Update ... yes I am still alive :)

Things have been nothing short of 'manic' lately.

These past few months have been very busy and I've found it difficult to find time to dedicate to the next assignment. However this being said, I do already have a whole range of images I need to sort into some kind of order and get moving which should progress me at least halfway through, so there is light at the end of tunnel … I just need to prioritize my work load!

That being said, I have been quite busy with my photography is another capacity, of which I am quite proud of.

I’ve been working with and supplying the ‘Snow Leopard Trust’ some of my photographs for their advertising and merchandise, working towards greater awareness for these endangered cats and helping their conservation.

Using imagery to spark awareness is one of the most effective ways at appealing to the public and spreading the word, by helping make people aware of the issues that are so often overlooked.

This has, from what I am told, gone down extremely well and the response to their cause has increased which is fantastic for all concerned, epically the snow leopard. Within the next 2 weeks we will also hear if they have won and/or come in the top 3 of the BBC World Challenge, which again my photographs have been used to aid the cause.

Other projects keeping me busy have been on a similar track, offering my photographs for advertising and commercial use to my local wildlife park, Marwell and Cotswolds Wildlife Park, both of which carryout fantastic conservation work.

I’ve have also taken it upon myself to create and publicize my own ‘coffee table’ style wildlife book, which can be seen here:

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2626661

So, over the past few months, having a cause, a reason has greatly increased my appreciation for both photography and wildlife. I’m disappointed I haven’t been able to progress my course, but I will, that’s the beauty of it being part-time.  

Last of all, I’d just like to say this final statement:

“Sit back and imagine a world without the diverse wildlife we have, imagine waking up on a spring morning without the beautiful sound of birds singing in the trees. Not being able to take your child to a zoo to see their first tiger in the flesh, to hear its roar and witness the sheer power and presence of these magnificent animals. They are not there on show, but are part of a greater conservation effort. It’s now when you realise that we must act, to do what we can do to help.

With the obvious conclusion that we as a species could not survive without animals and insects, they have a right to be here and to be protected from us, who are their main source of distinction.”

Thank you

Snow Leopard Cubs

Ok, so most people that know me, know I am sort of animal mad, wildlife photography is where I’d love to specialise in. I thought I would get that out of the way, as to pre-warn everybody that as the heading suggests, it’s been a very exciting time for me and at my local wildlife park, Marwell.

Firstly I must say a HUGE thank you to my fiancée for putting up with my photography madness so far this year and my daughter for dragging her everywhere and to some extent, constantly going on about this.

So ..... several month ago Marwell Wildlife Park announced their snow leopards had finally mated and that their litter was due around the beginning of June 2011.  Subsequent to this the new cubs were reared by their mother and kept inside for 12 weeks, until they had their jabs and were deemed safe.

August 25^th was their first release date into their new environment.

As soon as I’d heard I knew I/we had to get over there to see them. Rather excitedly we planned a day out for the Saturday and rushed to their enclosure to see them. We met up with several fellow photographers from the Marwell Photographic Group who had been there since 8.30am (before general public were let in) and they’d said there had been no sighting! Neither had there been a sighting throughout the entire Friday.  We waited for a while and decided it best to walk around the park, see the other animals and come back every now and then for an update. We did this until about 4pm where I was quite happy I’d seen everything and wanted to spend the next few hours waiting by the snow leopard enclosure. Luckily as time passed, there was a buzz of excitement on one side of the enclosure where they could see a small white face appearing from within the dark black entrance. Then several moments later, a head appeared, then a body, white and fluffy, with an expression of pure innocence and wonder. It was amazing sight to see, all that waiting was more than worth it.

Below here is the first photograph I captured on that Saturday the 27^th August 2011

Is it safe?

Now, me being me, at first I was over the moon, and couldn’t believe our luck that one cub had decided to venture out without his mothers approval. Then it started to niggle at me, that really, one isn’t enough, I want more, I wanted to see them all ... and not just at the door but outside playing (I don’t ask much). I made a point that day that I wasn’t happy getting a photograph of them, from such a distance you couldn’t see detail (unless you have a huge zoom) or photographing them through the wires so again the images were distracted and unclear.

On the Sunday we had a family hike planned, which didn’t turn out quite as planned so I mentioned perhaps we should go back to Marwell and try again. We arrived at 2pm and went straight up to the enclosure, again it was reported that there had been no sighting of the cubs. I told my fiancée and daughter to go enjoy the rest of the zoo while I waited and I’d text them if anything happened.

What you’ll now see is exactly what happened several hours later, after most people had given up and gone home, a few of us remained and I can only express my joy in sharing the wonders that Marwell do as a conservation park. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did.

Protective Mother

Cub on the loose!

I'm ready for my Cute shot

I'm still a little unsure about this

Where'd everybody go!

Easy does it ... easy

err which way was it?

Up to mischief

One brave little cub

I'm not always cute, I'm a big fierce snow leopard

Did YOU Know!

Snow leopards have small ears and a thick dense coat with a soft woolly undercoat to help keep their body temperature regulated in the extreme cold. They have large feet to aid at distributing their weight when walking on snow. Their tail can be up to 1m in length which helps for balance and is used as a draught excluder when wrapped around their body to protect from the harsh winters.

Snow leopards are not white! Their coats range from white, yellow, grey, mottled with black spots and rosettes which act as perfect camouflage against the mountain terrain.

They are an endangered species, despite all the charity work and conservation work that we do. 

A Day trip to Lundy Island

While taking a short break between assignments I still make sure I have time to get out and about and most of take my camera. Last weekend I managed to get away to Lundy Island (of the north west coast of Devon) a remote island which became England's first Marine Conservation Zone.

Word of warning, check the weather first! and for those of you who are pure land lovers ..... there's plenty of sick bags on board, as I found out on my trip over. Needless to say the captain of the boat that took us over warned everyone that the seas were slight to moderate .... Moderate ... heed this warning ... Moderate basically means 10ft high waves and you'll probably spend the next 2 hours trying to sit still, stand (without falling over) and trying to avoid becoming another statistic ... holding a sick bag!

Although in saying that, the trip is well worth it, the island is peaceful and beautiful and must for all those hikers, campers and photographers. They even ban mobile phones from the local pub, and if you don't like you can always try the next one ... ah, no wait, there is only 1 pub on Lundy.
All though on our trip we didn't see any Puffin's (my main reason for going) we did enjoy a lovely hike around the island, some great history and landscapes.

Weather was dry, but overcast which is the topic of the next set of photos I'd like to share .... I title these
"The darker side of Lundy"

All alone

Storm coming

Sit and wonder

Angry clouds

Battered Wall 

Time to think

My Photography Website

With my photography unit progressing nicely, I have created and made several changes to my website recently, some of which are still under construction. However I thought I would share what I've been up to, photography wise, outside of my 'normal' day to day job.

www.jasonbrownphotography.co.uk

Please take a look, any feedback is always greatly appreciated. 

Fashion shoot for Alishas

I recently had another opportunity to photograph some portraits for a local business in Southampton.
I thought this would be another great venture to help develop my artistic potential and work with people, learning to interact, direct and aim to bring the models inner beauty out through various expressions.

Below, I would like to share some of the photographs taken.

All photographs have been slightly edited to enhance the colours and lighting, with the exception of the final image. I decided to edit this final photo so that it portrayed a mix of black/white and colour within it. I'm quite happy with the result here, as the main focus of the image stands out, yet the hands create an interesting feature that doesn't over power the image, but adds balance, contrast and statement. 

The next step is to airbrush some of the models to give them a more 'magazine' feel and look, which is then to be used as advertising. 

My personal preference would be to leave them as they are so that the models are shown in their raw natural beauty. 

Fashion shoot for Gold Factory

I had a unique opportunity recently where I attended a photo shoot in London, with the focus on jewellery and Indian fashion. To date I had only photographed a few friends children using my mobile studio set up and a couple of lights. Although I have been very pleased with my results and received some heartwarming feedback, I was now stepping out of my comfort zone and being asked to photograph models and fashion for a specific reason.

I decided I needed to do some background research so I immediately stated to look on the internet at various fashion photographers for basic poses, composition ideas and inspiration.

Although I didn’t have any say or control on the models make-up, clothing and jewellery it was down to me to bring the passion and expression out of the models to be able to get the photos we needed.

Looking at the likes of Alex James, James Nader and Julia Kennedy was inspiring and some of their photographs breathe taking. Their range of subject and portrayal of emotion in their photographs were truly amazing. Certainly something I’d like to aspire towards.

Below is a selection of photographs I took at the Gold Factory, London.

At the end of the day, I found this an extremely worthwhile venture and experience. Going through some of the photos afterwards, I am glad I shot everything in RAW as some of the lighting/exposure required tweaking and produced better results once processed through Photoshop. I am very pleased with the results and have received some great feedback from the models, make-up artist and client on how relaxed the models were and how professional and focused I was.

If anything, I can walk away from this with an understanding that it’s not all glamour, and in fact it’s actually long hours and hard work. Attention to detail and good communication is vital and post production ‘does’ take time too. Perhaps one day in the future I will become an inspiration to others ….. only time will tell. 

Gathering my thoughts

Time is slowly ticking by, so in the past week I've decided to look ahead and have started thinking and planning for my first assignment ... Contrasts.

The assignment suggests a list of contrasting words, such as Black/White or Light/Heavy which should be illustrated via the photographic medium.

Since I've had my DSLR I've been fascinated and inspired by the images portrayed in the generic photographic magazines and photographer of the year publications; so much so that my fiancée calls me a little twitcher as I'll spend hours at a time, waiting for the opportunity to photograph native birds or local wildlife, grabbing every opportunity to photograph passers by and their dogs.

Of all the areas, I enjoy wildlife the most; last time I went to Marwell Zoo I used up both memory cards I had with me, and brought back over 700 photos in RAW to look through and process! I could sit, watch and wait all day to get that perfect picture.

However I digress ... my assignment will hopefully reflect my passion for wildlife and nature.

Looking through all the options I have decided on which pairs of Contrasts to illustrate. Some ideas of how to show these came quickly, others, not so! Some are obvious but as with all photography, finding that single approach that is different and expressive, I feel, turns a good photo into a great or memorable photo with depth and meaning, that engulfs the viewer and provokes a reaction.

I have one more exercise to complete and I'm half way through compiling my first assignment. I'm also looking forward to another photo filled weekend where I'll hopefully be ready to print everything and submit later next week. As I want this unit to be formally assessed, my tutor has advised I print large format (A4 minimum). Mounting the photos together with technical details and thoughts will be a challenge in itself... double sided or larger than A4 .. A3?

.... Need a bigger work station!

It's Dark Day!

There's nothing like a set back that puts a damper on your day, and makes you think twice about how you are doing things!

Over the weekend, while working on my next post and set of exercises, the hard drive I kept all my photographs on decided to give up and die!
No amount of effort or well basically anything could retrieve the data, so I eventually lost everything. To my own admission and fault, I hadn't gotten around to backing my work up.
The next 6 exercises were lost as too where were a fair few photos :(

Thankfully this has given me a kick up the behind and I've now sorted a dedicated lap-top for my work and photo editing, together with an additional Portable Hard Drive for backing all my work up!
My equipment was new, who thought it would die on me .... Moral of the story .... Back it up!

6 weeks behind schedule, BUT I refuse to let this set back, deter me, we learn from our mistakes and battle onwards