Contemplation
Jun/100
I’ve been sitting on a whole bunch of new portraits photographs featuring Lillybet I’ve been too busy to edit. I’m finally getting round to them and I’m really enjoying trying some new correction techniques in Photoshop.
I’ve been thinking a lot about photography and colour correction/manipulation trying to reason why I would edit something the way I do, rather than simply editing it to try new ideas out or because something looks cool and yes I’m still experimenting a lot especially with portraiture, but as with my film work I’d like there to be some overriding idea behind everything I do. Some of my work has to do with memory or capturing a particular feeling that evokes a memory (be it of mine or of the viewers) but I also like my films and images to be self contained, I want to take the audience into another world where the story or image has its own set of rules, look and feeling. That’s ideally what I want to achieve, that and a compelling story, characters and images. It doesn’t always work out like that but hey, I’m still developing here.
When I showed this to Lillybet she said it looked like she was in a dream and I’ve always favored the notion that watching a film should be like entering a dream world/state, which is why seeing a film in the cinema in a dark room, in silence, is such an important experience. In my opinion anyway. But my opinion happens to be right.
Long Portrait of a Girl re-graded!
Jun/100
Long Portrait of a Girl (re-graded!) from James Sharpe on Vimeo.
New colour correction/grade on a little video I made a while ago.
Glowing
Apr/100
Sometimes film just captures light in a way digital really can’t.
Unmade Bed came out on DVD this past week, I’m going to be picking it up as it’s a recent favourite of mine. Shooting on the Lomo and shooting on film often captures the feel of certain shots from that film, for me anyway. It has a lofi yet beautiful feel to it and I’d love to know how the DP achieved the look – whether it was simply shooting on film with natural light or whether it was the way he lit the scenes, especially the hotel corridor and bedroom scenes. Lovely stuff.
The Lookout
Feb/100
View On Black
Taken at Crich Stand in Derbyshire. This was a day filled with cold – we drove up to Crich Stand admiring the scenery and the cliff face only to discover once we stepped out of the car the wind was trying to freeze our faces off. We didn’t stay long there, although it was such a bright and clear day the wind clearly wanted us dead. We later walked over some Derbyshire fields that were slightly less cold and then had a “milkshake” in a Belper cafe. I say “Milkshake” because a milkshake should not just be your thick hot chocolate drink served cold – even though I quite enjoyed it – but Lizabeth (that’s the lass in the photo) being a Canadian and coming from a land where they know how to make proper milkshakes had other opinions.
Image of actual said Crich Stand:
If anyone from the fine “This Derbyshire Life” magazine publication sees this and would like to publish it I think it would look rather splendid within your pages.