Last year I dug-out an old project for a possible Open Call- a development of an old project called "Artist Health and Safety", which developed into something called "Observe to Preserve". Details and background are in the older blog posts http://ribbonartandphotography.blogspot.com/2017/03/project-observe-to-preserve-part-one.html , but essentially the idea is that in some post-catastrophe world, artists (forced to use protective gear) have been sent out to document and record the world.
The shoot I did last year didn't quite go as planned (above, for a representative shot showing the poor weather and lighting), due to a tight deadline and not being able to get the right locations I'd envisaged. However, earlier this year an opportunity to shoot the project again came up (this time whilst we were in Wales for another shoot anyway), so out came the original models to be tarted up a bit...
Unfortunately, the models hadn't fared too well in storage (after a box-toppling incident up in the loft), so needed a bit of emergency repair before the first shoot...
As always, any miniature build is improved by the prescence of Tea, especially when drunk from a Ffestiniog Railway 8-Bit-printed mug.
Being as I would be shooting the pictures in the company of the Three Childs, I thought I'd use a beach which I'd used a few times before. This end should be pretty deserted on a dull day in April, I knew the terrain, and whilst I was taking photographs, The Childs could entertain themselves chucking Frisbees, beach balls, and possibly each other, around on the sand. What a fun theory.
Naturally, because I appear to be cursed on location shoots, there were lots of people around, including some who blatantly walked through the set-up miniatures (or who just stood behind me creepily watching me and wondering what the hell I was doing). There were also a couple of other photographers, a young lovey-dovey pair who were clearly waiting for me and The Childs to bugger off so they could take arty landscape photographs. They reminded me very much of me and Amy on casual, 'nothing else to do today but relax and take pictures' from about ten years ago... so naturally as my own shoot fell into chaos I was gripped by bitter resentment towards them and stubbornly refused to leave (which did mean I had to change some angles so their scale-destroying presence in the shots wasn't too noticeable).
Oh and this is probably obvious, but never shoot pictures whilst trying to childmind at the same time... With all the 'hit in the face with frisbee', 'too windy to play with the ball', 'stealing each other's seashells' and 'nearly fell in a rockpool' shenanigans, it was 40 minutes before I even had the camera out of the bag...
The first shoots were with the miniature figure, a repurposed 1/32nd bomb-disposal officer and home-made heavy duty easel. The simplest set up (and easy to carry anywhere in a camera bag of course). Matters were not helped by the somewhat dull sky or the breeze however, the latter meaning I had to blue-tak everything down.
A quick word on the appearance of the pics- I decided to deliberately go for a grainy, slightly washed-out appearance in post production (to mimic things like 70's/80's outside broadcasts from things like Dr.Who and Quatermass), which seemed to fit the atmosphere of the project, and use of miniatures.
The Sea Wall at this end of the beach has provided a rather nice, industrial setting for several projects over the years... it has been the border between England and Scotland in the Britannia Model Village shoot, it was a Dalek base for a short stop-motion film, and was used a visual reference for a Steampunk build. It seemed a good location for a post-apocalypse project this time.
The Field Studio set up. Shooting from a low angle with a poorly chest is not recommended...
The final shoot was planned to make the most of the beach- scaling water is damned tricky, but the smooth water in the pools, and the distant sea, would have given a good effect. The problem was that my chest was so bad after laying around on the sand for the Tower shots, that I wasn't feeling up to it. On top of which my three Assistants/distractions (having managed to fill the props box with seashells and the like) had reached their boredom thresholds and were clamouring to go home. If I wanted the beach shots, I'd have to return...
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