I chose to come to Pro Motion Media for my work experience due to the wide range of services they offer which would help me decide whether or not to pursue a career in media. The testimonials on their site back up exactly who they are; kind, friendly, helpful and professional. From their site I could see that they were well established within the local market for video and photographic services, which I could also tell from the amount of work we had in the week.
Day 1
Once we had got the fantastic shot we moved onto shooting an angel on the side of an aisle of seats. This took along time due to the background be
either too bright when the angel was exposed correctly or too dark when the background was exposed properly. I learnt how to use a DSLR in manual to get the correct exposure. Because of the lighting we needed to stitch 2 images together in Photoshop Elements in order to get the correct exposure for both the angel and the background.
We then moved to a small room to make a virtual tour. We attached the 8mm Sigma fisheye lens to the Canon 5d MkII so we could capture as much detail as possible. We set the tripod up directly in the middle of the room. The special tripod (Manfrotto 303 plus) allowed us to move the tripod around in sixths so we could make sure we didn’t miss out any parts of the room. We placed the camera in a portrait position and bracketed the exposure. We manually focused on one part of a wall using live view and started taking the pictures. Bracketing allowed us to select the correct exposure of the 3 shots so the virtual tour looked the best it could. We used PTGui software that allowed us to stitch the images together and export as a .mov file, which allows you to view the room from any angle.
Simon then set me a task of taking 5 photographs which would be used by the cathedral on their website. During this, Simon taught me how to use spot metering. Spot metering takes a reading of light from the center point. Then if you press the AE lock button, it keeps that exposure locked for 8 seconds. So you then focus elsewhere and you will get brilliant results. This is best used when there is a bright subject in the background like a window.
Day 2
On the second day we set up a mini studio in which to shoot some commercial flower portraits. We used 2 continuous diffused light sources each having 5 Micansu energy saving 50w spiral lamps with a colour temperature of 5400k. These lights allowed us to back light the flowers and create some really nice effects. We also strung up a black background to make the photographs look more commercial and professional.
Later that day I attached a Canon 100mm Macro lens to my Canon 60d so I could go outside and take some shots of the wildlife. To make sure the subjects are fully lit we attached a Canon 580ex speedlite to a soft box and attached a wired off camera flash cord to my camera's hot shoe. I shot an awesome photograph of a hover fly on a piece of lavender which I have had printed. I learnt that day how to use the diffused flash to backlight my subjects, as my main photographic passion is macro photography.
Later that day the weather improved and we got the call to go shoot some combine harvesters for Cranbourne Estate. I was using the Canon 70-200mm and Simon was using his Canon 24-70mm with ND filters on. Some of the photos were fantastic showing the combines harvesting the crops.
Day 3
In the morning we were editing the photographs from the day before and applying various settings and corrections in Adobe Lightroom. In the afternoon we headed off to Redlynch to a model figurine shop who wanted some figurines photographed for their new website. We set up 4 bright continuous lights to light the figurines correctly. I was using the 100mm macro lens to get close ups of the figurines to show the fantastic painting and quality of the products. I was again using manual mode and auto white balance so I could get some commercial looking photographs.
Day 4
On Thursday we started early, 6:30 to be precise, as we needed to be at Eastleigh for 8:00am to video a seminar. We setup 3 cameras to video the seminar all from the different angles so the customer would get the best possible results.
Later that day I processed my images from the product photography on Wednesday and altered the exposures and white balances because I shot in raw.
Day 5
Today I have written this blog of what I have done during this week of work experience.
I would like to say a big thank you to the guys at Pro Motion Media who have made my week extremely enjoyable and have opened my mind to a career in photography and videography.
Check out my Flickr for more of the photographs from the week.