23-04-11

19-04-11

Digital shoot

I'm having a lot of money issues lately, basically I'm skint! Also, I'm shooting a lot of my project over the easter holiday which means I will not have access to the darkroom facilities at uni. I won't be able to process the film myself and there isn't enough time to wait until we get back. Therefore, I will be shooting this project on digital. I am not overly happy about this, but it does make things a lot easier. Also, I don't use digital very often so it would be good to have some digital images in my portfolio at the end of the year.

Phytophthora Tree Disease

I've decided to concentrate on the Phytophthora tree disease in South Wales, in particular the Afan area.  On my first shoot a worker from the Forestry Commission showed me around the area where it a lot of the felling has happened, and it still happening. His job is directly involved with the Phytophthora disease so he has a lot of knowledge on it all.
I chose to shoot on black and white and colour 35mm for my first shoot so I could decide what looks better for this project. I was worried black and white would not work well in such a colourful environment. Here are some of the comparisons. I prefer the black and white images, however I do think the colour ones work well too.
I don't think it is clear from the images what the project is about, so in the final presentation I will be sure to add in a lot of textual facts explaining the disease and the actions the workers have had to take.

Forestry Commission Contacts

I received this email from someone who works at the Forestry Commission in South Wales-

"Your enquiry  regarding environmental photography  has been passed on to me by my Director,
I think we have quite a good opportunity for you in S Wales as we are currently dealing with a outbreak of a tree disease that is killing larch trees that is partly linked to climate change, we also will be having a very large wind farm built on FCW managed land and we supply wood fuel to a biomass power station in Port Talbot that supplies the national grid there are photo opportunities from large machinery working to close up's of trees suffering from the tree disease and our staff and contractors who deal with this" 

I also have permission to photograph in the Forest of Dean, which is a lot closer however they do not have as much manual things to photograph. I received this email from them-
 

"I have been passed your email.  I'm quite happy for you to come over, but actually what to photograph might be quite difficult.  A lot of the work is adapting techniques in management of trees which are difficult to express visually.  There is a team based at both Alice Holt in Farnham and in Bristol.  You're quite welcome to come to the Dean and take photos but will need to discuss what you want to focus on.

 

Have a look at the following link to our website and let me know how we might help.

 

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-7m8f59"

 

I need to look into what it is I want to photograph at the Forest of Dean, and whether they can be of any help to me.

 

 

There's also this link that i have been sent which is about using the wood to fuel renewable energy in South Wales-

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-6HYJAE

New direction....just concentrate on forests

Ok, so after my tutorial with Anthony I have decided it would be best just to concentrate on one particular area. It was far too broad before.

I want to concentrate on stories that are realted to forests/woodlands.

I have arranged shoots with different eco-villages-

Tipi Valley in Wales

Coed Hills in Wales

Round House in Wales

I have also got permission to photograph with various forestry commission bases in Wales and England, with issues related to climate change and tree diseases.

I also still plan on going to Westonbirt Arboretum

I want to photograph the relationship people have with trees, whether they live with them or work with them. I want to see ways in which people use trees. The overall issue I will be looking at is Climate Change. The land has been radically impacted by humans, we essentially live in a concrete world now. So it would be interesting to see the people who still have a relationship with the remaining forests and woodland, and to look into the need to sustain them.

What direction to go in?! lots of questions i need to find the answers to

So far, I  have arranged to photograph a wind farm being put up in South Wales, the staff at Westonbirt Arboretum, and the landfill site/recycling center in Gloucester.

The wind farm will take a few weeks from beginning to end.-ENERGY

The work at Westonbirt is an ongoing process for years to come,and they do a lot of different work there. -TREES

 

The visit to the landfill site and recycling centre will last an hour each. I am also able to photograph the bin men on their rounds. I would rather have longer at the landfill site and recycling centre, but this is all the access I could get.-WASTE / RECYCLE

I don't know where to go from here.

Should I focus purely on one area? 

Or should I branch out and look at other areas as well? 

So far I have only focused on the good that people are doing, should I look at the bad as well so i can compare?

Will looking at other subject areas make it too vague?

Should I focus on one particular theme?

Other areas I would like to look into are- 
consumption - pollution - light pollution - population - individual waste