Karen Strunks Professional Birmingham-based Freelance Photographer

B4AM – Acocks Green Bus Depot

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas! Mine was very quiet and stress free, just the way I wanted it to be. I’m feeling well rested and ready for 2009.

I’ve just realised this is only my third blog post for December! One of my new years resolutions will be to update this blog at least once a week.

This month I had the opportunity to visit TWM (Travel West Midlands) bus depot in Acocks Green, Birmingham. So I hope you understand why I delayed the outing I am taking votes for on this post. (I am still taking votes there, and will be heading out in the new year, so if you have any preferences, please feel free to leave a comment).

Thank you to National Express for granting permission to visit and take pictures of the garage, and thank you to TWM Bus Driver for putting me in touch with the right people at the company.

The bus garage was almost in full swing when I arrived at 4am. The office was manned, the mechanics were fixing buses and the drivers were starting to arrive. I was given a hi-vis jacket to wear and off I set. I had made a visit to the garage a few days before and was given a tour. I wanted to check out the layout, buildings and lighting so I could gather a few ideas before my visit.

The lighting was a challenge. There were so many sources of light; fluorescent strips, white bulbs, orange bulbs, the lights from the buses and their headlights, and I was aware of the hi-vis jackets that could easily soak up the light.

I couldn’t take pictures of everybody I wanted to. Some were camera shy, and some were in a rush to get their bus out exactly on time, so I couldn’t delay them, however I found a few willing participants.

Thank you to everyone who participated.

I’ve had an experiment in mixing media; photos, music and video. The results are at after the pictures. I am quite pleased with the results, and it’s something I am going to play around with more often. In fact, I think I prefer to look at the photos with a soundtrack, it adds some extra atmosphere. Of course, the selected soundtracks may not be to everyones liking, it is just my interpretation. What do you think? Does it work? I was hoping to take a video of the actual picture taking, but found it unmanageable trying to concentrate on taking pictures (the priority) AND taking a video. Maybe by the time my next outing comes about I will have figured it out (and grown an extra set of arms!).

Here are videos from my previous B4AM outings.

In case I don’t post before 2009, I’d like to wish you a very Happy New Year.

The Cube, Birmingham

Todays job for the Birmingham Post and Mail took Me to The Cube. The Cube is under construction, and based next to The Mailbox, in Birmingham City Centre.

It’s says on The Cube’s website: Exceptional apartments, state of the art offices, exclusive shops, waterside café bars, boutique hotel and a panoramic rooftop restaurant, The Cube is set to become an internationally recognised building.

I was asked to take some pictures of the site, and some shots of some of the builders at work. I was lent a fish eye lens, which I was very excited about!
I took some shots from street level, but wondered if I could actually get on the building site. I found the site entrance, spoke to the site manager, and minutes later I found myself in a hard hat and work boots!

I’ve never been on a building site before, and this is a building site on such a grand scale. That’s one of the things I like about this work; I never know where I will be going, or who I will be meeting. Today, I was climbing up ladders, and scaffolding. My legs did wobble a little as I found Myself so high up, hanging onto a ladder and viewing the scene below. I felt safe though and the site manager accompanied me the whole time.

So, here are today’s pictures, including shots of the model of the finished building.

The Big Catch Up!

I’ve got a bit (a lot!) of catching up to do with this blog. Now I am getting into the swing of things a bit more and have ticked some things off my ‘to do’ list, I aim to update my blog at least once a week, so do check back regularly. And of course, if you would like to comment, please feel free.

 

So, back tracking a little….

 

I have finished Level 1 of my NCFE course. Level 2 will start in September and I am most likely going to go ahead and do that. I have a few reservations – mainly that my tutor now thinks I am a little too far ahead now, and I may not get a lot out of it. He said he wouldn’t be surprised if I ‘dropped out’. However, it’s not in my nature to drop out of anything! Obviously I don’t want to waste any time doing a course I won’t benefit from that much, but on the other hand I will get a certificate for Level 2 and I can add that to my CV. Also it will show potential employers that I am trying to progress, and doing something.

 

Ideally, I would love to take an HNC (or a higher qualification). I looked into the possibility of a HNC with Solihull College, and the only thing that is stopping me from going ahead with that is finances. It is a 2/3 day a week course and I simply cannot afford to finance the course, take the time out to do the course and the coursework AND work to have enough money to survive.

 

Since finishing Level 1 NCFE in May, I have had my first exhibitions! One at the International Convention Centre, and one at the Birmingham Museum Archives Collection Centre.

 

I’ve won my first prize – a £50 Jessops voucher. I put it towards a new lens – 50mm. It’s on order and I have no idea when it will arrive.

 

What else……

 

Oh yes. I have been featured in the The Learning Directory which has been produce by Birmingham City Council. I progress so far in my NCFE course that I was approached by the Adult Education Department who wanted to do a write up about me and include a few photos. Every household in Birmingham has been sent a copy.

 

Starbucks have express an interest in this picture.

 

 

It’s still in the pipeline, but they want to display it in one of their coffee houses in Birmingham city centre. This will also give me the opportunity to put a price on it and sell it via their shop. I’ll update when I know anything more about it.

 

Also, I am hoping to have a launch night. This won’t be until the the new year as it requires so much planning. It’s still in the very early stages but I am working behind the scenes on getting the photo ideas together and organising the event.

 

Probably the most exciting developments has been working at the Birmingham Post and Mail.

 

It all began earlier in the year when I started to submit photos via the Birmingham Mail’s website. I was delighted when they began to use them.

 

 

 

 

 

But not content with that, I applied for some work experience. It took a little while, but I was finally granted a week of work experience in the first week of June. I was SO excited!

 

I had a goal of going out on a ‘job’ on my own and having a picture published by the end of the week. I had told a few people about my goal, but they said I was rushing ahead and not to expect that to happen. My spirits felt a bit dampened, those I suppose they were trying to stop me from being disappointed should it not happen. I didn’t mention this to anybody at the paper, but I kept my fingers crossed.

 

For the first few days I went out on jobs with other photographers. I LOVED it!! Never the same job twice. Not knowing where I was going to be going, who I was going to be meeting, how long we would be there – 5 minutes or an hour. Not to mention what the photographic conditions would be like. I thrived on it.

 

By Wednesday I was sent out on my own! I was over the moon. I had to take a couple of pics of the frontages of some jewellers. These were to be the first pictures I had published.

 

Sunday Mercury – the two pics on the right.

 

On the Thursday and Friday, I was sent out again.

 

 

The row on pictures on the top of the page.

 

 

My goal had been accomplished. It came to the end of the week, but I wasn’t quite ready to leave…..

 

I spoke to the picture editor to get some feedback on my weeks work, and I asked him if I could continue my work experience by coming in once a week and he agreed, saying that he would through me in at the deep and and send me out on my own jobs from then on. Eeek!

 

And so that is what has been happening. I spend one day a week (well, last week it was two days what with the Bulldog Bash), honing my photojournalism skills. The photographers and editors are extremely helpful and I am learning so much so quickly.

 

Here is some of my published work so far……

 

 

My first full page.

 

 

 

 

 

I still have some goals I want to achieve at the newspaper but I will keep them under wraps in case I jinx them! lol.

 

So, that’s everything brought more or less up to date now! I’ll post again soon.