On no! Not another one!

Putting my work on public display is not something I am used to. This probably stems from times when as a child I would hand in some long, laboured over piece of work to a teacher only to be told it is rubbish. I now find that is it something I have to do, whether I like it or not.

As I have mentioned earlier in this blog. I have started a photography degree. The first part is called The Art of Photography and (for the purposes of this post at any rate) it is split into two parts: projects and assignments. The projects are the course work of the degree and there are approximately 66 of these in total. Since most of these projects involve taking photographs in some form or another it is impractical to send them all in to be assessed (not unless I’m planning to hire a Royal Mail lorry for the lot anyway), so I have been told to keep a blog with all the photographs on it. And here it is:

 

https://strabecphotos.wordpress.com/

 

The purposes of this blog are as I have outlined: to save money on postage and give something for my tutor to look at. I have nearly completed the first course, but I have only just started putting the projects up here. Once I have finished putting up all the projects, the assignments will go up. I will give more details as to what happens with the assessment at some later stage.

 

For now I shall be concentrating on getting all the projects I have completed on to the other blog, so this blog will not be updated for a while.

The Final Collection

Well actually there’s only 2 pictures that didn’t make it in, the picture of the mirror, and the picture of the reflected tree. They were replaced by these two:

My tutor liked it! He said that my photography had ‘reached a new level of maturity’! Preen preen.

My next assignment is due on January 8th and it is the penultimate assignment for this course (Before I start the next course, this is a degree after all!). Although I am on the penultimate assignment (or will be) I am actually quite far behind with the coursework. I don’t think it is totally impossible for me to catch up. Not ‘totally impossible’, maybe just ‘quite unlikely’.

I am enjoying this course. I am still not quite used to the way of working, and after nearly a year that could be seen as a disadvantage. I am used to being able to study at home. Yes I know photography requires an outside element! I am not used to course with a ‘practical’ side.

Assignment 3

I thought I would share the photos that are probably going to make up assignment 3. The trouble is that even though I have agonised over them I can’t help but feel they are all rubbish! That is what to expect when you have a very low self esteem I suppose…

I will try and update with what pictures do make up the final set…once I get down off the ceiling.

Photography Again

I have completed 2 assignments of my course so far. The feedback I have received back from my tutor has been largely positive, there are area’s for improvement naturally. Unfortunately I included too many flower pictures in this latest assignment, which was picked up on, I knew it would. My tutor said that flowers were, effectively, an easy subject to pick (even though he said I am not bad at it) but I should challenge myself and chose different subjects. Let me let you into a small secret **whispers** I don’t actually like taking pictures of flowers. Flowers are an attractive subject and there are a few experimental photographs I would like to take involving them, but they aren’t my favourite subject.

Believe it or not, my favourite subject is in fact light. More specifically light around sunset. Oddly enough it isn’t until I received this report back from my tutor on this assignment that I realised this. As I have said before, better late than never!

His favourite photo of my assignment was this one.

Here is another one that I located whilst glancing through my copious photographs.

Unfortunately now I realise what my favourite subject is, this means a lot of early morning and late nights from now on….Oh well, better set the alarm for 3.30am…

Grrrr!!!!

I have got adobe photoshop elements 5. Until recently I didn’t have many complaints about it. I find the way it creates new folders using only the date when the photographs were taken to be annoying. The way it automatically opens whenever you put any sort of USB stick into the computer is a pest too. But the latest thing just takes the biscuit! And I would never have discovered this if it was not for the combination of my OCA course and the magazine Practical photography. For the latest OCA project I have to control the exposure in my photographs. <plaintive voice>Which I did</plaintive voice>. I looked at the results on my camera’s display and it demostrated exactly what the project asked for. I put the camera card in to my computer, again fine. THEN once the pictures were in photoshop elements… all the photgraphs were over exposed! What had happened?! Only then did I realise that photoshop ‘automagically corrects’ exposure to what IT thinks is right. GRRRR!!!! I know what you’re thinking: ‘it has taken you that long to notice?!’ Well at least I have noticed now, and photos I have previously dismissed as rubbish are now looking a lot better.

Still better late than never…

By the way, for all who are interested I have added some photo’s (not many, don’t get excited) to my flickr account.

Deadlines…

…I love the sound they make as they go whooshing by. I should probably call this post ‘panic stations’ and then watch as my husband dives for cover. My first deadline for the OCA is the 14th April and I have to produce 17 fab photographs representing contrasts. I would say that gives me 30ish days to complete it and send it off on time. I don’t think it matters if I miss the deadline but I don’t like missing deadlines. Apart from the assignment I have 7 projects of varying lengths to complete. Luckily I have already partly finished the longer ones, so I only have the shorter to go.

Apart from panicking about deadlines I would say the course is going reasonably well. It is not a type of course I am used to. Having previously studied subjects which require copious amount of reading and remembering facts I am not quite used to the ‘practical’ side of this course. The course has opened my mind to new photographic ideas, but there are some things which the course assumes about the student. For example, one of the projects requires you to take a series of photographs vertically, as photographers don’t usually use this format. Well I take just as many using the portrait format as landscape. I wasn’t sure whether I should use Photoshop for my photos. I have decided not to worry about this. If I think a photo needs ‘photoshopping’ before it is submitted, then it get photoshopped. Also it asks the students to write down ideas for photographs. That isn’t quite the way I work. I like going to a place and then seeing what my imagination can up with. I suppose I am going to have to start! Once I have completed my assignment photo’s I will post them here. It is supposed to be a photography blog. Well partly anyway.

Oh by the way, I don’t know how many other photographer out there are slightly baffled by the rule-of-thirds. I have read several articles trying to explain this and I have always been left well slightly confused. When by chance I stumbled on this:
http://photoinf.com/Golden_Mean/Eugene_Ilchenko/GoldenSection.html

Suddenly it clicked! Yay!!!

Paua Shell

Paua Shell Bits

I now posses a light tent! Okay I am still ironing out a few problems, but there are the first couple of pictures!!!

Red Letter Day

Today is a red letter day.* After months of procrastination, worry about the economic downturn and being generally annoying I have done it! I have signed up for an OCA degree in photography! Of course you know what that mean you lucky, lucky 7 who read my blog. That’s right, for the next 7 years I will be blogging about little else…

But now I have done it. As you know I am bored, stressed (not to mention several unrepeatable words I could mention!) with my life. Why should I put up with the circumstances I find myself in at the moment? So fuelled with the success of my 2 OU courses (Planets and Digital photography) I have decided to take the plunge and devote my energies towards something I enjoy. Until I settle down into a routine, I am fully aware the next few months are going to be awkward. However I managed to two OU courses, I feel strangely confident about this degree.

*What is a red letter day? I am sure I heard an explanation on radio 4 sometime but I’ve forgotten…..