Plus 'Journal' Critical Reflections on How The Photoshoot Went

After taking my first photoshoot I travelled to three locations in Cornwall to capture some of the scenery and environment. There was some concern over the weather as it was late summer and the weather is very unreliable in Cornwall. at the start of the day it was very cloudy and I was some what frightened of not being able to capture the sky because of the sheet of clouds. As the day progressed the weather became better, there was no rain and I was able to go to St Michael's Mount, Minack Theatre and Fistrel Beach. 

I started the day of down at the National Trust property of St Michael's Mount. Due to it being surrounded by water I was hopping to find youths taking part in some type of water sports of enjoying the beach. This was one of the first photos that I captured on my shoot. I like the image of a father and presumably his son walking along the beach. This photo does advertise Cornwall's beauty and there coastlines and this was one of my main aims. My concern over this image though is that it doesn't relate to my target audience. I feel like with some editing on this image to make it brighter and more appealing I feel like it could be a serious contender to make it on one of my products but due that it doesn't really relate to my target audience. 

Whilst being down at St Michael's Mount I did come across a couple of youths paddle boarding in the sea beside the iconic structure of St Michael's Mount. This image will work really well possibly on my contents page or on my double page spread as it shows youths part taking in outdoors sports. This would work well because it shows my target audience participating in activities in locations that I'm advertising. I will want to make this image again slightly brighter as the day was very overcast and puts a damper on the image. 

This is a direct image of St Michael's Mount and is something that may feature on the front cover of my magazine. The reason why I would want this on the front of my magazine is because it stands out and shows why Cornwall is known for its beauty. The problem again with this image is that it have a very low amount of light. This is because the day was very cloudy and the sun never broke through so its actually difficult to see the main focus point in some areas and because of this, it will need to be edited before used. 

This image was taken while walking up to St Michael's Mount as the sea began to go out. I liked the fact how I managed to capture St Michael's Mount fully surrounded by water but when walking out I seen these rocks and I thought this would look good to capture some of the Cornish landscape. As the water was still going out the rocks was breaking through and I was hopping there would be nice rock formations but unfortunately this was not the case and the rocks were actually very scattered. This photo still could be potentially used on one of my products.  

This image was taken while I was inside the dock of the St Michael's Mount. As the water had gone out by this point you can see all the boats currently docked and it looks very appealing. This image works very well in the sense of advertising Cornwall and showing its attractive side but again its a concern of if it will appeal to my target audience again. 

By the time I got to Minack Theatre the weather actually picked up and the image does look a lot brighter and more attractive to the eye. In Minack Theatre you couldn't capture the whole place in one image but this was my favourite of the day. I like how it captures all the structure of the theatre and how could potentially relate to my target audience because of the plays that take place there. 

This image was taken in Newquay when it was concluding my day. I got down to Fistrel back in order to catch the sunset. This was probably the best session I had because when working with direct sunlight it always looks better at sunrise or sunset because the image doesn't look so flat. In the foreground I have a couple people to add to the focus point because I don't believe the sun set would of made the photo complete. Furthermore they're hard to see so I potentially need to make them stand out slightly more without making them over powering compared to the the actual focus point (the sunset). 

This is another photo at fistrel beach when I was catching the sunset. This time I had a small hedge in the foreground which I don't think looks at good but its still another alternative. 

Genre/Institution Research

Genre/Institution

History:

Humans have been creating wall art for as long as we have been living in caves. This wall art is ranged from artistic displays to marketing/promoting a new product/service for a business. The industry of billboards started in the mid-1860’s where it actually became possible for people to buy billboard space from outdoor advertising companies. A few years later the International Billboards Poster Association of North America (IBPANA) was formed. The association is still active today but has made many changed like the length of its name to adapt to changes in advertising as it now covers many other kinds of outdoor advertising signs and mediums beyond traditional outdoor billboards. Because of the rapid growth in automobiles in the 1900’s it contributed heavily to explosive growth of the use of billboard marketing. Outdoor of advertising has steadily evolved to meet the needs of a growing and continuously more sophisticated and regulated marketplace. Ongoing innovation has seen the size of billboards change along with changes in the materials used as well as upgrades in technology. Improvements in other industries have also played a key role in the evolution of outdoor advertising. Such as the light industry has come a long way which now makes outdoor advertising viable at night and in a much more attractive and effective way. Despite the rise of other advertising mediums such as Tv, radio and internet the outdoor advertising still remain as strong as ever. There are a growing number of outdoor advertising companies being formed every year. This strong, consistent growth is ramping up competition within the industry and fuelling innovations that continue to drive outdoor advertising to new heights of relevancy and effectiveness for those who utilise it.

Systems of Production:

The design of billboards depends on many factors such a location of the sign, the advertising budget, and the type of product being promoted. The industry uses a lot of research to estimate the frequency and number of exposures the advertising will gave upon its target audience. The location of the billboard can also help the determine the type of sign selected by the advertiser. Large billboards usually have three main comments: steel to construct and support the frame, artwork that conveys the advertising message and electrical equipment for lighting and other special effects. There are two types of billboards. Hand-painted billboards are usually used for small campaigns that want to create a special look. More often, billboards are produced from poster panels that are mass-produced copies of the original artwork. Most modern billboards are electrically lit and therefore require appropriate lighting and power systems to make sure the billboard is visible at night. While many billboards are located in major metropolitan areas, others can be found in remote areas along interstates. In both cases, it is very impractical to have to travel to each sign every night to turn on the lights. Therefore, automatic switches have been developed to turn on the lights at specified times. Other systems use photosensitive cells to turn on the lights when dusk sets.

Examples: 

Bergey: Sky. A billboard produced by JWT agency from India, which implemented optical illusion to express the message, ‘Natural Finish Colours’, in a clear manner. 

DHL: Maze. For this gigantic 3D billboard, a small, red ball rolls from point A to B via the shortest route. After it finished the journey, it will be transported through an invisible conveyor belt within the billboard back to the top to begin the journey again. Again and again, yes, always the right way.

Penline Stationary: Strong Tape. No other tape advertisement can be better than this one, a tape that can stick up a billboard firmly.

‘The same text can belong to different genres in different countries or times.’ - John Hartley

(Billboard) Survey Monkey on What Target Audience Want

I recently created a survey to find out some primary research into what my audience will be and what features they would like to see on a regional magazine billboard. This primary research will become valuable information when it comes to creating my own product.

My first question was a very basic one but will still provide just as important information to my research. I asked the question, 'Are you male or female?' and 60% of the responses were female. I will have to keep this in mind when looking at other results as gender can effect all other questions. As most of the people who answered are also female this may lead to them becoming my main target audience.

My follow up question was again a very simple and basic one buy still providing important research and this was, 'What is your age?'. As you can see the majority of my responses came from people who are under the age of 18. This will mean that a lot of themes I use will have to appeal to this age group and attract them to my product. There was still a lot of responses who were in the game bracket 18-29, this tells me that they will be more of my secondary audience so I will still have to have themes and colours that will appeal to them as well. Finally there was a small section of people in the 45-59 age bracket. As this was by far the lowest amount of responses this age bracket won't affect many of my decisions. 

 My third question, I asked 'What is your sexuality?'. Unanimously my results shown me that over 95% of my potential audience is Heterosexual which means that my Billboard is going to have to have themes and colours that relate to this audience.

 By asking the question, 'What is your approximate average household income?', I can understand the type of audience that are potentially going to buy my magazine. This then can affect the price of the magazine and the content of my billboard. Certain colours like purple relate to people who have a high household income as purple connotes royalty and gold is another colour which would relate to them as well. So by finding out that the majority of my audience is at the lower end of this scale I can find out what colours and themes to incorporate on my billboard. 

My next question I asked was, 'What is your ethnicity'?. From these results you can see that almost 90% of the responses was White. This means that my images and the text I use will be based around traditional British themes. As a lot of regional magazines based in Cornwall also represent to this audience I will use some of there traditional themes in order to attract my audience. As Cornwall is majority white anyway, I expected these results. 

As ill be creating a lifestyle regional magazines, I need to find out what content my audience would like to see in it and from here I came represent them onto my billboard. From the results of this question you can see that the responses are fairly spread out. The most popular hobbies though are: Music, Sports, Watching TV and Shopping. This means that i need to incorporate these themes in the magazine but also on my promotional products such as the billboard in order to grab there attention and attract them to my magazine. 

This question I asked my potential audience what colours they would find appealing on a billboard. As I have so many colours that audience would like to see on my billboard this question doesn't really help me all that. I was hopping for two or three dominant colours that I could incorporate but as there is such a wide spread I will have to choose colours that contrast each other and work well on a billboard while possible including the other colours inside my actual magazine. 

This was one of my most important questions as this would determine would content would actually appear on my billboard. As you can see that the images are very important to my audience so I will need good quality images which are simple but appeal to the eye. A lot of focus will go into my photos now and I will also have to take into consideration my previous questions to see what gender and age would like to see with what colours. As the image will be the main feature to my billboard you can see that almost 25% of people also thought that the colours would be vital. So I will have to apply this too on my billboard. 

My next question I asked was, 'where would you like to see a regional magazine billboard?'. From my results it seems that people like to see a billboard in a town centre or a large shopping centre. these two locations are very popular for people to be in on a daily basis. These locations could also become popular for tourists in the right season. If my billboard was in this location people would be able to have a good look and potentially longer look at it instead of it being by a motorway which people don't think is a good idea. 

My final question that I asked my audience was, 'do you prefer still or digital billboards?'. From here I got a complete mix of results. People just edged the fact that they liked a still billboard over a digital one although this was also tied with the 'either' option. From these results I don't think what ever option I choose will affect the potential audience buying my magazine or not. 

Original Images (Website)

Original Images (Billboard)

Journal 'Critical Reflection' on Shoot (Billboard)

For my billboard the images that I was going to use was from St Michael's Mount which was where I started my photoshoot. Because I was focusing on my billboard in this area I wanted to get the majority of my photos landscape and appealing to the eye from a quick glance as many people will only quickly view a billboard.

 This image was taken beside the notorious St Michael's Mount. As St Michael's Mount is surrounding by water I thought that there may be many scenarios in which 'youths' are partaking in water based activities. Although I did capture this image in which there is presumably a father and son walking in the shallow depths of the sea. I feel like as this image does not include a 'youth' it may not appeal to my target audience. But then again this image does really advertise the location and the fact that it can be a family experience. When reaching your teenage years, for many, its the last years you spend constantly with your parents and therefore this could advertise a good experience for a family while they can. 

This is a landscape shot of St Michael's Mount with the causeway making an appearance. This image captured a lot of light bouncing off the shadow sea and the causeway giving the image a not very nice gaze although I feel like this image could still work through editing. I do like how bright and vibrant this image is and additional bright colours and images will attract to my target audience. 

This is another long shot of st Michael's Mount. This landscape photo like the one above has a lot of dead space around the main focus (St Michael's Mount). This dead space is where I can put my catch line to draw people in. As people are not going to view my billboard for very long this text can't be very long but I have left enough dead space on the top half of the image to have some bold catch line. Furthermore I wanted the rock in the foreground where I will be able to put the title of my magazine, this will not be the main focus point of my billboard but I feel like it should make an appearance to get the name out and this photo complements that idea. 

Designs for Ancillary (Flat Plans)

These are some of my designs that relate to the creation of my billboard. I have created three different designs and annotated them all individual. 

Photography/Lightning Research (Billboard)

Photography Research:

Photography is essential in order to create a successful and attractive product. Over the past 20 years there has been outstanding changes in digital photography and is one of the most popular advancements. Until the invention of digital cameras, film was used to capture images which would be made visible through photographic processing. As digital photography has also come along way and I'm in a fortune enough place to use high-end quality cameras this quality should transfer into the images.
When it comes to creating my Billboard I will be mainly focusing on taking landscape photos. For most of my other products I will be mainly focusing on  two shots as they fit the convention for a regional magazine, EWS (Extreme Wide Shot) & VWS (Very Wide Shot). Although as my potential consumers will only see my billboard for a very short amount of time the immediate impact of my billboard needs to be huge. Using a EWS or a VWS on a billboard will not put as much focus on the product therefore not catch the attention of my potential market. I will want my product as the centre of the attention on the billboard and to make it stripped back as simplicity would work well here.

Ross Hoddinott, aged 37, is among UK's leading outdoor photographers and is published is many national magazines including Digital SLR Photography and Wild Planet Magazine. Ross is well known for his close encounters with wildlife and also his landscape photos of many stunning UK places and coastlines. Ross was born in North Cornwall and still dedicates the majority of his work to this area. This region and its natural history is a constant inspiration to him. As I'm creating a regional magazine in the same region as the majority of his work, I can take a lot of inspiration from his work. He has captured many images from destinations in Cornwall in which Im planning to visit. In particular I mentioned that I would be planning on visiting St Michael's Mount and capturing its eye catching scenery. Ross, already has previous work in his areas and looking and some of his work will allow me to plan and construct a more productive and successful photoshoot.

This is one of Ross' imagoes of St Michael's Mount and one that I believe will work well on my billboard. I will hoping to take a similar photo to this but with the product larger so it will appeal to the eye. The concept of the image will appeal to my audience as its located in the same region so the audience can relate to the image.






Lighting Research:

Natural:
There are many different types of lighting used in photography. One from of lightning is natural lightning either inside or outdoors. It is probably the most flattering form of light as it how we see most things everyday.

Window Light:
Window light is not direct sunlight coming through the house but when it comes through the window it creates a sense of clam and mood to any image.

Outdoors:
Direct sunlight can be very difficult when taking photos as they can cause many unwanted shadows and the worst part is you can't control it.

Natural Plus Fill in flash:
This is used when you have no choice to shoot in direct sunlight, if you use flash it will always keep the sun behind the subject.

Ambiant:
Ambient light is general 'man-made' light that surrounds us. It softens any contrast between brightly lit task areas and their surroundings.

Studio:
Studio lightning is used when taking a portrait, close up or interior photography and is suggested that using high end lighting will benefit you massively.

As I'm creating a regional lifestyle magazine and all my products will relate to this I will be mainly using outdoor lighting. As my Billboard needs to sell my magazine I will need to use some iconic images of famous Cornish destination and/or coast lines and represent in all the Billboard. So I will be working with direct sunlight but believe this will benefit me. The best time to take landscape photos outside would be at sunrise and sunset as these creating the most interesting photos.

Analyse 3 Existing Products (Billboard)

Billboard Analysis

For one of my ancillary tasks I will be creating my own billboard to promote my product. Beforehand I will be analysing three existing products in order to get a good knowledge and understanding of what is required on a billboard, its location and how it attracts its potential audience. With the amount of billboards and advertisements that pop up around us all the time is forever increasing and it’s becoming more and more competitive.

As this game debuted back in 1977 it gained big publicity through its advertisement mediums and became one of the most universally acclaimed video gaming series. To advertise the release of Grand Theft Auto V (or five) these super-sized billboard creative’s have appeared along L.A.'s busy streets, and the individual ads focus on two of the three main characters in the new game. The giant-sized billboard spied along Wilshire Boulevard on September 4, 2013 features 'Michael', a rich and miserable family man (and former bank robber) who's addicted to chaos and looks like he's about to have a major mid-life crisis. This character from the video game would attract a lot of young adults to buy the game as this character is dangerous as he is ‘addicted to chaos’. This would then relate to a media theorist as Hebdige said that ‘Youth is fun, Youth is trouble’. The general rule of thumb for a billboard is not to include that much writing as were always on the move we generally only have around 6 seconds to see a billboard so 6 words or less should only be included on the billboard which works well on this one as its dominated by pictures and this should already be recognisable but it still includes the title of the game in the centre.  Billboards are only supposed to contain a short and simple message which will stick in the potential customers head rather than containing phone numbers and website addresses. This billboard does this very well as I’ve stated before that it only contains the name and the release date, which isn’t too much information where people could become distract and not be able to take in all the information but at the same time it’s enough information to create a thought process in a potential customers brain. The main image is split into three large images of three men. These three men are the main characters of the game and are the most recognisable faces to anybody who has a liking to this game. Each of these three main characters has their own colour scheme/theme to them. Across all of the advertisements the characters have the same background colour, which changes for each characters plus the same colour of clothes. This is done so the potential audience can remember and begin to recognise them even if they didn’t mean to the brain would get used to this colour scheme. The colours are bold and that’s the beauty of them as they contrast each other and makes the whole billboard very easy to view. This billboard was one of the last pieces of advertisement to come out to promote this game so its job was to reinforce the colour matter and because of its size people would find it hard to miss the billboard. People would of already know about the product through other advertisements mediums so this again why there is next to no text and just colour as the producers are showing here and not telling the audience about the product. 

This is a very effective Coca-Cola billboard due to its colour scheme, slogan and its image denotation and connotations. The main colour used on this is the red background colour, which is very bold and makes it very noticeable. Because of the strong red in the background it makes the white text really jump out at you. The colours would really appeal to its potential target audience because neither of them is suited to one gender. The slogan ‘refresh on the Coca-Cola side of life’ suggests that you must buy this drink in order to feel fulfilled with life. It tells us that you will be refreshed and relaxed and that your life doesn’t have to be boring. The slogan is very short and straight to the point which is effective on the billboard as people will be able to read it while traveling past and it’s also short enough to be easily memorised when the potential customers wants to re visit the product. Coca-Cola as a brand is very well-known brand already so the billboard doesn’t need the ‘Coca-Cola’ in massive bold writing taking up 9/10 of the billboard because people already known who they are they are smart and let the infamous colours and design show the audience who they are. As also they are very popular it will appear to a vast amount of people, as they want to feel popular too. The target audience of this product is teenagers and the billboard would really appeal to them because of the massive Coca-Cola bottle. The motive though would probably be to encourage more sales and promote the product that perhaps has not had the opportunity to try it. The font is used is very basic and very easy to recognise. It’s also very casual because they do not use capital letters otherwise it could become too formal for their target audience and same goes for the boldness of the font. The font makes the text very easy to read even from a distance, which makes this billboard very successful as it does what it’s supposed too. The main image is an empty bottle with a straw in it and a ladder hanging next to it from the rooftop. This way it looks like somebody made a lot of effort to get to the drink.

The third and final billboard I’m looking at is this one from Adidas from their advertisement campaign ‘nothing is impossible’. In 2003 the company reported that its total sales in the United States had dropped 16 percent in the first nine months of that year. Further confounding Adidas, which sponsored the 2004 Olympic Summer Games, was the loss of its sponsorship rights to the 2008 Olympics to its competitor Nike. To gain an edge over the competition and to reenergise its business in the United States, in 2004 Adidas-Salomon AG introduced a $50 million brand-marketing campaign—the largest ever undertaken by the company—that included television, print, and Internet ads. Themed ‘‘Impossible Is Nothing.’’ This campaign was driven in order to focus on its primary target audience, which are sport enthusiasts between the ages of 12-24. The colour scheme on this billboard is very strong because its uses only two bold colours which is contrast so well off each other (Blank & White). The background is a strong black so each bit of white writing on top stands out to the eye which is effective as people won’t see it for very long. The billboards layout is simply but effective as it only involves three parts to it, the main image, slogan and logo. The main image is a photo of one of the most legendary boxers who ruled the ring, Muhammad Ali who is then cleverly linked to the slogan. As you can see this is his famous quote, which then led to Adidas’ slogan. Muhammad Ali endorsed Adidas at the peak of its era and this is why Adidas got affiliated with this slogan: through brand endorsement and smart positioning. Adidas said that ‘Impossible is nothing’ as a brand and an attitude that is known and shared by all athletes around the world. In 1974 Adidas launched a series of the “Impossible is Nothing” campaign as short videos featuring the legendary Muhammad Ali. The first in the series was a boxing match between a younger version of Muhammad Ali and his three time female-boxing champion daughter, Laila Ali, at the height of his own boxing career. More videos was then released including more legendary athletes of recent times such as: Zinedine Zidane, Laila Ali, David Beckham, Tracy McGrady, Ian Thorpe, Haile Gebrselassie and Maurice Green. Impossible is Nothing has been a powerful Adidas slogan for many years and many people will continue to remember the brand with the same philosophy for times to come. This is what makes the slogan so recognisable now that Adidas don’t even have to but their logo on the billboard for people to know is associated with them. Although the logo is small and at the bottom but again in white which follows the theme for the rest of the billboard and also again really stands out from the black background of the billboard.

Roland Barthes research how an audience will view text. he said "If narratives are episodic this helps our reading. A chain of cause and effect is expected but the audience desires to see a story of morals." He argues that: "The audience look for signs to help them interrupt the narrative, these deeply rooted signs are based on expectations the audience has due to their prior knowledge of old tales or myths."
So looking at my last billboard by adidas, is has has many other representations. Adidas is now known to many especially youths as a fashion brand. You can also represent this symbol to a sponsor as your favourite sportsmen could be wearing clothing with the adidas logo on it. Furthermore, it can also be represented as a popular sports brand and a global company.