Vendetta Bank AP: 4.0, S: 1/200, IOS 400
Photograph number one was taken outside the Bank of England where the protesters had gathered to express their views to bankers. With the image we see one of the key figures of the march; this is the woman in the vendetta mask who is the focus point I wanted with this image, therefore I shot with a small aperture so it was only her and close protesters were in focus while the Bank of England was out of focus, I did do it the other way round but felt this image works better this way. The image was shot on a high shutter speed of 1/200 which was highest the camera do with its flash up. The flash was required because of the lack of light hitting their faces.
Desperate AP: 3.5, S: 1/200, IOS 400
My second photograph is the only example where I have taken an image from above, the event here shows the protesters fighting over fake money trying to express their points about creed within capitalism. This happened quickly and so required a high shutter speed to capture the image without it blurring plus the flash was required because it was shot in the centre of financial district where all the tall buildings were blocking sun light to the streets. The way this image works is how the signs like ‘feed me a pension’ are captured and express the words of the protesters, while there are no faces the hands express just as much as a face would, I feel this image expresses the event the best as it sums up what really these people are protesting about.
Tower of Men AP: 4.0, S: 1/200, IOS 400
The third photo in my essay was the hardest I would say to have shot, the idea was all around the NatWest tower being the centre piece in the background while protesters/protester occupied the foreground. Doing this was extremely hard as the protesters were constantly moving around and that is why I had the shutter speed on maximum which was 200, it was this because at this time of the day the sun light was fading and the flash was therefore required. Because of the towers great distance I used a small depth of field to just have the protester in focus which creates a nice out of focus effect on this photograph. To get the desired effect of the top of tower also meant that I had to kneel on the floor with a very high angel of elevation in the shot because of the sheer height of this building.
Peace of Mind SP: 4.0, S: 1/50, IOS: 400
Photograph number four was shot of man who had climbed up upon a raise platform/statue and spent hours watching the world go buy. This was shot with a slow shutter speed as there little moment happing because he was practically frozen in position. Here I then shot with a small depth of field as I wanted all focus to on the man and not on the background, and with the background just being pillows and stones of ST Pauls I felt there was no need for them to be in focus to. I shot from below him to create the desired effect of making him look larger and therefore more important; I had the other choice of shooting from his eye line but knew it would downgrade the quality of the image.
Face of a thousand words AP: 4.5, S: 1/125, IOS: 400
Photograph number five is a simple image but one that I feel tells a big story about the gentleman it shows. Baba Nam Kevalam was his name and he arrived late to the protest and was newly part of the group therefore his passion for the cause was high and fresh. We see all the emotion in the image I feel and that is why I took the picture at a focal length of 121.00 as I really wanted to get up and personal on his face. I had the small depth of field as it was his face and not the cathedral and tents in focus and it would only draw the attention from his face away. It was shot on manual and so the shutter of 1/125 was to level out the exposer of the image.
Music of Colours AP: 4.0, S: 1/250, IOS: 400
Photograph number six was my wild card; a lot was done in post with the raw editing of this image. It was shot with a very low exposure and therefore was very dark with this due to me shooting on manual and not being quick and efficient enough with the camera because of how quick things happen in an event like this. So levelling out the exposure was the first thing by increasing it to give a lighter image. This image also has a lovely colour definition I felt and bringing out the reds and oranges would dramatically increase this pictures appeal. So I brought the saturation and vibrance up in this image to make the reds more red and oranges more orange, the lack of colour before was because of the poor lightening and the exposure level I used when I originally took the photo.
Photograph number eight is an example of where I have focused on the background rather than that of the foreground, this works well in this image as the audience is what the desire point of this image is, having the arm in the foreground helps create the atmosphere better by showing scale and distances better.
Tongue of Creed AP: 4.5, S: 1/200, IOS: 400
Photograph seven was a image taken of a woman holding on to money with her tongue. This was shot up close and from a low point of view, doing this has created the desired effect of making her look more important and dominate and at the same time scary. I had the flash on as the lighting was not enough to bring out the colours of the face paint and the money which a key areas of this image. She was also moving around a lot and so I shot this on AV with the shutter on maximum which was 1/200 with the flash on.
Crowds of Despair AP: 4.0, S: 1/60, IOS: 400
Photograph eight was a image of the crowds at the protest, this image worked well apart from one technical mistake I made which was when taking this image I had it on a small depth of field which we see was clearly incorrect with what I was trying to portray. As you see I wanted to have the speakers arm out of focus and the crowd in focus, I focus the lens correctly which has made the image work to a point however to get the desired effect I should have had a much larger depth of field. The shutter was put down low to 1/60 due to lack of movement from the crowd.
Fake Expressions AP: 4.0, S: 1/200, IOS: 400
Photograph nine was taken down the public path side of ST Pauls where tents had camped all along. This was the only image that was set up within my essay, not by myself but another photographer, I used it as it first it was a nice image and situation, but secondary so my essay compared this to the rest which were decisive moment photography. I shot it with a small aperture field as I wanted to keep just the man in focus while having the tents and ST Pauls itself out of focus so the attention would stay with the man and the words he is expressing.
Malcolm in the Middle AP: 5.6, S: 1/60, IOS: 400
This was properly the best example of decisive moment within my photo essay, I spotted him just standing in the middle of the crowds but because he looks so separated from the rest of the people I just loved how this image came out. With this image I did some extra colour changes, originally the image was quite dual with colours and so bring up the saturation and vibrance I gave a more cartoon effect to the image. Bringing out the red made the texts written in the signs stand out while the greens and whites of his clothes and face paint increased also to make him stand out even more within the crowd.
Tied Legs AP: 7.1, S: 1/320, IOS: 400
Photograph eleven was of man who stood holding this sign for five to six hours, he stood on ST Pauls main steps. The reason for this long focal length of 200mm was because there was large amounts of crowds around him, so I took a long shot to make sure I could just zoom in on himself as it is the words on the sign that draw the attention of this image and that is what I wanted to capture. A closer shot would be the desired shot I would of gone for instead of this massive zoom but overall I feel it still works well. The reason behind the high shutter speed was because of the light issues created shooting at this distance and I wanted to keep the exposure level on zero.
Signs of expression AP.3.5, S: 1/200, IOS: 400
This last photograph was taken while on the run backwards, these protesters here were moving at a fast pace and so required was the high shutter speed of 200 (with flash). With this I used the lowest depth of field I could acquire being 3.5, as the lady with the sign was very close and only gaining ground this was vital to create this desire effect. With the sign and her the focus points of this image as she was head of the crowd at this point and therefore meant I wanted the background out of focus so all attention descends upom her.
