Abiola May Photography

Flower Photo Shoot

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 02:12:00 -0500

Weathered the weather for my photo shoot today (technically yesterday as it’s now 2 am). It was quite a hectic day, especially with the on and off rain and out of control wind, but I somehow managed to take some photos, both digital and stereo film.

I live in the middle between uni one way, and Bristol centre the other. I ended up cycling back and forth between all three locations six times! To shoot, get film developed and then scanned ready for manipulating, all in one day.

Tomorrow…printing!

I came armed with loads of plastic bags of flowers.

The pretty flower arrangement.

My model Noora, keeping warm and dry whilst I get my Sputnik stereo camera sorted lol ^ ^

Late Night Crafting

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 03:00:00 -0500

I have a photoshoot today! I’m excited but nervous that it goes well. The weather’s supposed to be okay…it’s raining now but hopefully it’ll have rained itself out by the morning.

Really I should be sleeping but I’m actually sewing a lace collar, which I may or may not use >.<

Karni and Saul

Sat, 10 Nov 2012 22:28:24 -0500

Last thursday the awesome Karni and Saul came into uni to talk to us about their work. Karni was previously working as a photographer and Saul a freelance animator, but in 2004 they joined forces to become a creative film making duo. Both born in Israel, they moved to England to pursue their careers and are now based in Bristol. Their films were orignially based around the idea of flip book animation and were a natural evolution from their individual occupations, bringing photography to movement and the other way around. They like to call their work ‘breathing stills’.

I watched their first 10 minute long film, ‘Turning’, which was BAFTA nominated and was commissioned by the BBC, before I went to the talk. Described as a “naive, soft fairytale with a dark side”, it’s playful, beautiful and surreal.

At the talk they showed us a little film real montage of their work, and then we had a screening of their most recent 20 minute film ‘Flytopia’, which was commissioned by Flim4 and is based on a story by Will Self.

It’s pitched as:

“A dark fantastical tale in which a man enters into a pact with all the insect inhabitants of his rural cottage. Dripping with honey, sex, flies, meat…and a very sticky end.”

I loved it. The way they deliver narrative is totally captivating. Having a mix of both of their skills and strong aesthetics, the visuals they create are just amazing, from their framing to their use of lighting and post-production effects. It’s beautiful imagery, magical and whimsical, but it also comes accompanied by a darker side, which is always the premise of my own work.

You can watch the trailer here, but it doesn’t really give you an idea of how good it is. You can also check out their website here!

Shooting for Felt So Good

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 19:08:00 -0500

For the past couple of weeks me and three other uwe students have been doing work for the felt product company Felt So Good. Tomorrow we hand over everything we’ve done!

The first task was the location shoot. Initially it was going to take place at Bristol Zoo, but plans got changed and we ended up doing at the M Shed. That wasn’t the sole location for the day though; we went all round Bristol from Clifton Down train station to Clifton Suspension Bridge, M Shed, and finally Brandon park. There were 7 children and 3 female models, as well as hundreds of bags of products to organise. Needless to say the day was absolutely manic, and I hardly had 5 minutes for a break, having to eat in the car on the way to the next location. Kids are tough to work with, there were tantrums and some tears, but they make up for it in adorableness lol.
Here are some photos of me on the day:

Being reflector lady.

The second half of the workload were the product shots, which we did in the uni studio. I respect anyone who does that kind of work for a living, ‘cause man it sure gets tedious! It probably doesn’t help that I’m a perfectionist so it has to be ‘just right’ before I can move on. We had about 5 big Ikea bags of felt products to document…it took a looong time.

After shooting I’ve spent just over 10 hours editing and perfecting the images; making sure the background is perfectly white, resizing and converting the into the required format. Here’s just a little sample of the extent of the images:

It’s all been quite an experience to say the least. It’s taken up a lot more of my time and energy than I’d anticipated, and though it has been fun, I’m glad I’ve now come out the other side of it. Looking forward to getting paid, gonna buy myself a treat to help me with my project!

Photo

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 23:19:40 -0400

Felt So Good Briefing

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 11:32:00 -0400

Today I had a meeting with director Adele Collinson from Felt So Good, following up my response to her email asking for photographers to photograph her 2013 collection later in October/November.

They’re a company that makes cute bags/purses, bunting and accessories out of fun coloured felt for kids.

As well as standard product studio shots she also wants fashion-type shots on location that show off her items. The main location is gonna be Bristol Zoo! I still haven’t been so that’ll be fun. They’re also thinking of a teddy bears picnic in the park :3

I think trying to organise and photograph children may get a bit manic, but there are 4 of us from photography on the job so we should do okay.

I made these gifs out of the two images in the stereo pair. They...

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 16:49:41 -0400

I made these gifs out of the two images in the stereo pair. They don’t look the same as viewing the pair stereographically, but they give you an idea. I think they’re quite interesting as images that attempt to create the illusion of 3D.

I made these gifs out of the two images in the stereo pair. They...

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 16:49:37 -0400

I made these gifs out of the two images in the stereo pair. They...

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 16:49:31 -0400

I made these gifs out of the two images in the stereo pair. They...

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 16:48:47 -0400

I got a chance to scan in my film today that I shot in my stereo...

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 16:33:00 -0400

http://noorapelkonen.tumblr.com/

I got a chance to scan in my film today that I shot in my stereo camera.

There is evidence of some light leaks and it seems the left lens is slightly slower at closing than the right, making that frame slightly overexposed and thus a fainter image. All in all though I really like the aesthetic quality they have; somewhat ghostly and dream-like.

Though they can be appreciated as they are, as stereo pairs, they are intended to be viewed stereoscopically so that they appear 3D. You could use a stereoscope (there are various kinds) but for that you need a physical print. Alternatively you can view them unaided just by using your eyes. I use the cross-eyed stereoscopic viewing technique, which you can read about here. It’s a little tricky to learn but once you do, viewing stereo pairs is easy and amazingg!

P.S. I also scanned in the undeveloped/destroyed frames, which I also quite like in their own right.

What do you think?

My favourite print from my summer project is now hanging on the...

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 16:32:41 -0400

My favourite print from my summer project is now hanging on the photography floor :3

I will post the rest of the series soon, and also put them up on my website!

Stereography

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 15:36:00 -0400

Something I’m looking into for my third year project is the technical concept of stereography; the art of creating a three-dimensional image by taking two photos from slightly different perspectives, thus mimicking the distance between the human eyes. When viewed correctly the two separate pictures layer to create a single 3D image.

I’d been taking stereographic pairs with just one camera over the holidays but then found a cheap 1950’s Sputnik stereo camera set on ebay so snapped it up. It’s a Russian made camera that takes 120 medium format film, and houses two lenses so you expose two frames simultaneously.

I took it into uni today to have it checked over by Frank the technician and then shot a black and white test film to see how the images would come out.

I wasn’t sure whether it was actually going to work and it has a weird set of shutter speeds that don’t correspond with the external light meter I was using, so I didn’t get the first pair’s exposure quite correct. I processed it in uni and was pleased to see the frames did come out, but I obviously didn’t get the roll onto the spool properly so the middle is a mess lol! I’ve never managed to ruin a film like that before, but it doesn’t really matter this time as it’s just a test.

Can’t wait to get them printed up and see how they look through the stereoscopic viewer ^w^

Specimens displayed at Overbeck’s museum and gardens,...

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 20:43:00 -0400

Specimens displayed at Overbeck’s museum and gardens, Salcombe.

To prepare us for our third and final year at uni we’ve been set a summer task. This includes coming up with 4 separate potential project ideas that we have to then research. My thinking for one of them is this:

Considering the dualism of life and death, the practice of insect collecting, carried out by the Victorians, came to mind. A popular hobby, this fascination with gathering insects to study, display and admire presents a paradox of the beautiful and the macabre. To show off and preserve these fleeting beauties one must first capture and kill the object of desire; an unsettling process indeed.

Strete Beach, Dartmouth

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 20:28:00 -0400

Strete Beach, Dartmouth

abiolamay: Strete Beach, Dartmouth, July 2012 I have to visit a...

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 20:27:00 -0400

abiolamay:

Strete Beach, Dartmouth, July 2012

I have to visit a beach at least once every six months otherwise I start going crazy.

The sea was SO blue with huge lacey white waves. The wind was blowing a gale but I felt totally calm.

Sorry I’ve been MIA for so long! I moved house and BT decided to wait as long as possible...

Sun, 12 Aug 2012 16:53:04 -0400

Sorry I’ve been MIA for so long! I moved house and BT decided to wait as long as possible until they reinstalled our internet D:

I should be back online from the 17th x

End of Second Year Results

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 16:00:30 -0400

Oh by the way I got a 1st for my Insomnia project last term. I also got a 2.1 for my Visual Culture essay for which I did a case study examining the representation of femininities and performances of sexuality, specifically in celebrity culture through creating a case study on Rihanna to ultimately show how her images/image constructs her identity. Yah.

So that’s three 1sts and a 2.1 for this year which I am very happy about ^w^

Just means I’m now rather conscious of keeping at the same level for my last year.

Work Experience at Your Hair Magazine

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 13:20:00 -0400

I’ve been meaning to post this for a while but what with packing in preparation to move student houses, packing to come back home, birthdays and general settling back at home I haven’t got round to it until now. Warning long post ahead!..

A little while ago I attended a open day event run by Immediate Media who were offering students work experience placements. They’re a company (who I think are partially owned by the BBC/BBC have a share in) who run and publish various top UK magazines such as the Radio Times, Good Food, Top Gear etc. I applied for a place at 3 possible magazines and eventually got a reply saying I’d got a weeks work placement at the end of May at Hair Portfolio!

Hair Portfolio run 3 separate magazines: Your Hair, Hair Ideas and Blonde Hair. Over the week I got to work on all 3.

I got my own desk and computer to work from and got to try my hand at various aspects of the magazine and was surprised that the work I was doing was actually going to be included in the next issues.

I had tasks such as short article writing, image crediting - which involved going through huge alphabetically named image catalogues and finding the page with the corresponding image code to which you can then get the salon credit from -

publishing step by step hair guides with photos on their website,

and lots of image sourcing (celebrities and catwalk looks) for different criteria/themes.

I also got to package up some TIGI Love, Peace and the Planet hair products for winners of one of their competitions, which I enjoyed far too much ^w^

One of the days I also got the chance to sit in on a commissioning meeting where the team talk over what they’re doing, and ideas and plans for the future issue features. It was really interesting and I got to meet the editor who was lovely and answered all my questions.

Overall I really enjoyed my time there (apart from the early mornings!) and it was a really good insight into how a magazine is run and how the team operates. Also when I left they gave me a bag of hair goodies which was very sweet :3

Had quite a few new followers recently which is nice. So I’d just like to say thankyouu! P.S...

Sat, 19 May 2012 08:57:54 -0400

Had quite a few new followers recently which is nice. So I’d just like to say thankyouu!

P.S It makes me happy when people like and reblog my stuff. Ha ^-^