Easily the hardest to tackle. The photos are the most satisfying when successful. The brief was the same as the previous assignments (black and white, ISO400, 35mm or 50mm lens, manual exposure and focus, no post-processing), except to capture human relationships. This is an extremely wide brief, and oddly enough it makes the initial step a lot more difficult - finding your subject.

Some friends of my brothers were very kind and allowed me into their house for the afternoon to spend a little time with them and their two boys Lucas (4) and Arthur (2). This was very fortunate and great fun. I found that putting the camera down for a while and just talking/playing around was the most beneficial approach, as it meant I was a lot more involved and the subject relaxed considerably when it was time to pick up the camera. I also didn't waste a great deal of energy taking shots that were not relevant to the brief, so I think that the images I did take benefited. Anyway, here are a couple from that day:

Arthur stealing mini eggs

Lucas (left) and Arthur giving Dad painkillers for his broken ankle

I wanted a working relationship of some sort to compare against this personal familial one, so I asked the guys at British Military Fitness if I could head down to shoot one of the sessions on Hyde Park. I was very lucky and was allowed to do so, and in excellent light. The trainers are all either ex army or currently serving, and the regime takes a very military bent, which is great for the relationship side of things. Here are a few:

All in all, I found this pretty hard work. On achieving access the actual job was ok, but it was the access that was a really tricky part. I think that the brief is a good one for training, but I think that relationship shots will be a lot easier on a longer term project where access has become a given and where the characters involved are far better known and understood.