My Work Experience by Zak Millard

My name is Zak Millard and I am 15 years old. For my two weeks work experience I chose to incorporate a passion of mine, photography.

Christina is a very competent photographer and a easy person to get on with, she is also patient which was good for me because I often forgot something or had to ask twice about an instruction.

My two weeks with Christina have been very helpful. Though I am a aspiring photographer there is much I have learnt, including:

Different lights and there uses.
Different light set ups.
Key photoshop skills.
Exposure compensation.
AV/TV settings.
Composition.
How to keep children's interest!

One of the most useful things Christina has taught me is that of photo editing. Photography isn't all about taking the pictures though obviously this is important. The little tweaks made here and there make a lot of difference and in all honesty before Christina showed me these tweaks I would never have made them myself, so thank you Christina for opening up to me the massive world of Photoshop, photo editing and organisation.

Another interesting experience for me was school photos. On the Tuesday and Wednesday of my first week, we went to Richmond Primary School to do their photos. What an experience it turned out to be. Being picked up at 7.15am to go and set up the background and lights with Andy was the easiest part. After the first few classes Andy left, leaving me in charge of organising the siblings and the classes. It was very daunting and confusing at first but surprisingly I enjoyed it. Working as a photographers assistant felt good and seeing the really nice photos after made all the loud noise and stress worth it!

I also was given the amazing opportunity of co-ordinating my own shoot using all the studio equipment and Christina's Canon EOS 5D, which i have fallen in love with. My family came in and I co-ordinated the shoot while Christina assisted me when I got stuck for ideas or needed light adjustments. Thank you again for the amazing opportunity and for trusting me with your awesome camera, lens and lights!
I have thoroughly enjoyed my two weeks and I hope Christina, although falling behind on work, has enjoyed having me.
These past two weeks have strengthened my resolve to be as good a photographer, hopefully as Christina and also like Christina, make it my occupation.
I will take all the things I have learnt at Christina's and work on them and work on the things Christina has pointed out I need to work on like my organisation!
So thank you again for 1. Having me 2.Teaching me so much and 3. The cheese toasties!
Zak Millard - William Bradford Community College 6th October - 17th October 2008

Comments

Christina Lauder said…

Zak, it has been a great couple of weeks working with you. Your enthusiasm was very infectious and it was such a pleasure to be able to share company with someone who's passion for photography is as big as mine.

You've picked up the editing side of things very well. Keep practicing so that you don't forget what you've learned.

You did well on your first shoot. Your family have some lovely photos to take away from this experience. Keep taking photos. Read magazines, troll through websites and take more photos. Practice makes perfect.

Good luck with your career and I am sure we will see each other again.

Sincerely,
Christina

27 October 2008 at 23:08

I am Still Me: A Story about a Transgender Boy

Meet Leo. Leo is 15 and currently going through an epic transformation that has momentarily turned the lives of himself and those around him upside down. A mum who once had the daughter she always longed for is now coping with the realisation that she will be living the rest of her life with a son instead. When your child is born you have certain expectations of the typical life they will lead but most of us know and accept that it won't necessarily end up the way we imagine. Not every person wants to marry, have kids or be involved with the opposite sex. Most of us have come to accept this and can adjust to whatever comes our way relatively easily. But few of us have expected to have to deal with a change in sex. Its not that we've hoped it won't happen, but just that it never occurred to us that it might. This is a new adjustment that we as a society are being presented with today, just like so many others that have come before. When I first heard that Phoebe

Family Portraits with Fine Art Flair

I have a love and hate relationship with family portraits. I love the finished piece and creating something that is truly special to the family. I love that in years to come something I made is going to be a cherished and valueable memento for this family. What I struggle with, is getting all members of the group to look their best at exactly the same moment in time. You would be surprised at how difficult this actually is, particularly when it comes to 6 children. But I always get there in the end, whether it is the luck of a moment or with the aid of Photoshop. I ensure that everyone in the portrait is looking their best, even the dog. Seeing as this family is actually made up now of two families we also did portraits in their respective groups which I chose to do in different style to their main group. I love adding a bit of style for the overall main group and what you see above is something that is proving popular with my clients. I love adding props and giving a sort of Vani

Fine Art Portraits of a Beautiful Young Girl

So this is really becoming my thing lately. I am having so much fun working with children individually where I can direct and interact in ways that bring the best out of my subject. This has certainly become a process now of creating rather than taking photographs. And its what I have always wanted to be, a portrait artist rather than a photographer. I cannot put into words fully just how rewarding this is. For each of these shoots (as with nearly all of my shoots) we begin with a consultation where we discuss what we would like to achieve in the shoot. Here we will consider the type of clothing and any possible props. We will look at both the clients clothes and my ever growing collection so we can pick what will work best. In all circumstances we are heavily guided by what the child in the portraits wants to wear as I see this as vitally important. If he or she is uncomfortable its going to show and the portraits won't work. But most are happy to play dressups and wear a com

Its a Dog's Life

When life gets tough I always look at dogs or my cats and think how lucky they are. I know not all are treated well but those lucky enough to be in a good home, like the ones who come into my studio, have a really great life. They look so happy and its a wonderful thing to see. I honestly love photographing dogs. They are a joy to work with and its almost impossible to produce a bad portrait of a dog which does of course make my life a little easier. I am someone who really needs to love the work I create. I can't help but love the portraits I've created of all the dogs I've photographed over the years. And this shoot was certainly no exception. I found it a real pleasure using a lighter background this time too. I do often gravitate towards darker looks but seeing as this dog had a light coloured coat I thought I'd produce lighter images. This gave me the chance to use a canvas I painted a couple of years ago but never really used and I absolutely love it

My Associate Panel

As I mentioned in my last blog, I achieved my Associateship in Portraiture with the SWPP (Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers). I just thought I would share with you the panel I submitted. Having sat through the assessment I see that there are a couple of images that I wish I hadn't chosen, more so due to not having enough variety rather than the lack of quality. but overall I am pleased with my submission. I always thought that once I achieved my Associateship I would be done with qualifications. Working towards a Fellowship just seems so unattainable. I don't think I can just sit here not striving towards a goal though. Besides, my husband has already set 5 year plan. So I guess I've not seen the end of qualifications just yet. But don't be expecting any news on this front for quite some time though. A fellowship is on an entirely new level and its going to take a lot of work.

Christina Lauder Portraits

Search This Blog