Planning my Photography

My genre of music is going to heavily influence the mise of scene of my photography. Since I am doing country music, the theme is often rural or rustic without much industrial contribution. 

Therefore I need to think of locations suitable for capturing the symbolism of the genre. In order to not limit myself, I wanted to take a range of photographs in different plausible settings before I choose which one appears more impactful. 

Coast

The coast is a very serene setting and is generally associated with relaxation and tranquility. Although country music tends to be more inland, I think that the coast still expresses powerful connotations based around self-realisation and natural influence.

My plan is to use the coast as a large part in my double page spread. The initial thought is that I could write about an artist who's next album is largely inspired by the coast and it's philosophy. 

Fortunately this is a very accessible location because I live near a desolate patch of shoreline.

Farm

In contrast to the serene impression of the beach, I think a farm is perfect for embodying the rustic and western origins of the country genre. It's connotations refer to the vast expanses of land and how agriculture was a thriving part of society. It is also one of the primary associations people make with country music. 

I think that I will use this setting as the fictional origins of my artist on the double page spread. For example how they were raised on a stereotypical rural landscape and the way in which this shaped their introduction to country and folk songs. 

Despite not owning a farm, this problem will be overcome through a friend of my dad's who has generously offered to let me take some photos on his land. 

Other things to consider will be time of day. Personally I find that the sunrise proves to be the most majestic and striking time, and I know for a fact that on the beach this can be even more stunning. On a farm however, I think that midday would be most suitable because is has connotations of work and progression.

In terms of who I want to feature in my magazine, my grandad will be visiting over the next week and so I thought that it would be good to use an elderly idol in order to express the generational ancestry behind country music. But the reality is that he won't be arriving until near our deadline, and so I don't want to leave myself without enough time to create the product. 

For this reason I intend to use myself as the main feature. Since I am relatively young it gives my magazine a chance to express the youthful attraction to the country genre, and so in my articles I can write about it from an innovative perspective. If I get the chance I would still like to use my grandad but maybe photograph him for the contents page to offer some variety. 
Another influence on my photography is realism. Country music takes inspiration from the natural landscape around it, and therefore I want my photos to be enticing enough without needing to digitally alter them. This will present the composition of the frame as idyllic and inviting.