Doug Stevens
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Work Experience: BMX

5/7/2019

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And a paid gig for a BMX Bike company. 18 Different models. 2 "poses" per bike, then some "abstract shots" for their website. £200.
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Working Experience: Barbers

5/7/2019

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Literally, crazy moment.

Was delivering groceries to the local mental health hospital, when I bumped into a pizza delivery guy. Turns out he was a local barber, and when he heard I was a photographer, he asked if I could do some publicity shots... Results:
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Portrait session "Open Day"

4/22/2019

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So, did an "Open Day" for the public to come in and have their portraits done. 

The aim of it was to:
  • See how I could work with members of the public.
  • See how I could work under pressure.

​Had several people come in, and it was generally good.
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Professional development - Tiah Lauder

3/28/2019

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A couple of MUA's from Knightstone got in touch.... Here's the results. Some experimentation...
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Professional development... Ella Brown, MUA.

3/24/2019

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So, Charlie asked me to take over on a shoot she has planned.

Ella Brown, MUA, needed some photos to evidence a 30,'s 90's and present day wedding makeover.

It was a bit rushed. Comms was good, but they didn't have a mood board, etc. So I just winged it - which in experience terms was a good thing.
​
Here are some of the results.
And these are some "edits" I made of them...
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Rogue Rose

3/11/2019

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She's changed her name, but she'll always be a Rogue Rose to me...

I used this shoot to expand on my "Light: The Language of Photography" Project, but also for generic fashion and portraiture.
This was a fun shoot. I've known "Rogue" for a while, and shot her a few years ago.

​Lighting was kept within limits - mainly two soft boxes with varying levels. I did the "Light cloak" thing with her, and experimented with a UV light in the background. Some highlighting of the hair with a keylight from behind...
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Developing Professional Practice: Razor Shoot.

3/11/2019

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Sam asked me about this shoot, so I approached the client.

The brief was to shoot a series of still life / product shots for their launch. No budget.

I got the product (Razors) and made a basic set-up.

The main issues were reflections, and I had a great number of problems getting images that didn't show reflections in the wrong place.

Eventually, I created an enclosed light tent, which minimized the reflections, and produced passable images.
After a period of to-and-fro from the client regarding edits, etc., he fell silent. This MIGHT have been my mail server, or it might have been his, I'm not sure. I had some issues around that period, so the shadow of suspicion would tend to be on my server.
However, he then wrote directly to my tutor...

After a brief discussion, I returned the client's equipment, and left it as that.

OVERALL
 
​This (to use a colloquialism) just turned me off product photography. The client wasn't professional, he expected the world for nothing, and continually asked for edits. Then he wrote directly to my tutor.

​The technical elements of the shoot were quite interesting - if annoying - but I suppose, even from failures, come lessons.
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Developing Professional Practice: Work Experience

3/11/2019

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Sections and Links:

Research

What happened

Communication

Documentation

Post Production

​Conclusions

Actual links to work experience, which covers all these points:

Zombie Bride shoot:
doug-stevens.weebly.com/journal/work-experience-wedding-and-zombie-shoot

Media Students Shoot:
doug-stevens.weebly.com/journal/work-experience

MUA - SCi-Fi Shoot
doug-stevens.weebly.com/journal/mau-sci-fi-shoot

Working with models Article:
doug-stevens.weebly.com/journal/working-with-models-revisited
​
​doug-stevens.weebly.com/journal/working-with-models

​
Razor Shoot
doug-stevens.weebly.com/journal/developing-professional-practice-razor-shoot

Fashion Shoots. It was suggested by Jamie that I use fashion shoots as a part of work experience:
doug-stevens.weebly.com/journal/polly​
​doug-stevens.weebly.com/journal/february-09th-2019
​
​doug-stevens.weebly.com/journal/rogue-rose
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Working with Models revisited.

1/17/2019

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Working with Models through various sites, they have the ability to leave "feedback" on you - both for you, and so other models can form an opinion of you. Here are a few of my more recent ones left on a popular modelling site...

I had a wonderful shoot with Doug.....He was professional, friendly and really easy to work with. We achieved a great deal, shooting at his home studio and out on location, thank you for a lovely shoot. 100% recommended

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Had a really enjoyable shoot with Doug yesterday, I travelled to his house and we shot in his home studio upstairs. He is a very friendly man with a lot of interesting stories to tell, I love to meet a photographer with personality and we got along really well. He makes you feel comfortable as soon as you step into his home, showing you any safety issues as soon as you walk in, which is very comforting. We shot for 4 hours and didn't stop talking nearly all the way through! He taught me a lot about general things in life and I finally got to shoot in some amazing ballet boots!
Thoroughly enjoyed our creative time together and hope to work with him again in the near future.
Thanks,

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had a grest first photo shoot with Doug. loads of pre shoot communication. the theme was 'steam punk'. turned up on time, discussed the outfits he provided which were well suited to the theme. we shot in a few different locations. Doug is very professional as well as laid back and down to earth, also friendly. i love the images we created. and i can't wait to work with him again. thank you for a lovely photoshoot. i would recommend to any model no matter what level of experience you have x
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I had a fantastic shoot with Doug- he's friendly whilst remaining professional, has a great home studio and also tonnes of ideas. Its refreshing to work with somebody so creative, and I'd recommend a shoot with him to anybody. Hope to work together again soon!

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I had a great shoot with Doug today. He was fun, professional and had a great creative touch to his photography. I'd absolutely recommend him to other models and would love to work with him again

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And these are the ladies involved...
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Work Experience. Wedding and Zombie Shoot.

10/24/2018

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd04SwR2eU8 The reason behind the "Barbara" sash.

The MUA's within the Performing Arts team at Knightstone Campus required a photographer to cover their assessment / wedding / zombie shoot.

With a little more notice this time, I arranged a collection of kit, ready for any weather (It was to be a  mainly outdoor shoot) and collected a few props.

I took with me:

Canon 5D MkII with 24-105 lens.
Canon 5D MkII with 70-300 lens.
Elinchron battery flash lights.
Various stands, reflectors, and tripods.

Ultimately, there were three parts to this shoot:
  • Informal / editorial style shoot of the MAU's in action, followed by a head and shoulders of the completed make-over.
  • Wedding style portraits out at Grove Park (Jill's Garden).
  • Zombie shoot in the afternoon in and around Grove Park.

Preparing the models.

I spent a good hour or so, informally shooting the MUA's at work with their respective models. Thankfully, everyone was way too busy to bother about me, so I (think) got some very nice "off-guard" moments.

Lighting was a bit of a nightmare, with tungsten, fluorescent, and natural light mixing it up.
I tried Auto, various metering modes, but finally settled on manual mode for most of the shots.​ I converted to Mono for some of the images where colour was not playing the game.

​ A selection of the images are below (You may have to click to see the proper proportions).
The Bridal shoot.

The Brides came out one by one for a series of set images in and around Jill's Garden. I was ably assisted by four junior MAUs, who lugged kit, held reflectors and were generally worth their weight in gold.

I tended to go with AE, but switched to on camera fill-in flash towards the end, so had to alter settings accordingly. You may have to click on the images to see the correct proportions.
Then, after a quick bite to eat, we were back up to Grove Park for the zombie shoot.

I tried a more flexible approach, and move around with minimal kit (If you consider severed hands "minimal"

Two spots in Grove Park were chosen for most of the shots, although some of the MAUs had done recce's. to check the area out. Some of the results were (Again, you may need to cick to see the full image):
So, as part of "Professional" development, here's a financial / time analysis.

Prep Time 3 hours.
Shooting time 09:30 - 16:30 (6 hours) 1007 images taken.
Editing time (Down to approx 35 contact sheets and 150 images) 6 hours.

Contact sheets were delivered within about four hours, with 150 Images ready to be delivered within 24.

So, in total, 15 hours have gone into this project, most of it in "invisible" hours (Editing, prep, etc.)

PLUS - there is the element of assistants. Without assistants at the shoot, it might not have happened. They held reflectors, lugged kit, and chatted with models and people while we waited for other models to turn up.

I'd say, from a purely financial point of view. I'd have charged £400 for this job. - £320 for me, and £80 for the assistant (In "real life" there would only be one assistant.)
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    Well. Here goes. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
    ​Carpe Diem and all that crap...

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