The brief:
My assignment here is to produce images to be used in the promotion of the Goth Festival in Whitby. The client is the Whitby Tourist Board who wishes to increase the awareness of the festival.
The images will be used in magazine features advertising the festival with the option of using them digitally on websites. They should show how the visiting Goths and locals interact with each other and the town. Aspects of the festivals could show:
· Visitors enjoying the town’s attractions:
o The Abbey, St Mary’s Church, The 199 steps, Piers and amusements, The Beach, Fish and Chips, Cafés, Restaurants and Pubs etc.
o Many of the town’s shops change their shop windows specifically for the Goths and there are shops dedicated to their interests.
· Events:
o The bizarre bazaar, concerts, impromptu dancing, promenading, etc.
· The Goths themselves, including additional props (hearses, weapons etc.)
It must be remembered that this is to promote the event, so the images must be shown in a positive, interesting way and it’s also got to be about Whitby
Planning:
The event takes place on two weekends each year – one in the spring after Easter and one in the autumn, usually around Halloween. I’ll be using the spring event here and hoping for good weather. If the weather is unsuitable I’ll concentrate on the covered visitor attractions, concerts, restaurants etc., but hopefully I’ll be able to photograph the Goths in the haunts they prefer to be seen – The Churchyard, Abbey and piers are favourites.
I’ve obtained permission from the organizers and by the venue management to allow me to photograph in the Spa complex; including the evening concerts if required (I’ll need tickets for the concerts). I need to approach hoteliers, pubs, cafes and specialist shops for their permission, but this can wait until I have a better idea of the weather.
Information on events can be seen on the Whitby Goth Weekend website (http://www.whitbygothweekend.co.uk/) and the weekend programme booklet is available from various specialist shops (I got mine from Pandemonium), so I have a reasonably good grasp on where to be and when.
As I’ll be primarily taking ‘street’ photographs it’ll be better to restrict myself to one camera and one lens, so the D300 with the 18 – 200 mm lens will be my best option. I’ll also take the Manfrotto tripod as it’s lightweight and quick to erect and use. Using 3 frame bracketing will give me the option of HDR for future treatment if required. I’ll use ISO 200 for the majority of photographs, increasing it if necessary for low light conditions. I’ll download images as soon as I get home and service the camera ready for the next day’s shooting. Downloading through Adobe Lightroom gives an advantage of being able to edit the images as they’re transferred so any below standard images can be deleted immediately.
The main days are Saturday and Sunday when the visitors promenade and visit the Bizarre Bazaar venues, but they start arriving before then. I’ll photograph on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, moving around the town to capture activity in different locations. The Goths aren’t noted for their early rising, so shooting from 11.00 a.m until dusk should suffice if the weather’s fine. If the weather is poor I may have to concentrate around the bazaar during the day and get concert tickets for the Saturday and Sunday evenings (their music doesn’t appeal to me, so hopefully I won’t need this option).
Execution:
The forecast for the weekend gave predominantly dry weather, but quite cold. I started on the Friday talking to one of the organisers and the owner of one of the specialist shops, who assured me that the majority of visitors would be happy with the cold conditions – wearing heavy black clothing is a problem if the weather is warm. They assured me that concert tickets were still available if required, so I set out looking for my subjects.
Friday was fairly quiet, which didn’t bode well. I took around 50 images and made the acquaintance of some of the stalwarts, who agreed to have their photographs taken as the weekend progressed.
On Saturday and Sunday the town was packed. The Goths had arrived in force and other visitors were here for the spectacle. It seemed that I wasn’t going to need concert tickets!
It’s easy to get distracted from the job in hand when there is so much subject material around. I took quite a lot of portrait images for use outside the assignment but kept reminding myself of the brief and returned to it to include areas of the town.
Downloading of the images went to plan with around 1000 photographs taken over the two days. I then used Lightroom’s ranking system to determine the best images to use.
It became obvious that I could present the brief in two ways: using the images of the town, or of the Goths as portrait images. I therefore produced two sets of 12 images in the two styles. After printing them I decided that there was too much variation in the portrait photographs and the images which included the town followed the brief better, so these are the ones I used.
I think it’s worth displaying some of the rejected portrait images, to show how much I’ve learned from this course, so the following three images are examples of them, but don’t form part of the assignment:
Blue Hair at St Mary’s
The coloured hair, piercings and contact lenses are often seen in this style.
Alice in Wonderland
A theme is often used by those who just want to dress up!
Japanese Goth
I think this is an example of how the rapport works and an indication of how much I’ve progressed with my portrait photography. Thanks
Now on to the assignment proper:
Welcome to Whitby
Starting on the West side of town, this couple posed for me with the old town as a backdrop. I saw them on different occasions with a different outfit every day!
Market Square
Moving to the East side, the bistro in the market square is the place to be seen on a sunny day.
The Abbey Steps
Climbing the 199 steps to St Mary’s Church and the Abbey is a must. Evidently it’s more difficult if you’re wearing a corset!
The Reaper at Caedmon’s Cross
At the top of the Abbey steps the church yard hosts many different styles of Goth
Steam Punks among the Gravestones
Enjoying the occasion and always happy to be photographed. These people are a real asset to the town.
Victorian in the Abbey
Authentic Victorian dress and jewellery are enjoyed by followers of this style.
Japanese Goth in the Abbey
This event attracts people from all over the world.
Steam Punks Descending the Steps
It’s easier going down the steps! Just remember that the brolly may be loaded!
Joker on the Quayside
As we cross to the West side again, we come across this pair. Such work goes into the dress – the mod rock on his face took his wife hours to work, for one day’s parading. Every year is a different theme for this couple. They really are a treat!
Fantasy on Golden Lion Bank
The cold weather was much appreciated by this punk. His attire which he designed is made from latex, so it would be most uncomfortable on a hot day.
Steam Punk Warrior on Cliff Street
Wearing leather and home produced body armour and weapons of copper and brass, this warrior was struggling up the hill to the West Cliff.
Taking in the Atmosphere on West Cliff
Back to our starting point and time for a rest and take in the view.
The final twelve images are stored in .tif format for printing high resolution, large format images, also high resolution .jpg images (2.5 – 3.5 Mb) suitable for printing in many publications and also lower resolution .jpg images (1.0 – 1.5 Mb suitable for websites. These are all available for the clients to use as they wish. Printed, mounted prints will be presented with the digital files.
I feel that I met the initial brief, but I did wander from it occasionally. Having given myself the brief, it meant that pulling me back into line was easier.
I was pleasantly surprised by the willingness of almost everyone I asked to have their pictures taken and allowed me to direct where and how they should pose. Getting some rapport with the subjects paid dividends, not only for the posing for the images, but when meeting the same people in different costumes over the weekend, so they opened up even more.
I didn’t take into consideration the amount of climbing and walking involved, so there were times when I had to take a rest. I don’t see how I could do anything to get round this (apart from getting myself fitter) because the subjects were in different places and I wanted to portray different aspects of the town anyway – staying in one place and waiting wasn’t an option.
The choice of equipment was good, but I found that by the last day, I wasn’t using my tripod, so in future I’ll probably only use it at specific locations (Abbey, Churchyard etc.) where I’d be planning HDR images. This would make things much easier in the street. I would have found a flashgun useful in the bazaars too, so maybe it’d be worthwhile setting up a central parking place where I could store and collect equipment as the day progresses.
I think that having contingencies was good and that I didn’t go asking for permission in restaurants / hotels etc. before I needed to. It could have caused later problems if I’d approached landlords and then not used them – I may want to use them in the future.
All in all I think it was a good experience, with favourable weather, pleasant people and good conversation. I’ll be doing it again in October / November!
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