed in a gallery on the right of the page, under the links. The images appear in portrait-composition crop thumbnails, which I do not really like. I will see if I can change this.

The images can be viewed full-size by clicking on the thumbnails, where they "pop-out" (as seen by the grey transparent layer to the rest of the page). Scrolling through the gallery can be achieved by clicking on the right and left arrows, while going back to the page requires clicking on the 'X'. Pretty simple. I don't really like the pop-out nature of viewing the images in a bigger size, so I will see if I can change that. It is also worth noting that images cannot be saved to a hard drive by right-clicking in this view, the one benefit, I suppose.

The other project pages have the same appearance and function as the page for Mori.

My "Contact" page features only an email address and a hyperlink to my professional Twitter page. I didn't want to include my mobile number or address, as I fear that that is too much personal contact information to be putting online and in extreme cases, could be a matter for personal safety. I did have a link to my Flickr page, but after a discussion with Shawn I removed it, as any of my best images should be only seen on my professional website. I also included a picture from Mori to decorate the page. 

I also made a professional Twitter for myself as a way of promoting myself and as another way to keep in contact with people in a professional sense. I have had my personal Twitter page for almost four years, so I know how to use this form of social media very well. My icon is a picture of myself with a DSLR, just to reiterate that I am a photographer, and that this is a photography-based account. My bio features my occupation and qualifications, as well as a link to my website. The background is one of my unused medium format pictures from a previous project. I have retweeted posts on my personal account to advertise my professional account, and have gained 10 followers since I made it last weekend. I try to tweet on my professional account almost every day to keep people updated.

I think that my website is quite professional, however, there are a few things that I will look into changing. I tried to make my website like one that I would like to visit - simple, easy to navigate, with the right information and options for further contact. I will update it in time with more projects and continue to tweak the small things to improve it.

Building my website

I ended up choosing Wix as my web-maker, purely because there was simple, easy to understand information about the website. I feel like this was a good choice, however, there were a few issues.

Artist Statement - Mori

Based upon the tips in a previous blog post about how to write an artist statement, please find mine based on my current project Mori after the page break.

Laura Hynd Talk

Laura Hynd has been a practicing photographer for the past five years. Her work has appeared in weekend magazines, such as the Telegraph's magazine. Hynd also exhibits her work widely.

Education

Hynd spent two years at an art college before completing a three year graphic design degree. She said her graphic design work was constructed around photographs: she would take a photograph and design the graphics based on what was within the image. She describes her education as "visual" and says she comes from a creative background and family. 

Employment

She first worked as a creative designer before moving on to being a picture researcher/editor. However, she became physically ill and was away from work a lot. During this period of time her work was looking for people to ask for voluntary redundancy, something she took up due to her illness. After this, she began assisting photographers and bought herself an old Hasselblad.

With the Hasselblad, Hynd began photographing plants, gardens and the outdoors, stating that she liked the colours and subtleties of unresponsive beings.

Hynd created a hand-printed and bound portfolio before heading off on a self-assigned project in Massachusetts to photograph a organic farm with charity associations. This project was shot on the Hasselblad too, and she developed the film in New York before coming back to England. While there, she edited her selection and contacted the Telegraph picture desk for a meeting on her return. At the Telegraph meeting, they commissioned her to fly out to Italy and photograph a vineyard. Before the vineyard commission, she was also asked to photograph a gardener for their weekend magazine. Hynd stated that she was really nervous before the gardener shoot - she was physically sick beforehand, used 8 rolls of film and spent more money than she was paid, but it paid off and she kept on getting commissions. 

Websites

Hynd also talked about websites and said she looked at photographer's websites as part of her job at a picture desk, as research for her own website, and also for pleasure. She thinks that they should be easy to navigate and easy to look at - with possibly no Flash.

Hynd covered a story on pure energy in the Shetland Isles, a task that took 2 1/2 - 3 days. Besides shooting the required images, she also covered the history of energy in the Shetland Isles, and the publication ended up running pictures that they didn't commission.

Hynd has also shot a few magazine covers for the Telegraph, including subjects such as Nancy Dell'olio, Tom Hollander, and Emily Mortimer. She said that they tend to give her "diva" characters that she takes natural portraits of. Hynd was honest and said that she doesn't use lights because she doesn't know how to, and that she prefers natural light.

Hynd says that she is in control of all editorial and publishing work, and that this is disconnected from Burnham Niker, her agent. Hynd has also done a few advertising jobs, mostly including food - for example, Melrose + Morgan, the grocery. Hynd states that she will only shoot real food and that she doesn't do a lot of ad work, as "I want a nice life with no stress".

Personal Work
As Hynd's career was becoming more successful, her personal life began to go downhill, which resulted in her project The Letting Go. Hynd discovered that she could use photography to deal with her personal problems. She believes that it doesn't matter if people see photographer's personal work and it gets "out there", it's about getting it out of your system. 

In terms of completing a personal photography project, Hynd says to express yourself, to be honest, and think about what it is that you want, not what others want from you.

The Letting Go is presented as stills and also in a slideshow featuring music by Portishead. Hynd went for music with lyrics instead of an instrumental piece as the lyrics added to the content of the project. 

Hynd's current personal project is about her family history and past events, visiting places that were a big part of her childhood. The project is currently ongoing but has been exhibited at Photomonth. 

Hynd mostly uses film and says that unless the client has a preference, she will shoot in film. She also noted that picture editors are aware that not all photographers can afford to use film. Hynd now works shooting editorials and teaches, but says her personal work keeps her being creative.

"Being a photographer is brilliant because it takes you out of your comfort zone."