into April

The past few months have been increasingly busy, and finding a few minutes to update this blog has become increasingly difficult.

This past week, I've been working hard on my college projects. However, I'm currently at a point where I feel that I'm not as far forward as I'd like to be, and still have a lot of work to do. Sometimes I feel as if I'm not advancing as much as I think I am for the volume of work and the amount of effort I put in. However, I've felt like this before and usually it seems worse than it is.

This week, I've been focusing (no pun intended) on three projects - a still life/fine art project; a still life advertising project; and an editorial charity project.

Each has its own complications to overcome, which makes life a little more interesting. I'm starting to realise that I've set myself some pretty tough challenges to complete by 21st May. On one hand, if I achieve everything I want and to the standard I want, then I'm going to have a good portfolio by the end of the course. On the other, it's going to take a lot more sweat and tears (no blood, hopefully) before I get there.

Last week, I took a trip to a forest to get some textual images to overlay with some photographs I am intending on producing for my fine-art project. I've also set up a make-shift studio using some disused office space for my advertising shot. All I need now are some props to populate the space I'm using, and a brain of problem-solving techniques to get the photographs working perfectly.

I've also been working closely with a charity, who I occasionally help by providing voluntary photography work. In return, they've been kind enough to agree to let me come and photograph them at work, and very accommodating and kind.

Working like this can send me a bit up and down at times, in terms of mood. Fortunately, I spoke to my tutor and by the time I finished and had shown him my work to date, I was on an upward swing again.

I think for a few weeks I've felt that my work hit a plateau and I wanted to improve it. I wanted more from my photographs than I was achieving. My work was passable, but it wasn't quite what I wanted. My tutor was helpful and we talked about this "wall", and the idea that realising I'd hit it meant that actually I was challenging myself more and that was a good thing. My wall at the moment is trying to overcome a typical student photograph and make my work go beyond that.

I also found a photograph I've taken lately (shown here) which I actually really like.  I could tell you lots of reasons why I like it, but I think what I like most about it is how simple it is, but how effective it looks at the same time. I think this is the sort of photograph I'm trying to achieve, and getting to that point is a lovely, although difficult, process.

My diary has become increasingly full - it's wonderful needing to use one, but at the same time I am completely lost without it, more than I feel about my mobile phone.

I've also been working hard on my new websites. I've decided to have two separate sites, one for my commercial work, and one for more social photography - weddings, families, pets, children, etc. I'm still ironing out a few "creases", but hope to have a proper domain name for the latter soon. Meanwhile, my commercial work can be found at http://www.kristinmitchell.co.uk.