Stock photo agency giant Alamy has provided the students of the Press & Editorial Photography course and incredible offer: 100% royalties for two years if we register with them through the university. It is an offer that, being miserably poor students, we could not refuse. This, then, spurred me on to head out in to Falmouth and the surrounding area to snap some stock photo-worthy images, and hopefully give me some inspiration in regards to my 'isolation' and 'industrial coastline' briefs - above are the results, taken on a Canon 450D.
The trek - which took me all the way across the Fal River by ferry to Flushing, across the fields and over the headland to Mylor - did in fact give me inspiration for the 'isolation' shoot. When I reached Mylor, a small fishing town of a handful of residences, I came across St. Mylor's Church. The quaint church has a grave yard and a cemetery a few metres up the road. My plan is to spend the day in the cemetery, photographing the people that visit and what they do - laying flowers, cleaning head stones etc.
Stay tuned.
S
A few weeks ago I spent a day with the Falmouth Harbour Commissioners on The Arrow, a pilot boat. The purpose of pilot boat is to travel in to the bay or Fal river and transport the captains of cargo ships and other such vessels back to shore.
Nigel is the Coxswain of The Arrow, I was under his command for the day. I was given quite strict instructions to follow his orders if necessary - this proved to be somewhat of a hindrance as, whilst I was photographing on-deck, I was not permitted to move out of a small, cordoned-off section of the boat's bow, restricting my movements considerably. Another set-back was the fact that there was not as much 'action' as I had originally anticipated - sure, being at sea was brilliant, but I only had about thirty-seconds shooting time when the boat reached the cargo ships, whilst the captain climbed down a ladder on to The Arrow. After that the action was over, and the rest of the time was spent sat-down, travelling back to shore. I did not, however, let this ruin my day, and I worked with what I had; the hulk of the cargo ship's side created an impressive foreground feature, whilst the choppy sea and moody skies gave an atmospheric backdrop. This, then, allowed me to capture some really affective observed portraits.
Overall I am happy with the results and do not feel the need to re-shoot. Next week I am spending the day with Police Community Support Officer Fiona Gamble.
S
