As my first shoot, I felt that it was relatively unsuccessful because I had very minimal time and direction. I had not thought of or developed my sonder concept at the time, which meant this practice attempt lacked purpose and vision. I was struggling to know what to capture, as I only knew that street photography was the genre I wanted my FMP to reside in. Continuously, I had not developed my ideas thoroughly, for example not photographing faces, which led to the day consisting of few images that are now relevant.

There are noticeable technical issues with my images that I now have learned to avoid. The shutter speed was often too low, which lead to unsharp, out of focus images, and many images had blown out highlights. I now have my own camera, which has partly helped to alleviate issues as I am more knowledgeable about my specific gear settings. For example, I now use a histogram when shooting to know where my exposure is and if my whites are too bright. 

It was good practice for later shoots, and ended up being a recce shoot for the locations that I wanted to revisit in Birmingham, when I went again.

The second practice shoot for my Final Major Project taught me where I wanted to revisit in my pre-planned final shoot in London. Upon reflection, I believe this was my most successful practice shoot because I had more intention than other experimentation and prolonged time to shoot.

There are several images from this shoot that are even featured in my final outcome, albeit less than the final London shoot. This was definitely a vast improvement from my initial practice shoot; I think this increase was caused by refining my research and further development of my sonder concept.

I believe that the higher quantity of shoots practicing in Plymouth allowed me to become even more intimately familiar with specific locations. From my experimentation, I began to envision specific concepts that I wanted to successfully produce in my final shoot.

This included by the Plymouth Train Station, where there was an angle and background that I shot in practice which had potential to me. Upon revisiting in my final shoot, I photographed in that spot had a successful outcome which was included in my photo book.

On reflection, I appreciate that this experimental visit allowed me to know which areas were worthwhile to shoot and helped me to gain confidence when I went back by myself. It was also useful because I scouted out multiple backgrounds and textures that I liked for my eventual final shoot. 

Additionally, I became more familiar with Exeter city centre and where I needed to walk, so navigation was easier when I revisited.

This was my first shoot where I had my final outcome in mind and knew my concept concretely. With the experience from my practice shoots and research from my studied photographers, I think I was helped by thinking more deeply about composition and technique.

I had a few technical issues during and after this particular shoot, as I used the Nikon D610 instead of my own camera, because of it's full-frame capabilities being better suited for night photography.

During the shoot, I found operating the camera to be difficult and sometimes frustrating; but the worst of it happened after the shoot when I realised the exposure compensation had been left on -1.3 the entire shoot. This was an issue because I had to increase my ISO to a very high level during the shoot to get correctly exposed images. It is my belief that this misfortune happened because of my unfamiliarity with the loaned camera and the settings it was left on by the previous user.

I had to problem-solve in post-production by correcting the exposure and using the denoise tool in Lightroom to improve the intense noise in the darker images.

The photo below is the aforementioned location in my Plymouth practice shoot that I wished to revisit. In my final shoot, I had significantly more success due to my prior experience shooting in the exact same spot. I think this version is much improved from the practice shoot because the lighting scenario provided me with the opportunity to capture the shadow of the subject as well.

My previous practice shoot in Exeter informed my final shoot by providing me with the knowledge I needed to best execute successful images. This was evident in me knowing exactly where I needed to go, where the most optimal places to photograph would be, and how I could achieve the results I wanted.

In my opinion, this is the best image from my Exeter shoot because of the quiet mood and pensive expression of the stranger. Additionally, I believe that the contemplative pose further conveys my sonder concept to the viewer. 

I like that the reflections from the out-of-frame environment help to obscure the face of my subject, and add visual interest to the image. I was pleased to create a successful image shooting through a window, as it was something I planned to emulate from my artist research. This is also a technique that I want to continue developing going forward into my final shoots.

Considering this was an extremely brief shoot outside the airport complex, I created several outcomes for my final outcome.

In the future, I can improve my night photography by being less afraid of high ISOs. I worry that it will damage the quality of my images, but increasing the exposure in post-production is even more detrimental.

Overall, I think many of the best images of my entire project were shot on this day. 

This highly productive and eventful day was successful because. I believe that my excitement at being in a new environment and the grand architecture inspired creativity when shooting. This then lead to a higher rate of outcomes that I am pleased with than I would have at home.

I think I focused better on meeting my photography goals because I knew that this was a rare opportunity and I had limited time in Berlin. Going forward, I hope I can further train my eye for composition and continue to improve my self-awareness when photographing in public.

As this day was dedicated to exploring East Berlin and the breathtaking area in and around the Berlin Cathedral, I found creating work I was pleased with to be relatively effortless. 

On reflection, I think paying to ascend to the viewing deck of the Berlin Cathedral was greatly rewarding. This was out of my comfort zone as I am afraid of heights, and especially since I went to the top alone. I am very glad I did it, because it was extraordinary, and I pushed through the fear to get some of my best images. 

This memorable experience will affirm to me in the future that leaving my comfort zone can gift me amazing and fulfilling outcomes, both photographic and personal.

When we flew home, I was glad to reshoot outside the airport complex again, though now during the day. I do not believe there are any clear improvements I can make, as I did the best I could with the shooting time that I had.

In this brief shoot, I learnt that if I have a creative vision in mind, then I can still achieve successful outcomes when I am pressed for time.

I was very glad to revisit Birmingham, because I was unsatisfied with the outcomes of my first shoot here. This time, I believe it went significantly better because I have a much deeper understanding of my concept, compositional elements, my camera settings, etc. I now have substantial street photography experience compared to the first shoot, which has allowed me to create more technically competent images. My shoot had more conceptual direction, as I considered how I can portray sonder during the shooting process, which led to a higher rate of successful outcomes.

Throughout the day, I was observant of possible subjects and carefully considered how I would capture them. I would wait patiently during the shooting process for a specific moment I wanted to capture. Overall, I am quite pleased with my final images from this shoot.

I believe this to have been my most successful shoot overall.

The main contributor to this was that I was alone, meaning I could follow my own schedule. This was majorly beneficial to my shoot results because I could: work at a slower pace, consider my compositions more, wait patiently for a shot if I needed to, have fewer distractions, and go exactly where I wished.

As the final shoot of my project, the understanding I have of my concept, creative vision, and technical skills is the highest and most developed. This progression allowed me to be confident in my abilities and significantly more comfortable shooting in public than at the start of the FMP. 

In summary, I was very pleased with this experience and the outcomes it yielded.