First Year FIN

So, i have 2 more days of Uni left this year bar a hand in on the 14th of may then im done, i can not help but think, 3 terms for £3500? make it 2 terms for £2500! with a little extra on top for good measure.

Feels as if i have learnt a lot this year, but can't help but feel i should have gotten more out of it, from the university's side of things, maybe it was the free memory card reader on the first day (wish is as slow as global warming) rested the question of, is Uni really worth it? still unsure, I will let you know in the second year.

Co-op Shoot

Back in Bournemouth after 16hours of driving covering 830miles, the length of England in

2days, NEVER AGAIN!

The shoot went as well as it could bar forgetting to shoot an important stand which i forgot to do, but thankfully with a little help with photoshop, i put one together and the client was very happy with the final set of images. So much so, he has book me for another Shoot in June, a 2day for Co-op again.

here are some of the best images from the north east.

Placement

here are a few of the important people i have not yet been able to reach in my search for a placement.

Ian Crawford

http://www.iaincrawford.com/

Nick Knight (no it wasn't had written so there is my reason why) but working on it!

http://www.nickknight.com/

Spiros Politis

http://www.spirospolitis.com/

Seamus Ryan - maybe happening, find out next week.

http://www.seamus.co.uk/

and Rankin

http://www.rankin.co.uk/

I have had some replies from and talked about dates with.

Joe Windsor-Williams - Topgear photographer!

http://www.joeww.com/

Seamus Ryan - maybe happening, find out next week.

http://www.seamus.co.uk/

Laura Pannack - Portrait photographer

http://www.laurapannack.com/

Times running out, fingers crossed i get something solid sorted out soon!

Networking-Co-op

So, a few weeks ago i was at a friends birthday party back home, and got chatting to his father about work, what i do, what he does and so on. To my joy i find out he is in advertising, and a few minutes of talking and a couple of drinks later he asks for my contact details, saying he would keep me in mind of any future work that i might be included in.

Nothing for weeks, then out of the blue, an email asking if i would like to an "unchallenging" shoot for Co-op in Newcastle, images of the store and products for next seasons turn around, images to go around the country to every Co-op store, expenses, hotel and travel costs paid for on top of pay. "the shoots on Sunday, can you make it" this being Friday and i'm in Bournemouth, couldn't be further from Newcastle if i tried, but of course i said yes.

I asked to be sent some examples of previous images and i would be bullshitting you if i said i wasnt blow away from the examples given. which thankfully took a lot of pressure off me.

Here are some of the examples of past shoots.

Pack shots

Store shots

So, i have now got a 7hour drive from Bournemouth to the north west on my own, shoot at 7pm-2am, hopefully sleep for a few hours, then turn around and drive back 7hours to crack on with any post production needed.

will let you know how it goes.

Memories of Old

Today, i went to an old people's home to do a shoot i have coined "Memories of old" A project based on capturing people's facial expressions as they tell me about their memories. I sat down with each subject for about half an hour, talking to them, getting to know them, and making them feel relaxed, as the time went on i slowly hint at past moments where things didnt go to well for them, ask them to expand on it and open up. The stories i heard were real, honest and interesting. Some said nothing, others made light of a dark situation and simply laughed it off. Here are a few of my favorite images.

"Anne"

"Anne" the moment when say told me her hardest memory was when, "my son died" "thats all im going to say!"

"Joyce"

"Joyce" recalling the time she lost her hearing.

"June"

"June" as she talks about her 11th birthday, her family were all in a car accident. Here she tells me how her mothers head was "crushed" and her neck was badly cut, she spent 11months in hospital.

Gaia Fashion

Today i had a shoot in the studio on the topic of "Gaia Fashion" a theory of how the world all works as one, everything in tune with one and other. I was set a brief to photograph a Portrait "gaia fashion" shot for the front cover of a magazine, and a landscape as a double spread. For my shoot i decided to go down the route of portraying recycling as a reusable fashion statement.

For the shoot, i pulled together two blackout/reflector boards in studio to make a fake wall, i then cover it in newspaper, ones i had everything correct, i pulled the model into the scene and did the same to her. wrapping paper from the floor to her chest to represent a fashionable dress whilst still looking as if she was part of the set.

Here is the final image.

Once i had completed this look, i need to achieve my landscape shot. For this, i used the same concept, but replaced the paper with plastic bags. I then used a large "Primark" fitted and structured around the model as a fashionable dress.

Here is the final outcome.

I have now started on turning the first image into a front page of a magazine. I chose "iD" and here is a little something im working on.

Let me know what you think.

Is it wrong?

So, today i was helping a friend out on one of his shoots. It was in the open fields of the new forest and was bloody freezing!! the problem is, i took a few snaps when we had finished of the model (who is my girlfriend) the images i took came out really nice. the question is, "is it wrong" for me to use them? as the shoot was his? or because i took the picture, pressed the button and captured the image in my own way, that i shouldn't worry about it and post the image in a proud way?

what do you think?

Here is the image.

Where I want to go..

So, this week i got asked to do some actor head shots for a male who is wanting to get some extras work. I called him into the studio and went to town with my lighting set up. two strips, beauty-dish and two back drop lights.

After being out of the studio for so long, i forgot how much i love working with flash and with people but how easy it is to slip up on silly mistakes. (not helped by the tech guys handing me a camera with no battery or memory card in it- make

s you look real pro in front of a sitter)

Ones everything was sorted, i got in the swing of things again and loved doing the shoot. It made me realise what i want to do with my photographic journey. portraiture! this was first brought to my attention by a talk with Chris Floyd(.com), a british born

and based portrait photographer. Looking at his portfolio, filled with famous and interesting people, it

suddenly clicked to me, that this is what i want to do!

Clearly i have still alot to learn, but i now know where i'm heading and the area in which i need to

focus on and perfect. Finally!

Here is one of the images i took in that studio session.

Oh and i think i have worked out what my signature mark is within my photography. but im not going to tell

you what it is just yet, im going to let you follow my work and try and figure it out!

NYCity

What A Nightmare.

1-am, been traveling for a total of 16-hours and 47-minutes we step into are hotel lobby, west 33rd street Manhattan island NYC, get our keys and head up to our rooms for a well deserved sleep. key in the door, turn the handle and LOCKED! a couple of knocks and a few loud "what the f**k's" we hear the asian man that we have just busted in on shout out how it was his room. whoops! down to the lobby we go, followed by many others in the same situation only to find out that 90% of the bookings had been deleted! fun. a further 4-hours of waiting we finally step foot into the right rooms and enjoy a 4-hour sleep before starting our New York Adventure.

If waking up to find this out of your window doesn't inspirer and excite you to go take pictures, not much will!!

Photographer Visits.

While we were in NYC we visited 2 world famous photographers and 1 not so famous, nor on this plant of sane thoughts and dress sense.

The first was Platon, a UK born portrait photographer based in midtown NY, he

has shot everyone from movie stars and music royalty to world leaders and dictators.

This man is not only an incredible photogra

pher, but a bloody good speaker, We all found our selves hanging on every word he said. A spiritual a passionate person that

spoke to us at the same level, not as

a high and mighty photogr

apher to good for us, but more like one of the class that has struck lucky and willing to share is top tips.

(images by - Platon) - http://www.platonphoto.com/

The second Photographer was Phil Toledano. Just when we thought there couldn't b

e another photographer that could match up to the same quality and "niceness" as Platon, we meet Phil, another UK born photographer who has made is big over seas. A grea

t photographer and speaker, shooting individual projects that convey messages and meanings but always with a pinch of british humor and spice.

(images by - Phil Toledano) - http://www.mrtoledano.com/

and the final photographer was Weird! sorry, Chris Verene. I seem to sum him up in one sentence,

A Weird Un inspiring Documentary Photographer about strange Sexual fantasies and an inbred american culture, crashing at his friends place.

(images by - Chris Verene) - http://www.chrisverene.com/

My Photos

Broadway - Flatiron Building.

5th Avenue - 10blocks from ------------------------------------------- 10th floor window - hotel Pen

empire state building.-------------------------------------------------- west 33rd street

for more images check out my flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/jackdoncaster/

published.

So, this morning i get a phone call to say that one of the images i took at "Henley festival 2009" as supporting photographer, is being used as this years "festival preview" front page. My name is credited and appears at the side of the image.

Fingers crossed this means i am the "official" photographer for 2010!!

week 3

So, im back, relaxed and fighting to get my head back into a working frame of mind! which is proving to be fxxking difficult when there is no heating in your house and all your time and money seems to be going on nandos, wagamama's and the arcade on the beach front, all great places if i was a documentary photographer! interested in "shit iv eaten" thank good im not!

My photography has taken a bit of a back seat the last

few weeks thanks to a new introduction into "the life of jack" resulting in an essay far from finished and a stack of papers on my desk of unwritten notes and other project handouts! whoops.

"goal" get focused!

oh, during christmas, WE GOT SNOW!