My Work Placement By Katherine

  • By Michael Harrison
  • •
  • 06 Jul, 2011
  • •

My placement at mc photography

Hi, my name is Katherine and I go to Dronfield Henry Fanshawe school. I am 15 years of age and I am currently doing GCSE photography.  I came across MC Photography on the internet this time last year, looking for a work placements in Sheffield. I started my placement on the 27th of June for two weeks.
On the first 3 days of my placement we did some photo shoots for CMD (on the left). In these 3 days I got to know the clients and also help set up the backgrounds on which the products would be photographed. I also helped with clipping photos and retouching them in photoshop and learned other skills which Collette showed me. To edit photographs Macs are used, this was an experience for me since I have never used them before. Also in my first 3 days I got to see how things work in a studio and the atmosphere, which is relaxed but focused on the job they have to do. The 3 days was also good to get to know the business and the people who work here. They helped me to understand the technological side of photography. On one of the days we prepared and posted a CD, this is what MC photography does for clients so they can see their images on a disc, this was good for me to see what they do daily and how they do things, I could see how this could benefit me in the future.
On the fourth day of my placement we did a shoot with Naylors drainage (see left). In this shoot I helped cleaned the products (industrial drainage) that needed to be shot so that the imperfections wouldn’t show up on the picture and I also helped set up the studios again.I also learnt the basics of how to use the software ,Phocus by Hasselblad to carry out essential tasks such as naming the photos which were being taken and shot to the computer. By this time I had gotten more used to the way things were run, and I didn’t need to ask as many questions, this showed my progression and I feel I am learning new things everyday from this experience. When clients come to the studio I have now learnt what is required to give good customer care, these are all use full techniques for communicating with people and this is a skill you would need in most jobs.
On the Friday we had no shoots booked so I spent the day assisting Collette and learning the skills of Adobe Photoshop and Bridge, these images from here would then go to the client, being edited and retouched is essential to satisfy the customers needs, I also got to clip photos to further improve my Photoshop skills.

On the Monday, of the second week, we had been commissioned by AES Seals for a shoot. This shoot was more straightforward because the clients didn’t come until a few hours into the day so we had time to set up the studio before they arrived when they arrived it was like the other shoots, but it is still interesting to see the products what they are wanting to shoot and it is different every time. The picture on the left is what we photographed  on the monday with the clients.

Tuesday was like friday because we had no clients, but Mark showed me his array of different cameras that could be used and the different equipment which goes with each camera, he explained how they worked and what they were best used for. Later on he took me into Sheffield City Centre to show me the cameras in action and he let me take my own photos, we used a Canon 5D which is a 35mm camera, we took photos of patterns and textures. We looked at angles and lighting and we discussed what would be best to take photos of, when we got back to the studio we uploaded the photos on the computer and I was able to edit and look more closely at the photos I had taken.

Today, Wednesday, I wrote my images to a disc so I can take them away with me and use them in my GCSE coursework. When I had finished that I started writing this blog to show you what I have been up to in the last week and a half. Tomorrow, Thursday we have clients coming, Smiffy’s. Im looking forward to this as it will give me an opportunity to see how a shoot is when there are models involved as oppose to product.

I hope you found this blog interesting to read about what happens when you go on work experience here. I have learned so much about photography and meeting new people and I still have a lot to learn, if you ever interested in photography and need work experience I would recommend MC photography!

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