Looking Up Around Newcastle

These are just some random pictures from a small College project I did last year, where I had to use an usual view point to take some interesting pictures. These pictures were taken from a low view point, looking up at the subject of the picture and were taken around my home town; Newcastle. Since I have the half-term week off, I'm hoping to do another shoot like this in Newcastle.

Fiona; Lara Croft

Once again, I owe Fiona a big thank you for modeling for me. This time she being a iconic video-game character; Lara Croft. Fiona is ready to kick some ass, although we had to improvise some guns I think she looks great and I'm really pleased with some of the pictures from this shoot and hope to do a location shoot in the near future.

Edinburgh Continued

These are some more pictures from my trip to Edinburgh, which I've just edited in College and I'm quite pleased with some of the pictures I've taken and want to visit Edinburgh again. But I'm planning on visiting York or Alnwick next week so that's a start.

Edinburgh

These are some pictures I've just round to editing from my shoot to Edinburgh late last yea. I love Edinburgh it has the feel of a great city, but is completely different from Newcastle and Sunderland, so to me it feels like a whole new world, or at least a different country.

i'd love to spend time photographing Edinburgh in all its glory. I visited the city before Christmas to visit a few museums and galleries for College but we spent most of our time wandering around this fairground we found along the high-street. Unfortunately I've only just got round to editing and uploading these pictures so I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed shooting them.

Fellow Photographers

I'm studying an Extended Diploma in Photography at the moment, and part of the course is to learn how photographers promote themselves in the digital age so I've got some links from some other photographers on my course. Everyone on my course is producing great work and there sites and blogs are well worth checking out.

https://www.facebook.com/NickDunnPhotography

http://craigdixonphotography.blogspot.co.uk/
macaramorrisonphotography123.blogspot.co.uk
http://ellendixonphotography.blogspot.co.uk
afmillerphoto.tumblr.com

Craig; Superman Cosplay

Once again my mate Craig takes on the part of Superman/Clark Kent, this time he swaps his costume for an S-Man t-shirt, white collared shirt, black waistcoat and red tie (I wish I'd remembered the glasses, they would've been a nice touch). These are the first few pictures from this shoot, which I'm a bit skeptical about but I did get some good pictures of the Man of Steel.

Swing Bridge

This is a photo of the Swing Bridge crossing the River Tyne. I think the Swing is a beautiful bridge and piece of engineering built and installed by Lord Armstrong, it spans the River Tyne and can swing on a centre axis powered by hydraulic pumps to allow large river traffic to continue up/down stream. The bridge is a common sight in Newcastle and is one of the seven bridges that are closely associated with the city and the river. I took this picture using a FujiFilm FinePix S3400, Aperture; f/8, Shutter Speed; 1/140, ISO; 200 and White Balance; Sunlight.

Millennium Bridge

I've been to London a few times now, mostly for school trips to museums and galleries but I always like to try and get a few pictures while I'm there. Last year I went for a Geography trip and got some great pictures which I completely forgot about so I thought I'd upload a few of the Millennium Bridge. 

Hopefully I'll go back one day just to take pictures and explore the city on a holiday rather than school trips and hopefully I'll have some better weather. the day i took this was alright until 12 o'clock and then it rained for the next 3 days and flooded the underground when we went to see a show.

View of the Tyne

Im from the city of Newcastle in the North East of England; known for the Great North Run, Newcastle United, The River Tyne and the Nightlife. 

I know a lot of people who hate Newcaslte, but I'll always think of it as a beautiful yet gritty city that I call home. I grew up 20 minutes from Newcastle, I've supported the football team for years, enjoyed the nightlife and of course photographed the landmarks.

The Tyne divides Newcastle on the North bank and Gateshead on the South Bank, and the seven bridges that connect the city and town are some of the best known landmarks of the area. The Newcastle-Gateshead Quayside is one of my favorite pictures as it features the bridges, the Sage Music Hall and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art. Its a great place to see art and create some.

HDR Shield's Groyne

This is my first attempt at HDR Landscapes, which I took at South Shield's Groyne last month, using a Nikon D5100, a wide-angle lens and a tripod. HDR (High Dynamic Range) is a modern photography technique, where a photographer takes three shoots of the same photograph on three different exposures and then overlays them on PhotoShop to produce a final image which has a combined dynamic range of the three different exposures. I'm not really keen on HDR images as they look overdone and unrealistic but I'm really proud of my first attempt.

Low-Key Macara

While doing second superhero shoot with Macara I got some great Low-Key portraits, but as they aren't obviously cosplay pictures I thought I'd post them separately as they look really good and the low lighting and shadows work really well with the deep reds of her hair. 

I really like Low-Key Portraiture, although I'm not a massive fan of Portraiture altogether; I only really appreciate portraiture when I can put an original or unusual spin on the genre. High-Key portraits can easily look dull and uncreative, as it can simply be a case of putting a model in-between a camera and a backdrop and pressing the shutter. But Low-Key can easily look far more dramatic and creative, as its about what the photographer lights and captures as well as what they leave in the dark. 

Colors also appear more deep and dark, which works well with darker skin and more colorful hair. I could have easily shoot this picture against a white background and gently lit my model with lights but shooting against a black background using a continuos soft-box or honeycomb makes the subject appear far more mysterious and intense. 

Superhero Cosplay

These are some of the pictures from my first two superhero cosplay shoot (which was really just for a laugh) staring Fiona as Batgirl and Poison Ivy, Macara as Supergirl and Black Canary and Craig as Superman. I really wanted to do a fun shoot and since my friends had just been to a fancy dress party it was another chance for them to wear there costumes and get some pictures. I was really pleased with this shoot and because it was so much fun I'm planning another cosplay shoot for next week starring She-Hulk, Lara Croft, Superman, Lois Lane and Red Riding Hood.

Fiona MacDonald 2

These are some of the pictures I took of Fiona around the Sage in Gateshead, with a focus on Depth of Field. I really liked this shoot, the graffiti on the walls make the background really bright and colorful. Fiona looked create and her mix of dark and bright clothes and hair really complimented and worked with the bright background. The day of the shoot was also grey and miserable which added an element of grit and harshness to the shoot. Overall, I'm really pleased and look forward to hearing what you guys think.

Fiona Macdonald

These are some of my favourite pictures from my shoot of Fiona Macdonald around the High-Level Bridge and Newcastle Keep. This wasn’t a particularly serious shoot, I was mainly just for fun and so I could see what the area would be like for a portraiture shoot. I was really pleased with this shoot and got some interesting and funny photos of Fiona. The rest are on my Facebook page; https://www.facebook.com/NickDunnPhotography

My Photography

I started Photography when I took an A-Level course in 2010, which I completed in 2012 and achieved a B grade. I really enjoyed the subject, and during my course I focused heavily on Street Photography and photographed the Newcastle Quayside Market, City Centre and Old Market regularly. During this time I also tried Landscape, Urban, Portraiture Photography but my work was always creatively based rather than technically. After Sixth Form I started studying a Extended Diploma in Photography at Newcastle College, I've almost finished the first year of the course and I'm loving it. I've meet new people, learned new techniques and developed my portfolio of work. Currently I'm working on some Landscapes and Portraiture ideas and experimenting with Cosplay in my studio photography and hopefully I'll get some uploaded here. Stay Tuned.

First Post

This is my first post of my first blog. I am a 19 year old photographer student from Newcastle, in the North East of England. I have 2 years of experience and an A-Level in Photography and I'm studying an Extended Diploma at the moment. I have a wild field of interests, both inside and outside of Photography although I am mainly interested in Street, Portraiture and Landscapes.

Soon I will be posting and uploading some of work, so stayed tuned.