(40.1) Be able to maintain good business practice when planning photographic assignments
1.1 Identify good environmental practice relevant to the assignment
Me and my colleague have recently been given a photography assignment to do at Lea Green, an outdoor activity centre located not too far from Matlock, Derbyshire.
1.1 Identify good environmental practice relevant to the assignment
Me and my colleague have recently been given a photography assignment to do at Lea Green, an outdoor activity centre located not too far from Matlock, Derbyshire.
As you can see from the images, the main attraction point is the old manor house which is very beautiful inside. Young people stay here on school trips, youth club trips etc. There is a huge sports hall and loads of outdoor space. I did a filming job there with one of our creative arts workers a few months ago. From doing this we got to see a large variety of the things they did there. Ranging from rock climbing, zip wire, obstacle courses, camping, various sports etc. There were also other workshops in things like cooking, outdoor survival, crafting, music.
Straight away I can see I’m going to be outside a lot, so there will be a lot of dependancy on the weather and we’ll have to make sure batteries are fully charged. Although there are going to be activities going off in the hall. The hall is very dark so there will be a lot of change in the exposure and ISO settings to brighten things up.
1.2 Identify potential problems relevant to the assignment
The main problem I can think of is the weather. If the weather is really bad, this could potentially mess up their schedule as they would have to move their activities around and this could be quite chaotic. Hopefully we shouldn’t have any technical problems, we just need the batteries to be fully charged. An important thing also to consider is that some of the young people won’t have consented to having pictures of them taken. Last time I went to do the filming job, the young people who didn’t want to be filmed wore orange wristbands. This made it quite difficult, especially if ones had long sleeves which could cover them. Just to be sure, we asked the leader of each workshop and we made sure we didn’t get them in shot.
(40.2) Be able to carry out administrative arrangements for the photographic assignment
2.1 Arrange activities in order of priority, to fulfil the photographic assignment
As I have done filming at Lea Green before, I knew what to expect. Today we went for a meeting there to get a better brief of what they wanted from us. As the job is on Monday, and it is Friday today, we need to make sure we have all the equipment together and prepared as we don’t work weekends and we’ll be leaving early. My colleague drives, so we’ll be going in her car. I haven’t had as much Photography experience as my colleague, and the jobs I’ve had to do so far have only been filming ones. She does Photography as a hobby so she gave me some tips and got me to practice with the manual focus.
We also gathered the equipment together and made a start on charging the batteries.
While at the meeting, I took down notes of what they wanted and were aiming for. Also some of the specific locations and activities they wanted shots of. Now that we have the stuff together, we need to get all the batteries fully charged today then gather all the equipment together and move it up to the office ready for Monday morning. We have arranged to meet at DCAS for 9:00am, which is the time I start normally, then load the car and set off straight away. Once there we will make ourselves know and be wearing our DCAS T-shirts and council badges for ID. We would then get the cameras set up ready and decide where to start. If the weather is nice on arrival, it would make sense to start by getting some of the outdoor shots first. We’d also need to be aware of what is happening where and at what times. Depending on whether we started in or outside first, we would adjust our camera settings to suit the lighting.
2.2 Identify possibilities and constraints presented by non studio locations
Straight away with being outside, the main problems that could be faced would be the weather and lack of power. That’s why it is essential to make sure the batteries are fully charged beforehand.
In general with photography shoots, problems faced could involve lack of space in a small room, lack of power sources etc.
2.3 Obtain relevant permissions to take photographs
As identified in 1.2, there are guaranteed to be young people who don’t want to be photographed and it is important that we are fully aware of this. If the setup is the same as when I was filming, we will have to watch out for orange wristbands and ask the leader of each activity, just to be on the safe side. If say by mistake, we did just get one of them in the shot, we would just delete that image. But we will try our best to avoid this from happening and thoroughly check the images once they have been imported.
2.4 Identify insurance requirements and conditions for photographic equipment and location
As the camera I’ll be using belongs to DCAS, I’ll have to be careful and make sure I have it with me at all times when out.
All of our equipment is insured under Derbyshire County Council. We also have a form we have to fill in when taking equipment out with us.
At our reception, we have a blue folder for 'Items on Loan, Booking In, Booking Out'. In this are copies of the form which must be filled in when taking the equipment out. On the form we had to fill in: the date, items on loan, serial number, quantity, taken by, date due back and add a signature. There is also a bit at the bottom to fill in on return with: items returned, date, quantity returned and person signing item back in.
2.5 Identify the photographic equipment needed to complete the assignment
•Canon EOS650d and 760 with lenses
•Small tripod (They also asked if we could film a few short bits of footage)
•Batteries
•Clean memory cards
•Note pad and pen to take notes
•Photoshop (back at DCAS) to enhance images after import (if needed)
2.6 Make arrangements to acquire any equipment or material required, complying with organisational policies
As all the equipment needed is ours, we don’t really need to acquire anything else. If we did need anything that we hadn’t already got, we would have acquired it quite a while beforehand so that everything hadn’t been left until last minute. We will be taking liability of all the equipment we take with us, so it's important that we are careful and professional when it comes to the assignment, and ensure any paperwork is filled in.
2.7 Maintain records for all aspects of the assignment
After photographing young people with their artwork at DCAS, we back up the images on hard drives. We also have their consent forms in a folder to refer to. These are all away from the public to maintain confidentiality and any delicate information. Also when doing any work for a client, it’s important to maintain records of the assignment for them to refer to if they ever have any questions or want to look back on something.
The same goes to this assignment and any others that we do, especially when there’s young people involved.
We also have a specific hard drive for archived projects. So any filming projects that have been completed and published or photos from past events will eventually be saved on there.
(40.3) Be able to liaise with relevant parties
3.1 Work with relevant parties to resolve any questions about the assignments
The main question will be the consent issues. But we will overcome this by asking the activity leaders to be 100% sure who we mustn’t photograph.
3.2 Identify the relevant dress code, behaviour and language for the assignment
As it is a public event, we will be wearing our DCAS T-shirts and council badges for identification. This also makes us more approachable and professional, so people there will know we’re working on a job there. Also other people who may be interested in hiring people for film or Photography will recognise that is what we do and possibly get in touch.
As for behaviour and language, we need to be friendly, bubbly and approachable, which is pretty much our DCAS team approach. We need to take into consideration other people’s needs and requirements, maintaining all aspects of equality and diversity. Our language needs to be appropriate and suitable.
3.3 Agree with relevant parties the arrangements for working together
The meeting at Lea Green gave us a much better insight as to what they were doing and the shots they were after. I knew about the assignment about a week ago, but I now have a more specific brief. They are wanting some publicity shots for their website and possibly a few bits of film footage. They are wanting natural shots of the young people doing various activities which don’t look ‘staged’. They also want some bits of footage of the young people saying what their favourite food in their school dinners is, as this is another area they are currently focusing on. We’re going to get to DCAS for 9:00am, pack the equipment and set off straight away, getting there for about half past. They are starting around 10:00am so this gives us plenty of time to get the lenses on the cameras, get set up and find out what’s on at what time.
3.4 Notify relevant parties in good time if it proves impossible to undertake assignments or resolve problems
It’s far too late for us to cancel now so it would look bad if we did. However, say a week ago if we found we couldn’t do it, we’d be in touch with them straight away to see if they’d mind if we arranged it for another date, or if there was another way we could somehow work around it. These problems very rarely arise, but it’s important to be in touch with the client further back from the arranged date rather than at the last minute.
3.5 Maintain a professional approach with clients and other relevant parties
It’s important to maintain a professional approach to our clients, especially if they are paying us. Doing a bad job would put clients off. They would tell people they know about their experience, which would give DCAS a bad name. When out and about doing jobs, we are friendly and approachable and try our best to get good shots. We ensure people know who we are and what we are doing.
(40.4) Understand legislation, ethics and business requirements relevant to the photographic assignment
4.1 Identify key aspects of legislation relevant to the photographic assignment
When photographing at DCAS, as I mentioned earlier, it’s important that young people have consented and that we try not to photograph them directly straight on and focus more on their work.
We also quite recently filmed some interviews at an event at Chesterfield Library. For everyone we filmed being interviewed, we got them to fill in a publicity consent form. We faced a slight issue when getting some outdoor footage of the library when a security guard from the precinct questioned us. But as the library had given us permission we were ok.
As all the equipment needed is ours, we don’t really need to acquire anything else. If we did need anything that we hadn’t already got, we would have acquired it quite a while beforehand so that everything hadn’t been left until last minute. We will be taking liability of all the equipment we take with us, so it's important that we are careful and professional when it comes to the assignment, and ensure any paperwork is filled in.
2.7 Maintain records for all aspects of the assignment
After photographing young people with their artwork at DCAS, we back up the images on hard drives. We also have their consent forms in a folder to refer to. These are all away from the public to maintain confidentiality and any delicate information. Also when doing any work for a client, it’s important to maintain records of the assignment for them to refer to if they ever have any questions or want to look back on something.
The same goes to this assignment and any others that we do, especially when there’s young people involved.
We also have a specific hard drive for archived projects. So any filming projects that have been completed and published or photos from past events will eventually be saved on there.
(40.3) Be able to liaise with relevant parties
3.1 Work with relevant parties to resolve any questions about the assignments
The main question will be the consent issues. But we will overcome this by asking the activity leaders to be 100% sure who we mustn’t photograph.
3.2 Identify the relevant dress code, behaviour and language for the assignment
As it is a public event, we will be wearing our DCAS T-shirts and council badges for identification. This also makes us more approachable and professional, so people there will know we’re working on a job there. Also other people who may be interested in hiring people for film or Photography will recognise that is what we do and possibly get in touch.
As for behaviour and language, we need to be friendly, bubbly and approachable, which is pretty much our DCAS team approach. We need to take into consideration other people’s needs and requirements, maintaining all aspects of equality and diversity. Our language needs to be appropriate and suitable.
3.3 Agree with relevant parties the arrangements for working together
The meeting at Lea Green gave us a much better insight as to what they were doing and the shots they were after. I knew about the assignment about a week ago, but I now have a more specific brief. They are wanting some publicity shots for their website and possibly a few bits of film footage. They are wanting natural shots of the young people doing various activities which don’t look ‘staged’. They also want some bits of footage of the young people saying what their favourite food in their school dinners is, as this is another area they are currently focusing on. We’re going to get to DCAS for 9:00am, pack the equipment and set off straight away, getting there for about half past. They are starting around 10:00am so this gives us plenty of time to get the lenses on the cameras, get set up and find out what’s on at what time.
3.4 Notify relevant parties in good time if it proves impossible to undertake assignments or resolve problems
It’s far too late for us to cancel now so it would look bad if we did. However, say a week ago if we found we couldn’t do it, we’d be in touch with them straight away to see if they’d mind if we arranged it for another date, or if there was another way we could somehow work around it. These problems very rarely arise, but it’s important to be in touch with the client further back from the arranged date rather than at the last minute.
3.5 Maintain a professional approach with clients and other relevant parties
It’s important to maintain a professional approach to our clients, especially if they are paying us. Doing a bad job would put clients off. They would tell people they know about their experience, which would give DCAS a bad name. When out and about doing jobs, we are friendly and approachable and try our best to get good shots. We ensure people know who we are and what we are doing.
(40.4) Understand legislation, ethics and business requirements relevant to the photographic assignment
4.1 Identify key aspects of legislation relevant to the photographic assignment
When photographing at DCAS, as I mentioned earlier, it’s important that young people have consented and that we try not to photograph them directly straight on and focus more on their work.
We also quite recently filmed some interviews at an event at Chesterfield Library. For everyone we filmed being interviewed, we got them to fill in a publicity consent form. We faced a slight issue when getting some outdoor footage of the library when a security guard from the precinct questioned us. But as the library had given us permission we were ok.
Copyright is also important, even though it will be Lea Green using the images, it’s important that we are credited for taking them and any footage. When working on any projects for others, we always put our DCAS copyright on there so people know we did all the editing.
4.2 Identify aspects of codes of ethics/ conduct relevant to planning and organising the photographic assignment
Not everyone is happy with having their photo taken, so when working on a project outside of DCAS we really have to be aware of our surroundings. Some places may require special permission in order for us to take pictures and film. Luckily most of our projects are requested by Derbyshire County Council, so we have permission to do what we do. We also have our council ID badges to prove it’s us.
If we find any equipment to be faulty or dodgy, we report it straight away and make sure we dispose of it in the correct way. When doing photography projects whether it be for a group of young people or a specific client, we follow health and safety procedures and ensure they are aware of things like how hot the lights can get and to be aware of the wires on the floor, not to have any drinks near any of the equipment etc.
4.3 Address any potential legal and ethical issues arising from the nature of the assignment.
As previously described, consent is the main issue to address. We would also need to be aware of health and safety to others and ourselves. Making sure not to block any exits or create any trip hazards. Also we mustn’t leave equipment unattended in case of theft.
(40.5) Understand health and safety requirements relevant to photographic assignments
5.1 Identify key aspects of health and safety legislation and regulations relevant to own work environment/
5.2 Identify appropriate action to minimise potential risks and hazards involved in the assignments
(See Unit 10 and Unit 6)
When working on photography or filming assignments, risks and hazards may vary depending on the location and equipment being used. When myself and my colleague did a photography workshop with the young people in the art session on the stage, our main thing to point out was the lighting and how hot it gets. Also to be aware of the wires. Obviously, even though the shots we were aiming for to be used in our exhibition were supposed to be quite dark, we had to have at least a little bit of light for health and safety reasons. This made the environment safer, but also didn’t ruin the images we were capturing.
When filming outside at Curbar Edge, we were really high up on the cliffs so this was a case of being aware of our surroundings. We had to be careful when scrambling up and down the rocks and when we were filming quite near to the edge. Also with things like the wind and people passing by, we had to keep an eye on the equipment at all times to ensure it was safe.
Another thing to do if filming something like a council meeting or public event is to make sure cables are taped down securely in places where people may walk, and to make sure we are not blocking any exits or are in the way.
