Two Forth Valley College HND Photography students have managed to put a live brief twist on a section of their course.
Second year students Edgaras Borotinskas (32) from Bo’ness and Andrew Solomon (53) from Sauchie have linked up with two local gin distillers to help pass the Advertising Photography section of their course.
McQueen Gin and Stirling Gin have both been delighted with the photographic work and the partnership has allowed the students to gain valuable experience of what it is like to work on a real life project.
Edgaras, who has already been nominated for a Scottish Nature Photography award for his work while at College, said:
“Working with McQueen Gin has been a great experience. Rather than just photograph the bottles on a white background I took pictures of the gin on location at the distillery up in Callander. I am happy with the results and they have turned out better than I thought. I had an idea and I just went for it. I like challenges in my life, it’s what motivates me and pushes me forward.”
Andrew, said:
“The brief asked us to pick a product and for us to produce photographs for it. I thought I could interest a local company and make it a live project. So I contacted Stirling Gin by e-mail to see if I could use their bottles as the focus of my project and it corresponded with them being a year-old! They said yes and even asked me to photograph the Stirling Gin Festival at the Stirling Highland Hotel recently which was a great experience.
“I have enjoyed this all very much and I am very happy with the results and June McCann at Stirling Gin seems to be happy with my photos too. They have used one of my images as their Facebook icon which is great. The course here at the Stirling Campus is cool and I would absolutely recommend it. The campus is a great location and the lecturers are great. You definitely get out of it what you put into it.”
Creative Industries lecturer, Suzanne Galloway, said:
“We are always trying to encourage our students to get involved in live projects as much as possible through their course. Once they graduate they will be moving on within the industry and they need to make as many connections as they can. Working with local companies at this stage of their careers gives them real opportunities in the future.
“Both Stirling Gin and McQueen Gin have been brilliant and have encouraged both Edgaras and Andrew to express their creativity. We hope we can work with them again in the future.”
Dale McQueen, from McQueen Gin, said:
“We are delighted with the images and the professional approach from the college. Our beautiful and unique hand crafted ceramic bottle presents photographic challenges, which Edgaras has successfully overcome.”