The initial idea was based on books and bookshelves (01-25) and the idea moved on to the change from analogue to digital media and the new devices I used to consume it. I started taking shots of my Vinyl LP’s, DVD’s, CD’s and books and paired them off against the smartphone, tablet, bluetooth headphones and streaming TV services.
My early images were fairly close up but my aim was to include lots of everyday items within the frame and around the edges to create viewing interest. I varied the shots using straight on viewpoints and angles. Although I liked the formal aspect of the straight on images (15, 39, 43, 46, 48, 56) these did not convey the informal and mundane that I required. I decided I needed a combination of wider angle and close up as I was struggling to capture everything I needed in single images.
The idea of mini stories came from Paul Graham’s Shimmer of Possibility and gave me confidence to mix up depths of field, wide angles and close ups. I wrote down some scenarios and potential shots that would create the stories:
-Walking past the old to get to the new
Passing glance at the old
Close up of the old
Move to the new
Close up of the new
Concentrate on the new
-Seated at/with the new, glance at the old, come back to the new
Concentrate on the new
Close up of the new
Glance at the old
Close up of the old
Move back to the new
-Seeing the new in the distance and passing by the old to get to the new
Long distance view of the new
Passing glance at the old
Close up of the old
Concentrate on the new
Close up of the new
I printed out some contact sheets and made selections and hand written notes prior to my final shoot with the tripod. My five stories were decided:
TV Streaming device / DVD / Living room
Reading Twitter on tablet device / Books / Study
Playing music from laptop via Bluetooth speaker / CDs / Dining room
Amazon Alexa / AM-FM Radio / Bedroom
Music from smartphone to Bluetooth headphones / LPs / Dining room
Having selected 6 images per story I found that the images all looked similar and were dominated by wooden furniture (65-110). Although I wanted the domestic aspect to be present the media side of the idea wasn’t coming across.
The final shots used for submission (111-150) were taken with a 40mm lens using a tripod so that I could achieve a clean ISO 100 and full control of exposure. The prime lens meant that I had to be physically closer for the pack-shots. All images except the bedroom radio scenes were taken in natural light. The bedroom radio shots were taken with the room light switched on to give a night time feel.
All previous test shots were hand held mostly using ‘Auto’ ISO and various zoom lenses. I used a combination of natural light and a flash gun with a mini soft box. White balance and exposure was off in most cases but this wasn’t an issue as the main aim of these shots was to work through ideas with different angles and depths of field.
My final edit of 5 sets of 4 images was chosen from images 111-150. This resulted in me selecting the following 4 styles for each of the 5 stories:
– setting the scene, wider room shot
– close up of the old
– close up of the new
– the new in situ
My subject of interest in each image is central on the horizontal plane. In most cases, but not all, it is central vertically too. My viewing angle was usually standing and in some cases sitting to convey the feeling of me being there and moving around looking at the item in my eye line.
My final decision was how to present them. I considered varying the aspect ratio and frame size but I was not confident I had clarity on how I would make such choices. I then moved to a horizontal strip with and without spacing which looked interesting as they blended together well.
My next presentation idea was on a landscape orientation using the original aspect ratio out of camera on a 2×2 grid. This way the 4 images making up each of the 5 stories can be viewed together so the eye can move around picking out items from one image and looking for them on another adding a sense of movement around the house. By printing the set of 4 images on a single A3 the individual images will be large enough to see titles of LPs and books.
The final selection of the 4 images per story was modified a few times once I had printed the 2 x 2 grids. Below is the penultimate version that I decided to rework as a result of my self evaluation.
Whilst writing up the submission and during the writing of this post I decided on the title of the piece – My Media Diary. Having settled on this for a few days and having my five A3 prints sitting on the dining room table I felt that it wasn’t quite right. The sets looked quite strong photographically and the analogue to digital media aspect came across. However, the diary concept was not on show at all and as that was the key part of the brief I decided to look at presentation ideas on the internet. See my ‘Late changes to assignment’ post.
My final submission is an eBook of 21 images consisting of my 20 selected images plus an image of the notebook I used to write my diary entries. This enhances the idea of the move from analogue to digital media consumption. The five stories are in an overlapping sequence with a single image on one page when a new media story is introduced. These signify the start of a new day and the subsequent images make reference back to a previous day.
I have cropped the images using an aspect ratio equivalent to the old media ie. 1×1 for LPs, 2.1×2.97 for DVDs, 1.4 x 1.2 for CDs. I have used nominal ratio of 1.2 x 1.9 for Books and 6×4 for AM/FM radio. The variations in sizes provide an informal feel of jotting down thoughts and notes throughout the day.
Due to issues with the eBook image quality on some browser platforms I have included the images separately in addition to the eBook. I will continue to investigate other eBook products as the course progresses but have chosen a free tool called PubHTML5 for this submission.
Early 2×2 grid layout
Contact Sheets 
Martyn Rainbird 