I'm currently working flat out at the moment with college work. It's very good, in many respects, although thoroughly stressful.
I've got about eleven projects in total. I did have twelve, but I decided I was being a bit over-ambitious about that.
So here's the run down (if I haven't written this already):
Location - editorial piece (I'm doing this on sport) - complete
Location - editorial piece (this is on charity) - complete
Location - advertising (mental health issues) - complete
Location - advertising (my friend's bakery) - still to shoot
Studio - catalogue products shots - still to shoot
Studio - set building advertising shots - getting there.... 50% complete
Studio - set building fine art shots - not quite got what I want.... 45% complete
Major project - hotel documentary series - complete (although I want a few external shots)
Major project - fairytale location series - 50% complete
So far, I've completed my sport, charity, mental health shoots. I'm almost done on the hotel series, and I'm currently working on the fairytale and studio projects. The bakery shoot has been temporarily postponed but will take place in a fortnight. My final deadline is 21st May, but I need time before that to edit, print, and fix anything that needs fixing before then, so I've set a personal deadline of 9th May for all my photography shooting to be complete. If I'm honest, I could probably sign-off the two studio shoots that are partially done, as I really need three images for each of those and I think I have three images I could use for that.
It was timely today to listen to the radio that thousands of pupils and students are currently starting their standard grade, higher, and other SQA examinations now. Part of this photography work reminds me of being back in an exam hall - although I have an answer for almost every question, I don't quite want to finish up early and leave, but instead make the most of every last minute in case I find an alternative and better answer in the remaining time. Although I potentially have a photograph for almost every shoot (save those I'm still to shoot), I don't want to sign them off just yet in case a better photograph comes along.
This week, I have been focusing on the fairytale and studio project. I also had my fourth hotel shoot at the end of last week.
It's fair to say though, I am feeling the stress. Trying to keep on top of so many aspects of so many projects is hard work, although there's something fulfilling about going to bed knowing you've worked hard all day. My days usually start around 6am, and end at around 12am, with driving, shooting, driving some more, downloading, editing, and sorting out all my kit for the next day. I've given up on budgeting through numerous trips to B&Q to buy props and things to help me build my sets, petrol costs (the train is completely impractical given the weight and bulk of what I need to transport back and forth to college), and parking costs.
As with the actual photography... my shoots are mostly going well. There are many things I would like to improve, sometimes with hindsight.
However, I think of the whole scenario as a learning curve. Part of the curve is learning to know exactly what you want, and learning what and when to compromise, and when you need to stick to the plan. Sometimes I don't always stick to the plan, and I think there have been occasions when I've found myself shooting something completely different to the way I want it to be. This past fortnight I've made a conscious decision to pull it all back to the original idea, stick to the script.
On top of all that, we've got all of our end-of-year things going on, and this is the time when we really do the administrative work. So selecting photographs for our college year book; advertising our exhibition; deciding what we're using in exhibition, deciding on an advert for the exhibition, submitting work for the class website... the list goes on.
My diary is full of shoots for the coming weeks ahead. As well as my college work, I've also got a wedding to photograph. On the plus side, I don't feel so nervous about it because I've been distracted by my college work lately.
One of the difficult obstacles however is not actually anything within my college education. My local printing company is relocating, and will be closed right around the time of the deadline of my work. This obviously changes things significantly as to when I can send work to print and whether my work will be finished by that deadline. I am tempted to use one of the highly recommended alternative printers, although it's not quite as convenient, and it sounds like most of my classmates are thinking the same thing so the printers might find themselves inundated with student work.
The next fortnight will be crucial and hard going, although I know it's going to pass so very quickly.
Showing posts with label photography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label photography. Show all posts
Thursday, 29 April 2010
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
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.
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.
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.
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.
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Learning from A Pro
At the end of last week, I was back in college for a group presentation. We all had to give a mini presentation to show where we were with our work. It was good to see what others were doing, and how far they are with their projects. I really want to step the pace up a gear though. I've done a lot of research and had a couple of shoots, but I think it's time to have more shoots going on.
My projects are:
Three still life studio based projects: catalogue/product type shot, set building, and some sort of fine art project;
Architecture using a large format camera (although this scares me, a lot);
Day-in-the-life documentary series;
Personal/ fine art project involving telling a story;
Sports editorial shoot on location;
Charity editorial shoot on location;
Mental health advertising on location;
Corporate awareness advertising on location.
I should point out for the studio and location shots I chose the subject matter but the editorial/ advertising/ location/ studio aspects were assigned.
So. I've got models lined up to start working immediately, with a couple of shoots lined up for next week after I return from being down south, and hopefully running fairly regularly through the remainder of March.
In other news, I managed to get some more assisting work on Monday. It was a series of publicity shots for a large well-known organisation in Glasgow, and great to see a pro-photographer at work. While I was working with him, there were a few things that stuck in my mind. Firstly, how simple the set ups were. At college there's a lot of push towards using as many lights and techniques as possible. He used two at most, either two studio lights -one for the background and one for the subject- or one for the subject and natural daylight. I realised that at quite a few shoots I've attended the photographers seem to prefer to keep lighting simple with no more than one or two lights at most. I suppose a lot of it is down to preference, but also thinking about the purpose of the photograph. I suppose these shots are more the bread-and-butter pictures, the ones you have to get right to earn your income, but it seems to fly in the face of some suggestions of using nine or more lights for a shoot. Perhaps if you're doing a really intricate set, or fashion or art shoot, then yes, nine or more lights is fine. Perhaps if you have time and money and inclination then it's ok too. But I suspect there's something against over-complicating a shoot, making your clients wait while you set up (plus the testing time required when both the clock and the meter are ticking) and lugging nine or more lights (and stands and attachments) with you to a shoot.
The second thing, was how much I enjoy doing anything in this line of work. It's not just about watching what happens, but listening too. Listening to how a pro photographer talks to his subject, how they deal with clients and talk to them, the tone, the vocabulary they choose (part of that last bit might be because I was a language student in a former life and tone and words are still embedded in my brain). That's the stuff college can't teach me and the stuff that frankly, probably counts for about 35% of whether you get a second job with that client. (The other proportions being - at a guess: how organised you are in terms of contacting them and arranging a shoot; how good the photos are at the end of it all).
Thirdly, I realised that I really love doing things in photography. It doesn't matter what my role is, as long as I'm there. I thought about all those temp jobs I've done in the past during summer holidays from university, when I was a receptionist or admin assistant or data entry enterer-person. I can safely say there was not a single day I came back from work on a buzz like I get from coming back from a photoshoot. When its me behind the camera, I realise I can work almost as long as required, I get such a kick from it that I don't have any concept of time passing and I don't notice if I am actually feeling tired, which is great unless I'm driving afterwards. Photography is a bit like a can of Red Bull for me.
What I enjoyed most, was just being at work with it all, and knowing that if I enjoy it this much then I must be in the right career. It is a tough career path, perhaps moreso than many others, simply for the abundance of photographers at every level competing for work. Sometimes that thought is hard to consider and quite depressing. But then I think of the things I have achieved so far, and remind myself that all the things that have been hard have always been worthwhile in the end. There are many things that I'm going to need to make it in the industry and make a living out of photography, and realising that my work ethic is one of my strengths allows me to focus my attentions on any deficits or weaknesses.
My projects are:
Three still life studio based projects: catalogue/product type shot, set building, and some sort of fine art project;
Architecture using a large format camera (although this scares me, a lot);
Day-in-the-life documentary series;
Personal/ fine art project involving telling a story;
Sports editorial shoot on location;
Charity editorial shoot on location;
Mental health advertising on location;
Corporate awareness advertising on location.
I should point out for the studio and location shots I chose the subject matter but the editorial/ advertising/ location/ studio aspects were assigned.
So. I've got models lined up to start working immediately, with a couple of shoots lined up for next week after I return from being down south, and hopefully running fairly regularly through the remainder of March.
In other news, I managed to get some more assisting work on Monday. It was a series of publicity shots for a large well-known organisation in Glasgow, and great to see a pro-photographer at work. While I was working with him, there were a few things that stuck in my mind. Firstly, how simple the set ups were. At college there's a lot of push towards using as many lights and techniques as possible. He used two at most, either two studio lights -one for the background and one for the subject- or one for the subject and natural daylight. I realised that at quite a few shoots I've attended the photographers seem to prefer to keep lighting simple with no more than one or two lights at most. I suppose a lot of it is down to preference, but also thinking about the purpose of the photograph. I suppose these shots are more the bread-and-butter pictures, the ones you have to get right to earn your income, but it seems to fly in the face of some suggestions of using nine or more lights for a shoot. Perhaps if you're doing a really intricate set, or fashion or art shoot, then yes, nine or more lights is fine. Perhaps if you have time and money and inclination then it's ok too. But I suspect there's something against over-complicating a shoot, making your clients wait while you set up (plus the testing time required when both the clock and the meter are ticking) and lugging nine or more lights (and stands and attachments) with you to a shoot.
The second thing, was how much I enjoy doing anything in this line of work. It's not just about watching what happens, but listening too. Listening to how a pro photographer talks to his subject, how they deal with clients and talk to them, the tone, the vocabulary they choose (part of that last bit might be because I was a language student in a former life and tone and words are still embedded in my brain). That's the stuff college can't teach me and the stuff that frankly, probably counts for about 35% of whether you get a second job with that client. (The other proportions being - at a guess: how organised you are in terms of contacting them and arranging a shoot; how good the photos are at the end of it all).
Thirdly, I realised that I really love doing things in photography. It doesn't matter what my role is, as long as I'm there. I thought about all those temp jobs I've done in the past during summer holidays from university, when I was a receptionist or admin assistant or data entry enterer-person. I can safely say there was not a single day I came back from work on a buzz like I get from coming back from a photoshoot. When its me behind the camera, I realise I can work almost as long as required, I get such a kick from it that I don't have any concept of time passing and I don't notice if I am actually feeling tired, which is great unless I'm driving afterwards. Photography is a bit like a can of Red Bull for me.
What I enjoyed most, was just being at work with it all, and knowing that if I enjoy it this much then I must be in the right career. It is a tough career path, perhaps moreso than many others, simply for the abundance of photographers at every level competing for work. Sometimes that thought is hard to consider and quite depressing. But then I think of the things I have achieved so far, and remind myself that all the things that have been hard have always been worthwhile in the end. There are many things that I'm going to need to make it in the industry and make a living out of photography, and realising that my work ethic is one of my strengths allows me to focus my attentions on any deficits or weaknesses.
Monday, 22 February 2010
Looking back, looking forward
Well, sadly my photoshoot scheduled last week didn't go ahead due to poor weather conditions. It's a shame, but it's only been postponed rather than cancelled completely. Hopefully I'll get another chance later on.
Meanwhile, I decided to go and visit my grandmother, since I had some time free and no other plans. Rather glad I did, as I also got to see her neighbour's animal menagerie. The neighbour helps with the local animal protection, and has several cats which need re-homing. Amongst those, were two mother cats and their two litters of kittens. Kittens are always cute, especially when the kitten I got to snuggle had only just opened his eyes, and barely fit into the palm of my hand. She also had some lovely dogs which she was keeping herself - all rescues. One was a sweet little Jack Russell pup, so I had a lovely visit playing with kittens and the puppy.
This week looks a bit more quiet than last week was. The momentum has calmed a bit, but I think having upped my efforts a bit I feel more inclined to push more and find more work to do. One of the things I've been meaning to get stuck into, was contacting companies about potentially borrowing samples to photograph for three studio based projects. I admit, I sometimes feel a bit uncomfortable contacting people. Explaining who I am and what I want something for, and what I'm requesting.... it's not exactly your everyday request. Fortunately, I've been quite lucky - most people tend to be quite helpful, which makes the process considerably easier.
Although I've no shoots lined up for this week, I am planning on trying to get some more practice shots going. I want to try and experiment more with outdoor lighting techniques, as well as just trying to take more pictures. I managed to get outside this afternoon, just as the sun was setting. It was actually really nice light - cool, low, and crisp, it had a lot of atmosphere to it. The actual pictures weren't anything special as my focus was entirely on light. I decided to completely ignore composition and the usual tick-boxes of good photography, and concentrate on light. I'm not going to post the results, but it was good just to strip back the whole photograph to one specific area.
As for the week ahead - well, the weather this week looks quite changeable, so I think I'll have lots of different opportunities for taking photographs, which I can hopefully post on here.
Meanwhile, I decided to go and visit my grandmother, since I had some time free and no other plans. Rather glad I did, as I also got to see her neighbour's animal menagerie. The neighbour helps with the local animal protection, and has several cats which need re-homing. Amongst those, were two mother cats and their two litters of kittens. Kittens are always cute, especially when the kitten I got to snuggle had only just opened his eyes, and barely fit into the palm of my hand. She also had some lovely dogs which she was keeping herself - all rescues. One was a sweet little Jack Russell pup, so I had a lovely visit playing with kittens and the puppy.
This week looks a bit more quiet than last week was. The momentum has calmed a bit, but I think having upped my efforts a bit I feel more inclined to push more and find more work to do. One of the things I've been meaning to get stuck into, was contacting companies about potentially borrowing samples to photograph for three studio based projects. I admit, I sometimes feel a bit uncomfortable contacting people. Explaining who I am and what I want something for, and what I'm requesting.... it's not exactly your everyday request. Fortunately, I've been quite lucky - most people tend to be quite helpful, which makes the process considerably easier.
Although I've no shoots lined up for this week, I am planning on trying to get some more practice shots going. I want to try and experiment more with outdoor lighting techniques, as well as just trying to take more pictures. I managed to get outside this afternoon, just as the sun was setting. It was actually really nice light - cool, low, and crisp, it had a lot of atmosphere to it. The actual pictures weren't anything special as my focus was entirely on light. I decided to completely ignore composition and the usual tick-boxes of good photography, and concentrate on light. I'm not going to post the results, but it was good just to strip back the whole photograph to one specific area.
As for the week ahead - well, the weather this week looks quite changeable, so I think I'll have lots of different opportunities for taking photographs, which I can hopefully post on here.
Thursday, 18 February 2010
change of plan
Although I had a photoshoot planned for this weekend, it has unfortunately, been postponed due to weather conditions. I was a little disappointed, but this morning I took the opportunity to work on my techniques. I also managed to rejig the brolly, so that I can shoot the flashgun through it, rather than into it and bounce back. This made me quite happy, and I think I've found the technique I want to use for my eventual shoot.
It's been quite good just to get some experimenting in, and good to get my technique honed.
Ignoring the flare, and the slightly over-bouncy hair, I'm quite happy with the lighting here. Both external speedlights set at +1/2 power, while the on-camera flash was at -1/8th power. I didn't want the on-camera flash to be overpowering, just to soften any harsh shadows while not distracting from the brolly.
The set up isn't particularly exciting - just a bare speedlight and a brolly pointed at each other, with the camera on the left side of the brolly, and me facing the brolly. Just a simple experiment in cross-lighting. Especially as there was a complete lack of sunlight (as that grey sky might suggest).
It's been quite good just to get some experimenting in, and good to get my technique honed.
Ignoring the flare, and the slightly over-bouncy hair, I'm quite happy with the lighting here. Both external speedlights set at +1/2 power, while the on-camera flash was at -1/8th power. I didn't want the on-camera flash to be overpowering, just to soften any harsh shadows while not distracting from the brolly.
The set up isn't particularly exciting - just a bare speedlight and a brolly pointed at each other, with the camera on the left side of the brolly, and me facing the brolly. Just a simple experiment in cross-lighting. Especially as there was a complete lack of sunlight (as that grey sky might suggest).
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
test shoots
So it's been nearly a year since I updated, partly because I'm a bit too busy, the other part because I've clearly been a bit too lazy. I guess most of it is down to deciding what to write into this blog, and I thought I'd dust it down and put something in. I want to treat it more like a scrap book of thoughts than making it too heavy.
So first up, I've had a busy few days doing some shooting. I've had/got three shoots this week - I've already had the first two, and the third one is on Friday.
My first shoot was for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research.
I've been working with them for about eighteen months now. I met them while I was on work experience at a newspaper and I got chatting to them during an event we were covering. I thought they were really lovely people and they left quite an impression on me. Afterwards, I decided that since I couldn't offer a monthly donation, I could offer them my skills and time if they wanted it, and they've always been really lovely and welcoming. Last year, they had several bikeathons across the UK to raise money, including their first one at Drumpelier Country Park, near Coatbridge. I went and did my usual thing, photographing people on bikes. It was a great day, with lovely warm sunshine which made the photographing bit so much easier.
To launch their 2010 bikeathon, they asked me if I would take photographs of a family and one of the guys from one of their partners for this year, Evans Cycles. It was much colder this time, but the park was also really busy! I went early, to scout round, and thought I'd found a quiet spot near the loch, but it seemed to be a people magnet. The downside to this was having to stop frequently to let people past, and also that I couldn't get away with putting up my speedlight stands as I would have liked to have done. Not all the visitors were kind enough to step around either, quite a few chose to walk right through the middle, even though there was plenty of space to walk past. This meant I had to rescue my speedlights quite a few times, and then continuously replace them.
I managed to get some good shots of the family, which I won't be posting here just yet (partly because there's a kid involved). But I will show you some of the photos of our cycle-guru:
Reasonably happy with these, although less happy with my batteries as despite being brand new rechargeable (and fully charged) the day before, they lasted approximately forty-five minutes before the recycle time got a bit long. I might have over-vignetted the top shot though, but that's easily fixed.
I've also been working on some test shots. I've got a big photoshoot this weekend as part of a college project. I have one shot at it, and I'll admit I am feeling quite nervous about it. Probably more than I have for previous college shoots.
So to help me prepare, I dragged my brother to pose for me, while I experimented with lighting. My kit here is two Canon 430EX speedlights, triggered by a Canon 580EXII speedlight (oh for the day when I can afford Pocket Wizards!). The 430s were on light stands with brollies. I used the 580 for a little filler.
The last shot there, was the starting point. I borrowed the set-up from photographer Tom Miles and a shoot he did for a poker mag. From there, we experimented with moving around and raising the height of the lights.
Ian (my brother) was really good with this shoot. I think he got quite interested in what I was doing and made suggestions about what he thought would look good.
Given this was relatively easy to set up, it gave me some ideas to try and play with.
I had another little play this afternoon. Unfortunately, I was without an attractive model, so I've had to make do with my own mug. Most of the shots are out of focus. Long story, involving a cheap trigger and an inability to find a new battery anywhere and therefore relying on the camera timer.
First shot shows me with my eyes closed. Also, yes that is my back garden. This shot gives an idea of my first tests - two speedlights behind me, set at +1/2 power, without brollies. I alternated a little here and occasionally put a brolly on one of the lights to see the effect and whether I liked it.
This first shot is with a brollied-speedlight (to the left of the camera) and a speedlight on a stand to the right, just over my shoulder. A little bit of on camera flash was used, I diffused the light and set it at between -1/4 and -1/8 power.
This second shot shows no on-camera fill flash. I thought I'd add it as a comparrison. Not so flattering, I don't think, on a girl, what with noses and all that. I think a paper bag might have been better.
Moving on, I thought I'd swap sides with the brolly/speedlight. I moved it because I felt it would work better with the direction of light in the sky - since the direction light is sort of parallel where there are breaks in the cloud. I quite like this effect - I had the brolly a lot closer and also upped the zoom, and a little fill-flash.
I'm heading south tomorrow afternoon, and won't have time to get another practice in, unless I give tomorrow morning a go. I basically want to get something that I can say "that works" and then be able to put it up and get started immediately, without worrying too much about setting it up.
So first up, I've had a busy few days doing some shooting. I've had/got three shoots this week - I've already had the first two, and the third one is on Friday.
My first shoot was for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research.
I've been working with them for about eighteen months now. I met them while I was on work experience at a newspaper and I got chatting to them during an event we were covering. I thought they were really lovely people and they left quite an impression on me. Afterwards, I decided that since I couldn't offer a monthly donation, I could offer them my skills and time if they wanted it, and they've always been really lovely and welcoming. Last year, they had several bikeathons across the UK to raise money, including their first one at Drumpelier Country Park, near Coatbridge. I went and did my usual thing, photographing people on bikes. It was a great day, with lovely warm sunshine which made the photographing bit so much easier.
To launch their 2010 bikeathon, they asked me if I would take photographs of a family and one of the guys from one of their partners for this year, Evans Cycles. It was much colder this time, but the park was also really busy! I went early, to scout round, and thought I'd found a quiet spot near the loch, but it seemed to be a people magnet. The downside to this was having to stop frequently to let people past, and also that I couldn't get away with putting up my speedlight stands as I would have liked to have done. Not all the visitors were kind enough to step around either, quite a few chose to walk right through the middle, even though there was plenty of space to walk past. This meant I had to rescue my speedlights quite a few times, and then continuously replace them.
I managed to get some good shots of the family, which I won't be posting here just yet (partly because there's a kid involved). But I will show you some of the photos of our cycle-guru:
Reasonably happy with these, although less happy with my batteries as despite being brand new rechargeable (and fully charged) the day before, they lasted approximately forty-five minutes before the recycle time got a bit long. I might have over-vignetted the top shot though, but that's easily fixed.
I've also been working on some test shots. I've got a big photoshoot this weekend as part of a college project. I have one shot at it, and I'll admit I am feeling quite nervous about it. Probably more than I have for previous college shoots.
So to help me prepare, I dragged my brother to pose for me, while I experimented with lighting. My kit here is two Canon 430EX speedlights, triggered by a Canon 580EXII speedlight (oh for the day when I can afford Pocket Wizards!). The 430s were on light stands with brollies. I used the 580 for a little filler.
The last shot there, was the starting point. I borrowed the set-up from photographer Tom Miles and a shoot he did for a poker mag. From there, we experimented with moving around and raising the height of the lights.
Ian (my brother) was really good with this shoot. I think he got quite interested in what I was doing and made suggestions about what he thought would look good.
Given this was relatively easy to set up, it gave me some ideas to try and play with.I had another little play this afternoon. Unfortunately, I was without an attractive model, so I've had to make do with my own mug. Most of the shots are out of focus. Long story, involving a cheap trigger and an inability to find a new battery anywhere and therefore relying on the camera timer.
First shot shows me with my eyes closed. Also, yes that is my back garden. This shot gives an idea of my first tests - two speedlights behind me, set at +1/2 power, without brollies. I alternated a little here and occasionally put a brolly on one of the lights to see the effect and whether I liked it.
This first shot is with a brollied-speedlight (to the left of the camera) and a speedlight on a stand to the right, just over my shoulder. A little bit of on camera flash was used, I diffused the light and set it at between -1/4 and -1/8 power.
This second shot shows no on-camera fill flash. I thought I'd add it as a comparrison. Not so flattering, I don't think, on a girl, what with noses and all that. I think a paper bag might have been better.
Moving on, I thought I'd swap sides with the brolly/speedlight. I moved it because I felt it would work better with the direction of light in the sky - since the direction light is sort of parallel where there are breaks in the cloud. I quite like this effect - I had the brolly a lot closer and also upped the zoom, and a little fill-flash.
I'm heading south tomorrow afternoon, and won't have time to get another practice in, unless I give tomorrow morning a go. I basically want to get something that I can say "that works" and then be able to put it up and get started immediately, without worrying too much about setting it up.
Friday, 29 May 2009
The end (of college) is nigh....
I've been working rather manically for the past six or seven weeks, mostly on college work, but also helping out by providing people with my photo skills.
My main project of late has been what is known as the Graded Unit, a project we are assigned at the end of each year at college and are given an actual mark on. Usually with each unit, we fulfill the assignments and we are either marked as a pass or fail as to whether we met the brief that we've been set. The graded unit is where we are actually given a grade. Last year, I did particularly well, and was the first person in my college to receive 100% for the first part of the project. Overall, I got a grade A which was a pretty good feeling given the work I put into the project.
The project last year involved creating a slideshow of 15 portfolio images plus a self-written brief where we had to create five images.
This year, it was mostly the same deal, a slideshow plus a self-written brief, but with ten final images. I handed my work in a fortnight ago, and I should hear by next week what my final result is for the unit.
My self-initiated project this year, was to create a series of portraits based on historical photographs. I wanted my portraits to portray a positive idea of strong women. I based my research on photographs of Lisa Fonssagrives Penn, a model from 1930s - 1950s, who posed for some of the most legendary photographers in some of the most famous fashion magazines.
This project has perhaps been the most time-demanding project I've done, but I managed to produce ten images which I wanted to include in my project.
In addition to the project, we have also held an end of year college exhibition at Wasps Gallery in Glasgow. The launch night, last week was a resounding success, and I'm on duty tomorrow to guard the goods during its last day. I submitted two images to the exhibition, including the one pictured above.
In addition, I've also been busy working on a small portfolio of social photographs in the studio and on location as part of my social photography class. I've also created a series of still life food shots for my location stock class.
Then there's the extra circular work I've been doing. I've had a couple of shoots for some make-up artist students. The favour was repaid when they agreed to pose for my studio social photographs.
Finally, last week I spent a day photographing a bikathon for Leukaemia Research in Glasgow. I'm still in the process of editing the photographs from the bikathon, but it was a brilliant day and a great experience.
I've also recently had a little bit of work experience, with a professional photographer, for a physiotherapy centre. I really enjoyed working with him, and he was kind enough to drive over to the exhibition and take a look at our end of year show.
Currently, I'm still in the process of finishing off a few loose ends of college work, and then next week I'm heading off to London to visit my boyfriend and celebrate his 30th birthday, and the week after I'm heading off to France for a well-deserved two week holiday!
In the meantime, I've updated my website with a range of my latest work. I decided to create a "latest work" gallery to showcase this, before it's filed away in the relevant gallery. You can see some of the images I've spoken about here.
Finally, a little story about today.
I'm a member of a website called JPG Magazine, which is as the name suggests, a photo magazine. The work - articles and photographs - are chosen from user generated content. Last year, they published one of my photographs for which I received $100 plus a free subscription.
Today when I checked my email, I noticed I had several emails from JPG, which turned out to be people adding me as a contact, and updates on activity on my work. Turned out, they'd named a story I'd written as story of the week in their weekly e-newsletter, as well as on their front page. I've noticed a lot of activity on that particular story, and on the images relating to it.
The story is about the top ten things I've learned in the last two years of studying photography, which I thought I'd pass on to others to help them with their work. As well as JPG attention, I've also had an increase in Twitter attention, and one nice guy has even written a blog post about my story which you can read at http://slashmaraud.blogspot.com/
At least it shows the last two years I did pay attention to what I was taught.
My main project of late has been what is known as the Graded Unit, a project we are assigned at the end of each year at college and are given an actual mark on. Usually with each unit, we fulfill the assignments and we are either marked as a pass or fail as to whether we met the brief that we've been set. The graded unit is where we are actually given a grade. Last year, I did particularly well, and was the first person in my college to receive 100% for the first part of the project. Overall, I got a grade A which was a pretty good feeling given the work I put into the project.
The project last year involved creating a slideshow of 15 portfolio images plus a self-written brief where we had to create five images.This year, it was mostly the same deal, a slideshow plus a self-written brief, but with ten final images. I handed my work in a fortnight ago, and I should hear by next week what my final result is for the unit.
My self-initiated project this year, was to create a series of portraits based on historical photographs. I wanted my portraits to portray a positive idea of strong women. I based my research on photographs of Lisa Fonssagrives Penn, a model from 1930s - 1950s, who posed for some of the most legendary photographers in some of the most famous fashion magazines.
This project has perhaps been the most time-demanding project I've done, but I managed to produce ten images which I wanted to include in my project.
In addition to the project, we have also held an end of year college exhibition at Wasps Gallery in Glasgow. The launch night, last week was a resounding success, and I'm on duty tomorrow to guard the goods during its last day. I submitted two images to the exhibition, including the one pictured above.
In addition, I've also been busy working on a small portfolio of social photographs in the studio and on location as part of my social photography class. I've also created a series of still life food shots for my location stock class.Then there's the extra circular work I've been doing. I've had a couple of shoots for some make-up artist students. The favour was repaid when they agreed to pose for my studio social photographs.
Finally, last week I spent a day photographing a bikathon for Leukaemia Research in Glasgow. I'm still in the process of editing the photographs from the bikathon, but it was a brilliant day and a great experience.
I've also recently had a little bit of work experience, with a professional photographer, for a physiotherapy centre. I really enjoyed working with him, and he was kind enough to drive over to the exhibition and take a look at our end of year show.
Currently, I'm still in the process of finishing off a few loose ends of college work, and then next week I'm heading off to London to visit my boyfriend and celebrate his 30th birthday, and the week after I'm heading off to France for a well-deserved two week holiday!
In the meantime, I've updated my website with a range of my latest work. I decided to create a "latest work" gallery to showcase this, before it's filed away in the relevant gallery. You can see some of the images I've spoken about here.
Finally, a little story about today.
I'm a member of a website called JPG Magazine, which is as the name suggests, a photo magazine. The work - articles and photographs - are chosen from user generated content. Last year, they published one of my photographs for which I received $100 plus a free subscription.
Today when I checked my email, I noticed I had several emails from JPG, which turned out to be people adding me as a contact, and updates on activity on my work. Turned out, they'd named a story I'd written as story of the week in their weekly e-newsletter, as well as on their front page. I've noticed a lot of activity on that particular story, and on the images relating to it.
The story is about the top ten things I've learned in the last two years of studying photography, which I thought I'd pass on to others to help them with their work. As well as JPG attention, I've also had an increase in Twitter attention, and one nice guy has even written a blog post about my story which you can read at http://slashmaraud.blogspot.com/
At least it shows the last two years I did pay attention to what I was taught.
Friday, 10 April 2009
catwalks and tweets
Decided it's been a while since I wrote, and there's been movements afoot, so at least I've got a decent reason to write something.
A few weeks ago, a friend of mine asked me if I was interested in photographing a fashion show. My response was of course, yes. It was the Edinburgh Charity Fashion Show, which is billed as Europe's most successful student-run fashion show. Which is pretty good.
The premise for my photography was to produce some shots which would show a mixture of fashion and documentary style photographs, behind the scenes and on stage.
The show itself was held at Edinburgh Corn Exchange. The first night was student night, and so was pretty relaxed with student friends turning up. That said, it sold out all 900 tickets. The clothes were donated by a range of well known local, national, and international designers. The show was organised by students from Edinburgh College of Art and Edinburgh University. The second night was a black tie affair, with tables laid out for dinner, an auction and a silent auction, and of course a celebrity supporter in tow. I learned a lot from the experience, about working a situation like this. Had I been working purely from a press-photography perspective, I'd have produced a range of shots from one end of the catwalk which all looked identical. As it was, I wanted to get more "creative", and so worked around different angles. I felt that given this could produce portfolio work (an attitude I take to every shoot of late) I wanted it to at least look interesting. I really enjoyed it, and got some great networking opportunities, which is always a plus. I think my confidence is growing in that regard, which is quite nice to be aware of.
I've also been trying to shoot the album cover, but so far, no luck. I'm waiting for a spot of good weather - a nice evening. Believe it or not, those aren't as frequent as you'd think even now. The other thing is, there is time constraints working against me on this, so as is the way, the best days are the ones when my subject isn't available for shooting. I'm considering just going into the studio and doing something there instead.
I've also had my first stab at some architectural photography. I'm due to go for "round two" sometime soon, again, I'm wanting some good weather to show a bit of sunshine in the photographs. Until then, the photos remain under wraps.
I've also got my big final end of year project at the moment. I've got a series of shoots lined up for next week, so we shall see how they turn out. In addition, I've found myself inundated with make up artists looking for a photographer.... which keeps me busy.
Finally, I've managed to get myself a website set up! Quite pleased about this, because I've managed to meet my own timescale on this, which was to have it up and running by the start of April. It can be visited here: http://kristinmitchell.co.uk/ I decided to work with white, for a number of reasons. Firstly, I think it's more reflective of how a photo might be displayed, e.g. on a wall. Secondly, I think black is much more common as a choice of photo website colour, and I like to go the other way. Thirdly, I personally find black backgrounds difficult to read text on - white text is fine, but when it's blue or red, it's a bit harder for me to focus properly, so I thought other people might feel the same way. Finally, it's less "look! I'm looking at a photo website!", which if you're sitting in an office for example, you might not really want something that grabs the attention of everyone in the room for all the wrong reasons towards your monitor. I wanted something that lets people look at my site discretely. I've also decided to stay away from talking about myself in the third person on my site. Partly to do with the fact that every time I read that by other photographers, I get Alan Partridge's voice in my head. I very much doubt they have a raving fan of a webmaster who wants to spout well-versed cliches about the genius of the photographer in question. So I'm trying to make it more "this is me, this is what I can do for you". Whether it works or not...
I'm also working on how I'm going to market myself a bit, and trying to work out what goes on inside the heads of other people. A dangerous task, I realise. So I'm currently working on a short(ish) survey, trying to get a feel for how people think about professional photographers, hiring photographers, studios, costs, ranges, how people source photographers for occasions, and so on. I think it's better to create a product that way than to try and copy what everyone else is doing and wait for people to go for that. So if you're interested in taking part.... email me at kristinmitchellphotos at googlemail dot com and I'll add you to my survey mailing list. While I'm going to be targetting people closer to where I live, I think people's perceptions of photography isn't necessarily driven by their geographical location, so I'm happy to take responses from people from different areas too, as well as a variety of demographic groups.
Meantime, you can keep up to date with me on a more regular basis via twitter which I have succumbed and joined.
A few weeks ago, a friend of mine asked me if I was interested in photographing a fashion show. My response was of course, yes. It was the Edinburgh Charity Fashion Show, which is billed as Europe's most successful student-run fashion show. Which is pretty good.
The premise for my photography was to produce some shots which would show a mixture of fashion and documentary style photographs, behind the scenes and on stage.
The show itself was held at Edinburgh Corn Exchange. The first night was student night, and so was pretty relaxed with student friends turning up. That said, it sold out all 900 tickets. The clothes were donated by a range of well known local, national, and international designers. The show was organised by students from Edinburgh College of Art and Edinburgh University. The second night was a black tie affair, with tables laid out for dinner, an auction and a silent auction, and of course a celebrity supporter in tow. I learned a lot from the experience, about working a situation like this. Had I been working purely from a press-photography perspective, I'd have produced a range of shots from one end of the catwalk which all looked identical. As it was, I wanted to get more "creative", and so worked around different angles. I felt that given this could produce portfolio work (an attitude I take to every shoot of late) I wanted it to at least look interesting. I really enjoyed it, and got some great networking opportunities, which is always a plus. I think my confidence is growing in that regard, which is quite nice to be aware of.I've also been trying to shoot the album cover, but so far, no luck. I'm waiting for a spot of good weather - a nice evening. Believe it or not, those aren't as frequent as you'd think even now. The other thing is, there is time constraints working against me on this, so as is the way, the best days are the ones when my subject isn't available for shooting. I'm considering just going into the studio and doing something there instead.
I've also had my first stab at some architectural photography. I'm due to go for "round two" sometime soon, again, I'm wanting some good weather to show a bit of sunshine in the photographs. Until then, the photos remain under wraps.
I've also got my big final end of year project at the moment. I've got a series of shoots lined up for next week, so we shall see how they turn out. In addition, I've found myself inundated with make up artists looking for a photographer.... which keeps me busy.
Finally, I've managed to get myself a website set up! Quite pleased about this, because I've managed to meet my own timescale on this, which was to have it up and running by the start of April. It can be visited here: http://kristinmitchell.co.uk/ I decided to work with white, for a number of reasons. Firstly, I think it's more reflective of how a photo might be displayed, e.g. on a wall. Secondly, I think black is much more common as a choice of photo website colour, and I like to go the other way. Thirdly, I personally find black backgrounds difficult to read text on - white text is fine, but when it's blue or red, it's a bit harder for me to focus properly, so I thought other people might feel the same way. Finally, it's less "look! I'm looking at a photo website!", which if you're sitting in an office for example, you might not really want something that grabs the attention of everyone in the room for all the wrong reasons towards your monitor. I wanted something that lets people look at my site discretely. I've also decided to stay away from talking about myself in the third person on my site. Partly to do with the fact that every time I read that by other photographers, I get Alan Partridge's voice in my head. I very much doubt they have a raving fan of a webmaster who wants to spout well-versed cliches about the genius of the photographer in question. So I'm trying to make it more "this is me, this is what I can do for you". Whether it works or not...
I'm also working on how I'm going to market myself a bit, and trying to work out what goes on inside the heads of other people. A dangerous task, I realise. So I'm currently working on a short(ish) survey, trying to get a feel for how people think about professional photographers, hiring photographers, studios, costs, ranges, how people source photographers for occasions, and so on. I think it's better to create a product that way than to try and copy what everyone else is doing and wait for people to go for that. So if you're interested in taking part.... email me at kristinmitchellphotos at googlemail dot com and I'll add you to my survey mailing list. While I'm going to be targetting people closer to where I live, I think people's perceptions of photography isn't necessarily driven by their geographical location, so I'm happy to take responses from people from different areas too, as well as a variety of demographic groups.
Meantime, you can keep up to date with me on a more regular basis via twitter which I have succumbed and joined.
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
the last lap
So it's the start of my third and final term at college.... it's all gone so quickly!
Last term, we had documentary and fashion, as well as creative industries which was more practical advice about job hunting, and support for photographers in the real world.
As usual, it's all been a bit interesting in terms of what I like/ what I'm good at.
For my documentary projects, I decided to shoot two of them on medium format film cameras. After wasting two rolls of film, I quickly learned how to load the Bronica camera (and read instructions after finding them on the internet).
Fashion was a bit of a challenge. What I learned most, was about the amount of organisation in a single shoot. It's not just a case of turning up with a camera and asking everyone to say cheese. It was actually very frustrating at times, but I managed to get my shots done. What I needed though, and could have done with, was a friendly pair of hands to assist me while I worked. Running around back and forth between models, agencies, and make up artists (as well as trying to free photographic kit from the clutches of the over-possessive storeman at college) is a lot of hard work. Add into it, the research, and trying to explain what you're after to so many people.... and that's before I've even shot a single frame. It certainly gave me a new appreciation of the work of fashion photographers.
That said, I was happy with one or two shots from the shoot, and I felt that my final shoot, at Chatelherault Country Park in Hamilton was perhaps my most successful.
I've been busy experimenting a lot with different ideas of photography, and for this shoot, I wanted to return a bit to what I like most - dramatic skies and cool skin tones.
I did however relish the opportunities I had to just go out with my camera, on my own, and do my documentary projects. Those were the wonderful moments in between, where I was able to work on a small scale project, instead of something that felt like a mammoth operation.
In addition, I've been working on some other projects, for other people, as a means of testing my skills before I am released into the wild as a new photographer.
At the end of January, I took photographs for a charity ball north of Perth. I met the charity organisers in October, during a work experience shoot with a newspaper, and offered my services to them as and when required. They invited me to photograph people as they arrived at a very lovely hotel, and I ended up being fed a four course meal, as well as ending up in the presidential suite when on
e of their guests didn't show up.
In February, I was invited to take photos during a music video - a mix of fashion and documentary. It was an absolutely exhausting day, but a very valuable experience, and one which I enjoyed a lot!
I've got a couple of additional projects lined up, including a fashion show next week, and hopefully a chance to do some architectural photography. I'm also meant to be working on an album cover for someone, as a return favour for a photo shoot they did with me in November.
All that, plus finishing my college work in 12 weeks time....
Oh, and I really need to get a proper website sorted out - something I've been doing quite a bit of research into. Hopefully I'll have some more news for you on that front by end of April.
Last term, we had documentary and fashion, as well as creative industries which was more practical advice about job hunting, and support for photographers in the real world.
As usual, it's all been a bit interesting in terms of what I like/ what I'm good at.
For my documentary projects, I decided to shoot two of them on medium format film cameras. After wasting two rolls of film, I quickly learned how to load the Bronica camera (and read instructions after finding them on the internet).Fashion was a bit of a challenge. What I learned most, was about the amount of organisation in a single shoot. It's not just a case of turning up with a camera and asking everyone to say cheese. It was actually very frustrating at times, but I managed to get my shots done. What I needed though, and could have done with, was a friendly pair of hands to assist me while I worked. Running around back and forth between models, agencies, and make up artists (as well as trying to free photographic kit from the clutches of the over-possessive storeman at college) is a lot of hard work. Add into it, the research, and trying to explain what you're after to so many people.... and that's before I've even shot a single frame. It certainly gave me a new appreciation of the work of fashion photographers.
That said, I was happy with one or two shots from the shoot, and I felt that my final shoot, at Chatelherault Country Park in Hamilton was perhaps my most successful.
I've been busy experimenting a lot with different ideas of photography, and for this shoot, I wanted to return a bit to what I like most - dramatic skies and cool skin tones.
I did however relish the opportunities I had to just go out with my camera, on my own, and do my documentary projects. Those were the wonderful moments in between, where I was able to work on a small scale project, instead of something that felt like a mammoth operation.
In addition, I've been working on some other projects, for other people, as a means of testing my skills before I am released into the wild as a new photographer.
At the end of January, I took photographs for a charity ball north of Perth. I met the charity organisers in October, during a work experience shoot with a newspaper, and offered my services to them as and when required. They invited me to photograph people as they arrived at a very lovely hotel, and I ended up being fed a four course meal, as well as ending up in the presidential suite when on
e of their guests didn't show up.In February, I was invited to take photos during a music video - a mix of fashion and documentary. It was an absolutely exhausting day, but a very valuable experience, and one which I enjoyed a lot!
I've got a couple of additional projects lined up, including a fashion show next week, and hopefully a chance to do some architectural photography. I'm also meant to be working on an album cover for someone, as a return favour for a photo shoot they did with me in November.
All that, plus finishing my college work in 12 weeks time....
Oh, and I really need to get a proper website sorted out - something I've been doing quite a bit of research into. Hopefully I'll have some more news for you on that front by end of April.
Tuesday, 11 November 2008
Vision On
So it's nearing the end of my first term in my second year of college. So it's time to tidy up some loose ends of work, and get it all done and dusted.
Last week, I headed down to London for Vision, a photographic event hosted every year by the British Journal of Photography, which is something of a must in the calendar of aspiring photographers.
I had also been in contact with a photographer, who came to visit our college a month ago. After a few emails back and forth, he invited me to do some work experience with him at a studio near the venue for Vision.
It was a fantastic opportunity - one too good to miss, so I jumped at the chance. I was, admittedly, a bit nervous. Lots of reasons why, mainly I feel a bit out of practice at being in a professional environment, and I also become accutely self-aware and self-conscious. Particularly as the more nervous I get, the more inclined I am to babble, and the more I really ought to find a way of stopping talking at least 30 seconds before I do.
Nerves aside, I really enjoyed it. It was great to see a professional photographer at work, even if for him its part of his regular photographic routine - it's not part of mine. He was very good actually at working with me - very polite, very good at explaining things, and friendly. And he had good taste in music, which is of course, always a bonus. There's nothing worse than being somewhere that plays really bad music, for example the time I did a temping job while I was a student, and had to listen to Wheatus. All day. While stuffing envelopes. My arms had never looked like such a mouth-watering delicacy.
After I left, I went to Vision, and met with Laura, Eilidh and James. I'd booked a portfolio review (which cost extra) and had to be there a little earlier. Unlike last year, where tickets for the portfolio review had sold out a week before Vision, this time there were still spaces left. I was pretty nervous about my portfolio review in itself. I'd planned my portfolio carefully - printing out my best images at my usual professional lab. Looking the part is something we've discussed at college, about the importance of presentation to a potential client. So I was somewhat surprised to see how others were turning up with their portfolios. One person in front of me had their portfolio in an empty photo-paper box; others came holding laptops with USBs sticking out of the side. I'll admit, I half expected some rich university art-degree students to come with leather portfolios with their name embossed on one side, and I didn't see anything of the sort.
I was nervous about my portfolio review. I knew what I really had to do, was to detatch myself somewhat from my images. Although what I had was my best work, I had to accept that any criticism wasn't to be taken as a personal criticism, but as one for advancing my work. So I was somewhat surprised when I was told little more than "it's nice!". The review was pretty poor, to be honest. My reviewer seemed more interested in discussing where I got my prints done than what I had in front of me, and only looked at the photos when we had been given a warning of our time being nearly up. My gran could have given me a better critique.
So I took the opportunity to get a second opinion. As there were spaces left in the later sessions, I was given someone else to talk to, who was much better. While the second reviewer couldn't really explain some of their feelings or opinions on my work (something that could have been helpful) they were able to give me some food for thought.
I'm not entirely convinced that the portfolio reviews were worth the extra £5, since I feel that I receive equally honest and constructive critique on a weekly basis from my classmates and tutors at college. I suppose I was aware that at college, we will receive the sort of feedback that is fitting for the work we do - student work. What I wanted to know was whether my work matched to the standards required to be hired as a professional photographer. I don't feel as if I got that from the portfolio review, which was somewhat disappointing. I don't mind people trying to encourage me by being positive, but equally I don't want people to tell me what they think I want to hear. I just want the truth, especially at this stage where I've still got the opportunity to change my work.
I also managed to get a free appointment to have my CV looked at, which was extremely constructive and useful, and I came out with lots of notes on my CV. Nobody has looked at my CV and given me feedback like that since I was 17, so I felt a little lost as to whether I'm doing the right things. This was exactly what I'd wanted - I was told what to do in terms of preparing a CV for a prospective employer. I was told what worked and what didn't work. I was told what I needed to hear, and in such a way that I didn't feel attacked or belittled or broken-hearted: it was honesty without being nasty. And it worked.
I've got a couple of extra things possibly lined up over the next few months - at least three extra projects - which I'll divulge when they transpire. For the meantime though, I'm working through all the things I have to do, and thinking about all the things that I can do to increase my chances when I leave college.
Last week, I headed down to London for Vision, a photographic event hosted every year by the British Journal of Photography, which is something of a must in the calendar of aspiring photographers.
I had also been in contact with a photographer, who came to visit our college a month ago. After a few emails back and forth, he invited me to do some work experience with him at a studio near the venue for Vision.
It was a fantastic opportunity - one too good to miss, so I jumped at the chance. I was, admittedly, a bit nervous. Lots of reasons why, mainly I feel a bit out of practice at being in a professional environment, and I also become accutely self-aware and self-conscious. Particularly as the more nervous I get, the more inclined I am to babble, and the more I really ought to find a way of stopping talking at least 30 seconds before I do.
Nerves aside, I really enjoyed it. It was great to see a professional photographer at work, even if for him its part of his regular photographic routine - it's not part of mine. He was very good actually at working with me - very polite, very good at explaining things, and friendly. And he had good taste in music, which is of course, always a bonus. There's nothing worse than being somewhere that plays really bad music, for example the time I did a temping job while I was a student, and had to listen to Wheatus. All day. While stuffing envelopes. My arms had never looked like such a mouth-watering delicacy.
After I left, I went to Vision, and met with Laura, Eilidh and James. I'd booked a portfolio review (which cost extra) and had to be there a little earlier. Unlike last year, where tickets for the portfolio review had sold out a week before Vision, this time there were still spaces left. I was pretty nervous about my portfolio review in itself. I'd planned my portfolio carefully - printing out my best images at my usual professional lab. Looking the part is something we've discussed at college, about the importance of presentation to a potential client. So I was somewhat surprised to see how others were turning up with their portfolios. One person in front of me had their portfolio in an empty photo-paper box; others came holding laptops with USBs sticking out of the side. I'll admit, I half expected some rich university art-degree students to come with leather portfolios with their name embossed on one side, and I didn't see anything of the sort.
I was nervous about my portfolio review. I knew what I really had to do, was to detatch myself somewhat from my images. Although what I had was my best work, I had to accept that any criticism wasn't to be taken as a personal criticism, but as one for advancing my work. So I was somewhat surprised when I was told little more than "it's nice!". The review was pretty poor, to be honest. My reviewer seemed more interested in discussing where I got my prints done than what I had in front of me, and only looked at the photos when we had been given a warning of our time being nearly up. My gran could have given me a better critique.
So I took the opportunity to get a second opinion. As there were spaces left in the later sessions, I was given someone else to talk to, who was much better. While the second reviewer couldn't really explain some of their feelings or opinions on my work (something that could have been helpful) they were able to give me some food for thought.
I'm not entirely convinced that the portfolio reviews were worth the extra £5, since I feel that I receive equally honest and constructive critique on a weekly basis from my classmates and tutors at college. I suppose I was aware that at college, we will receive the sort of feedback that is fitting for the work we do - student work. What I wanted to know was whether my work matched to the standards required to be hired as a professional photographer. I don't feel as if I got that from the portfolio review, which was somewhat disappointing. I don't mind people trying to encourage me by being positive, but equally I don't want people to tell me what they think I want to hear. I just want the truth, especially at this stage where I've still got the opportunity to change my work.
I also managed to get a free appointment to have my CV looked at, which was extremely constructive and useful, and I came out with lots of notes on my CV. Nobody has looked at my CV and given me feedback like that since I was 17, so I felt a little lost as to whether I'm doing the right things. This was exactly what I'd wanted - I was told what to do in terms of preparing a CV for a prospective employer. I was told what worked and what didn't work. I was told what I needed to hear, and in such a way that I didn't feel attacked or belittled or broken-hearted: it was honesty without being nasty. And it worked.
I've got a couple of extra things possibly lined up over the next few months - at least three extra projects - which I'll divulge when they transpire. For the meantime though, I'm working through all the things I have to do, and thinking about all the things that I can do to increase my chances when I leave college.
Thursday, 9 October 2008
Back to school
So its back to college time for me!
The summer has been a wonderful time to allow me the opportunity to reflect on where I've come from, and where I want to go.
It was surprising how quickly last year passed, so I've made some resolutions about what I want to try and achieve at college in the year to come.
I know what I've got lined up, work wise for college, namely the following classes:
Last year, I think I did pretty well. I met all the deadlines for my work and produced decent workbooks. But I didn't really experiment as much as I probably should have done, particularly playing around with medium and large format cameras. Now, in this digital age, you might wonder why that would be important. Surely everyone works in a paperless world now of digital workflow, where instead of knowing whether to process something as E6 or c41, you're thinking about working in dng or psd file formats. I suppose my concern is that when I go out there into the big wide world, my job option isn't necessarily going to be a case of walking into a bnk, getting a loan, buying all the kit I need and then waiting for everyone to come running to me with photos they want. Chances are, I'm going to start out on the assistant level and I'm thinking, that the more things I can tuck under my belt of having had experience in, the better. Put simply, I'm looking at this for ideas of skills I can still learn. If I were to fill that in now, my knowledge stands at "I can use Bowens lights, and 35mm film". Oh, and I can drive and have a car. Although I do probably fair better than most in the languages section (I knew a degree in languages would be beneficial!).
So I'm planning to play with as much kit as I possibly can. Including.... the extremely lovely Hassleblad H3D which I had a little play with earlier in the week. But that will be studio only. Out of studio, I want to try and experiment with medium and large format cameras and see what happens. I want to try more darkroom work, even though I didn't seem to gel very well with the darkroom last year. Basically, I don't want to leave college with the same ticks in the same boxes as every other graduate.
Being back at college is a bit nerve-wracking, to tell you the truth. Less about the workload - I know I can handle that, and I feel quite relaxed. More about the prospect of the future.
It's going to be a pretty long journey, to get to where I want to be, and these two years at college are only the tip of the iceberg. I know one day, when I'm finally a professional photographer, I'm going to be saying things like "oh god, I remember this one job I did that was disasterous....!". Because that always happens, in every career, there are always disasterous days, although in the more successful careers, those tend to be a little more hazy as you'll have hopefully learned from the experience and not let it happen again.
I'm going to be skint. I need to get very used to that. Even more so than I am now. I'm going to have more outgoings and I'm going to watch my income go out on the necessities before I get anything (if anything) left to play with/spend on pretty shoes. On the plus side, having quit smoking ages ago, and now no longer having to work out how much goes on the cigarettes, makes things a lot easier financially.
I'll probably have to move south. I don't want to live in London, I think I'd rather commute. I commute already - an hour into college, an hour back. I don't mind it, it's good time I get to myself, when I can think about work, or more probably read a book, fall asleep, or play my DS Lite to relax. So ideally, I'd rather live outside London and get up at some godforsaken hour, than actually live inside London. What can I say? I like hearing the sound of birds waking up when I've just had a shower, and you don't get that in cities.
Admittedly, I'm a bit impatient, and would rather skip to the end to get the long, illustrious career, but that's just me. My worst fear is losing everything; having no place to live, not being able to afford to pay bills. However, I hope I'll recognise what's going on before I get to that stage and make necessary arrangements to prevent that from happening. There's a difference between being a struggling artist, and a stupid one.
In a way, I sort of feel like I'm wandering around the edge of a swimming pool. I feel a bit self-concious; I'm waddling around; I'm nervous of the temperature and the depth, and right now I'm aware the pool is already pretty full and I'm going to have to work hard to find a spot to swim in (or drown). I'm thinking about how I'm going to get in - do I sit by the side and slide in slowly, do I use the steps, do I dive in, do I use the high dive board and do a triple sommersault....
Anyway. Hopefully, over the next 7 months (!) I'm going to try and do as much as possible to make sure that I at least get into the pool and don't make too much of an idiot of myself in public.
The summer has been a wonderful time to allow me the opportunity to reflect on where I've come from, and where I want to go.
It was surprising how quickly last year passed, so I've made some resolutions about what I want to try and achieve at college in the year to come.
I know what I've got lined up, work wise for college, namely the following classes:
- Advertising
- photo-journalism
- image editing 2 (read: more photoshop stuff)
- creative industries
- documentary photography
- exhibition
- fashion
- location stock
- social photography
Last year, I think I did pretty well. I met all the deadlines for my work and produced decent workbooks. But I didn't really experiment as much as I probably should have done, particularly playing around with medium and large format cameras. Now, in this digital age, you might wonder why that would be important. Surely everyone works in a paperless world now of digital workflow, where instead of knowing whether to process something as E6 or c41, you're thinking about working in dng or psd file formats. I suppose my concern is that when I go out there into the big wide world, my job option isn't necessarily going to be a case of walking into a bnk, getting a loan, buying all the kit I need and then waiting for everyone to come running to me with photos they want. Chances are, I'm going to start out on the assistant level and I'm thinking, that the more things I can tuck under my belt of having had experience in, the better. Put simply, I'm looking at this for ideas of skills I can still learn. If I were to fill that in now, my knowledge stands at "I can use Bowens lights, and 35mm film". Oh, and I can drive and have a car. Although I do probably fair better than most in the languages section (I knew a degree in languages would be beneficial!).
So I'm planning to play with as much kit as I possibly can. Including.... the extremely lovely Hassleblad H3D which I had a little play with earlier in the week. But that will be studio only. Out of studio, I want to try and experiment with medium and large format cameras and see what happens. I want to try more darkroom work, even though I didn't seem to gel very well with the darkroom last year. Basically, I don't want to leave college with the same ticks in the same boxes as every other graduate.
Being back at college is a bit nerve-wracking, to tell you the truth. Less about the workload - I know I can handle that, and I feel quite relaxed. More about the prospect of the future.
It's going to be a pretty long journey, to get to where I want to be, and these two years at college are only the tip of the iceberg. I know one day, when I'm finally a professional photographer, I'm going to be saying things like "oh god, I remember this one job I did that was disasterous....!". Because that always happens, in every career, there are always disasterous days, although in the more successful careers, those tend to be a little more hazy as you'll have hopefully learned from the experience and not let it happen again.
I'm going to be skint. I need to get very used to that. Even more so than I am now. I'm going to have more outgoings and I'm going to watch my income go out on the necessities before I get anything (if anything) left to play with/spend on pretty shoes. On the plus side, having quit smoking ages ago, and now no longer having to work out how much goes on the cigarettes, makes things a lot easier financially.
I'll probably have to move south. I don't want to live in London, I think I'd rather commute. I commute already - an hour into college, an hour back. I don't mind it, it's good time I get to myself, when I can think about work, or more probably read a book, fall asleep, or play my DS Lite to relax. So ideally, I'd rather live outside London and get up at some godforsaken hour, than actually live inside London. What can I say? I like hearing the sound of birds waking up when I've just had a shower, and you don't get that in cities.
Admittedly, I'm a bit impatient, and would rather skip to the end to get the long, illustrious career, but that's just me. My worst fear is losing everything; having no place to live, not being able to afford to pay bills. However, I hope I'll recognise what's going on before I get to that stage and make necessary arrangements to prevent that from happening. There's a difference between being a struggling artist, and a stupid one.
In a way, I sort of feel like I'm wandering around the edge of a swimming pool. I feel a bit self-concious; I'm waddling around; I'm nervous of the temperature and the depth, and right now I'm aware the pool is already pretty full and I'm going to have to work hard to find a spot to swim in (or drown). I'm thinking about how I'm going to get in - do I sit by the side and slide in slowly, do I use the steps, do I dive in, do I use the high dive board and do a triple sommersault....
Anyway. Hopefully, over the next 7 months (!) I'm going to try and do as much as possible to make sure that I at least get into the pool and don't make too much of an idiot of myself in public.
Wednesday, 21 May 2008
Fin.
I've finally reached the end of my college project. I handed in my work yesterday, on time.
While I feel partly relaxed, I think my brain is still whirring from the past two months. It may take a day or two for it to start to slow down a bit. In the meantime, I have some finishing touches to other college assignments to complete, but certainly nothing of the scale of my project.
I'm feeling quite happy with the end result. Ultimately, I know there are areas I could improve, but due to time restrictions, I couldn't continue to reshoot over and over, and I had to take a moment to decide when to stop, and when to get on with the post-production work, with the digital editing, with proofing from the printers, with getting my written work completed.
I feel quite protective at this point of my photographs from this shoot. I expect this feeling will pass, but right now, it's still too recent for me to take criticism, particularly as I know already where my weaknesses are. I rather feel I don't need them poking at with a stick right now. It's a peculiar feeling, and one I hope doesn't become too common. I don't want to become the precious photographer. I suppose though, the difference this time is that this is not an assignment set by college: this was an assignment set by me. And given I've spent two months working hard at this, and I've just handed it in, I almost want to wait for the dust to settle a little and to get a little bit of emotional and mental space between myself and this project.
I know I will feel differently and more relaxed at a not-to-distant future moment, but things are a bit fresh. It's like having a fat day and being told you look fat, or a bad hair day and being told your hair is a mess. I know my weaknesses which will hopefully benefit me as something to improve upon in the future.
I think my strongest shots are those in the bedroom and car. I'm quite proud of them, but there are still areas within those shots that I would like to improve. I'd probably get rid of Colin's wiggling hand in the car. In the bedroom scene, I'd move the pregnancy test kit box to the foreground - someone commented that it looked like my female model was rolling a cigarette. Seems a bit dramatic a scene for a cigarette being rolled, but anyway.
My weakest shot is my street print. The sky is burned out (mostly because it was pretty light and white anyway.... ) and despite digital editing, my only option really was to photoshop in another sky. And that, I felt, was cheating. Two photoshoots were used for this scene, and really, this was the best of the bunch. If I had more time, I probably could have shot this scene again, and again, and again - that would be wonderful. If I didn't have to submit exactly five images, then this would be the scene to get the chop and I would instead submit the other four images.
The lounge scene is perhaps the second weakest - this was a last minute replacement for the original, where Colin's bright red t-shirt made digital editing of skin tones absolutely impossible. Plus, it reflected onto his skin, so he just looked a bit sunburned. When I tried to edit the shots, his t-shirt looked faded. I think in future, I'd be a bit more aware about the colour of people's clothes. I was just too unhappy with the shot I was going to use - I printed it, and it just wasn't working at all. The shot I've used here instead is much better in terms of detail, particularly when viewed on a full size 20x15 print. It's also a bit calmer - there's no bright red blob which demands attention.
The image that seems to fit therefore, into the middle of all this favouritism, is the park scene. Up close, I'm pleased with the colour, lighting and detail. I have one tiny frustration though - Colin's leg. As it's bent under his bottom, he kind of looks like he's amputated from the knee down. I heard someone suggest this about someone else's photograph, and when I looked at my own... well, it's been niggling me ever since!
Overall though, I'm quite pleased with the work I have done over the past few months. I know I've worked hard on this project - and I think I've even surprised myself at how dedicated and passionate I've felt about it. I know there is still room for improvement and things to learn - otherwise this wouldn't be a two year course (I'm still in my first year). It's been tough, but I've found the experience to be exciting. I can't imagine I'll have such creative freedom, time, and access to materials like this very often when I graduate and start working. At this point, I used the opportunity to create my dream project - and I'm so pleased I did that. For the past two months, I've felt quite consumed by this project. And I know what I handed in was my hardest work, and that I have tried my absolute best with this. Whatever mark I get, I know I have earned every single point.
I've learned a lot about myself too. I've learned that planning and time management have benefited me a great deal - certainly I wasn't panicking about how long left I had until my deadline. It's also meant that during the shoots I've had time to have some fun, and enjoy it - to look up from the camera rather than be consumed by worrying. I've become increasingly confident - my last two shoots I think produced the best images because of that confidence. I don't think it was there when I did my first two shoots, and I think that is evident. Given it's my first staged photography shooting project, I think it was bound to be a bit nerve wracking. Hopefully next year, when I have to do a ten-image series, then I'll be able to cut out the first-shoot-nerves.
And so, to a few thanks. I've got to thank Mark and Stew, for letting me invade their flat twice, and fill it with big softboxes and lighting kit. Laura, for trusting me with her bedroom and her keys while she was at a fashion show. Eilidh and James, for being on the ball, keeping me calm and sane and being excellent and responsive assistants.
But my biggest thanks go to my models, Olivia and Colin. Both of them were wonderful - they showed up for each shoot; they were committed to the project from the start; they were extremely agreeable to what I wanted, and neither have had any previous acting or modeling experience. They were both very patient, and made the whole experience a lot of fun. The hardest part was trying to get them to portray an expression other than laughter, simply because they just had the most amusing conversations.
And finally, thanks to everyone who offered me critique, thoughts, ideas, and so on throughout the process when I needed it.
While I feel partly relaxed, I think my brain is still whirring from the past two months. It may take a day or two for it to start to slow down a bit. In the meantime, I have some finishing touches to other college assignments to complete, but certainly nothing of the scale of my project.I'm feeling quite happy with the end result. Ultimately, I know there are areas I could improve, but due to time restrictions, I couldn't continue to reshoot over and over, and I had to take a moment to decide when to stop, and when to get on with the post-production work, with the digital editing, with proofing from the printers, with getting my written work completed.
I feel quite protective at this point of my photographs from this shoot. I expect this feeling will pass, but right now, it's still too recent for me to take criticism, particularly as I know already where my weaknesses are. I rather feel I don't need them poking at with a stick right now. It's a peculiar feeling, and one I hope doesn't become too common. I don't want to become the precious photographer. I suppose though, the difference this time is that this is not an assignment set by college: this was an assignment set by me. And given I've spent two months working hard at this, and I've just handed it in, I almost want to wait for the dust to settle a little and to get a little bit of emotional and mental space between myself and this project.
I know I will feel differently and more relaxed at a not-to-distant future moment, but things are a bit fresh. It's like having a fat day and being told you look fat, or a bad hair day and being told your hair is a mess. I know my weaknesses which will hopefully benefit me as something to improve upon in the future.I think my strongest shots are those in the bedroom and car. I'm quite proud of them, but there are still areas within those shots that I would like to improve. I'd probably get rid of Colin's wiggling hand in the car. In the bedroom scene, I'd move the pregnancy test kit box to the foreground - someone commented that it looked like my female model was rolling a cigarette. Seems a bit dramatic a scene for a cigarette being rolled, but anyway.
My weakest shot is my street print. The sky is burned out (mostly because it was pretty light and white anyway.... ) and despite digital editing, my only option really was to photoshop in another sky. And that, I felt, was cheating. Two photoshoots were used for this scene, and really, this was the best of the bunch. If I had more time, I probably could have shot this scene again, and again, and again - that would be wonderful. If I didn't have to submit exactly five images, then this would be the scene to get the chop and I would instead submit the other four images.
The lounge scene is perhaps the second weakest - this was a last minute replacement for the original, where Colin's bright red t-shirt made digital editing of skin tones absolutely impossible. Plus, it reflected onto his skin, so he just looked a bit sunburned. When I tried to edit the shots, his t-shirt looked faded. I think in future, I'd be a bit more aware about the colour of people's clothes. I was just too unhappy with the shot I was going to use - I printed it, and it just wasn't working at all. The shot I've used here instead is much better in terms of detail, particularly when viewed on a full size 20x15 print. It's also a bit calmer - there's no bright red blob which demands attention.The image that seems to fit therefore, into the middle of all this favouritism, is the park scene. Up close, I'm pleased with the colour, lighting and detail. I have one tiny frustration though - Colin's leg. As it's bent under his bottom, he kind of looks like he's amputated from the knee down. I heard someone suggest this about someone else's photograph, and when I looked at my own... well, it's been niggling me ever since!
Overall though, I'm quite pleased with the work I have done over the past few months. I know I've worked hard on this project - and I think I've even surprised myself at how dedicated and passionate I've felt about it. I know there is still room for improvement and things to learn - otherwise this wouldn't be a two year course (I'm still in my first year). It's been tough, but I've found the experience to be exciting. I can't imagine I'll have such creative freedom, time, and access to materials like this very often when I graduate and start working. At this point, I used the opportunity to create my dream project - and I'm so pleased I did that. For the past two months, I've felt quite consumed by this project. And I know what I handed in was my hardest work, and that I have tried my absolute best with this. Whatever mark I get, I know I have earned every single point.I've learned a lot about myself too. I've learned that planning and time management have benefited me a great deal - certainly I wasn't panicking about how long left I had until my deadline. It's also meant that during the shoots I've had time to have some fun, and enjoy it - to look up from the camera rather than be consumed by worrying. I've become increasingly confident - my last two shoots I think produced the best images because of that confidence. I don't think it was there when I did my first two shoots, and I think that is evident. Given it's my first staged photography shooting project, I think it was bound to be a bit nerve wracking. Hopefully next year, when I have to do a ten-image series, then I'll be able to cut out the first-shoot-nerves.
And so, to a few thanks. I've got to thank Mark and Stew, for letting me invade their flat twice, and fill it with big softboxes and lighting kit. Laura, for trusting me with her bedroom and her keys while she was at a fashion show. Eilidh and James, for being on the ball, keeping me calm and sane and being excellent and responsive assistants.But my biggest thanks go to my models, Olivia and Colin. Both of them were wonderful - they showed up for each shoot; they were committed to the project from the start; they were extremely agreeable to what I wanted, and neither have had any previous acting or modeling experience. They were both very patient, and made the whole experience a lot of fun. The hardest part was trying to get them to portray an expression other than laughter, simply because they just had the most amusing conversations.
And finally, thanks to everyone who offered me critique, thoughts, ideas, and so on throughout the process when I needed it.
Monday, 10 September 2007
A new path
I'm now starting my third week in college, of my photography course.
In those short few weeks, I think I've learned a lot already, and not just in terms of the curriculum.
My year group is fairly large - certainly more than I'm used to being around. So we've been broken into four classes. Already, one person has left my course after two days, a couple have swapped for another group (to get more days off in a row - which is only really guaranteed for the first term). And I'm starting to learn pretty quickly who turns up and who doesn't, and who turns in course work and who doesn't.
It annoys me a little, since I have to pay for my fees, that people who are having their fees paid for them by the state, have already missed most classes in the past couple of weeks, and the same with deadlines. Apparently, there was a lot of competition for places on this course, and I'm sure there were people who narrowly missed getting a place who would have put in a bit more effort. It's also quite surprising to see such attitudes surfacing so early on - particularly when the workload is reasonable, and when most people would still have a fair amount of enthusiasm and drive. I think the tutors and quite a few of my other (attending) classmates feel pretty much the same.
My course certainly keeps me busy. I'd not really known what to expect before I began. My timetable accounts for twenty hours of classroom based time. This is already twice as much as the hours I spent in class during my degree.
During my spare time, I still find myself working hard towards my coursework behind the scenes. Effectively, I put in the same amount of hours, if not more, than when I was working. After classes, I usually head off to the library. I also read on the train to and from college - which at an hour long commute is quite a good opportunity to do some background reading. I also still enjoy reading photography books and magazines in my spare time, as a means of relaxing.
I'm thoroughly enjoying my course so far. There are no exams, the assessment is based on coursework. So a missed deadline is not a good thing. We have to successfully pass all the units throughout the two years to obtain our HND. So there's no last-minute-swotting here, but a need to keep the studying momentum rolling. This is why missing a deadline is a bad thing. You miss a deadline, you then get marked as not having completed the unit, and you need to be reassessed. I'm sure if it were operated in a similar way to exams in degrees, if you charged for the resits, then that might help to focus the purse, if not the mind into meeting particular deadlines.
There's also a lot of group assessment going on, rather than specific tutor assessment. This is beneficial on many levels. It enables me to hear lots of different perspectives. It also means that I don't end up "catering" my coursework to please one specific person's tastes. So far the course is rather good at hitting all the major points of photography: the practical exercises coupled with the planning and psychological thought processes; the side where you need to learn how to be a business person; the IT development side for post-processing; and the theoretical side of understanding f-stops from ISO numbers.
Interestingly enough, it's the photography section of the library which is the most used, and most messy. I suppose this says quite a lot about the students who are there (the ones that show up) and suggests they spend time in the library working hard.
I've also been learning more about how to take photographs. I still subscribe to the idea of when you see it, shoot it (in the non-animal violent manner). However, I've also learned about how to respond to being set an assignment, and work through various stages and processes before I even pick up a camera and produce a final shot. Although at times it does feel a bit forced, it also makes me look at my work in a different way, and have a different appreciation for what I am doing - a greater sense of self-respect for my photography, I suppose.
So far, so good, and so far, no complaints. As usual, as with all first impressions, I find my views changing from what they were of a particular course, or what I was doing or am doing and where I'm going. Financially it will be a long two years, but in terms of enjoyment, there's something special about waking up and being happy about getting up - even if I have had a restless night's sleep, or have woken up late (I'm a night owl). Going to class is not a hardship in the slightest - all I want to do is to go, and absorb information in a new format, as opposed to reading a book or a magazine or browsing the internet.
It's a lovely feeling this, of having found something I enjoy and studying it. Photography is an extremely competitive market, but that's a challenge I'm willing to take on. This feeling though, it reminds me of being a teenager again. The first time I heard a music track which worked for me - my first indie track, as opposed to listening to the latest chart hits and boybands with my classmates at school when I was 14. Back then, I'd gone along with the idea that chart hits were ok - but they never meant anything to me, they never made sense. I just didn't know any better. In fact, I rather assumed that I wasn't going to be a person who'd be all that much into music. But then, I heard my first track from an indie band, and it triggered off something in my head where finally I'd found music I liked, that I related to, and which made sense.
Doing this course feels rather the same. I'm no longer doing a nine-to-five job - leaving it all behind as soon as I walk out the door. I want to learn more about it, to read around the subject as well as within the areas I'm studying. Which ultimately should only really benefit me.
Any money I get at the moment is also going right back into photography. I've bought quite a few books - some recommended text books (although strictly speaking we don't have course specific texts) as well as some more broader photography based books.
In those short few weeks, I think I've learned a lot already, and not just in terms of the curriculum.
My year group is fairly large - certainly more than I'm used to being around. So we've been broken into four classes. Already, one person has left my course after two days, a couple have swapped for another group (to get more days off in a row - which is only really guaranteed for the first term). And I'm starting to learn pretty quickly who turns up and who doesn't, and who turns in course work and who doesn't.
It annoys me a little, since I have to pay for my fees, that people who are having their fees paid for them by the state, have already missed most classes in the past couple of weeks, and the same with deadlines. Apparently, there was a lot of competition for places on this course, and I'm sure there were people who narrowly missed getting a place who would have put in a bit more effort. It's also quite surprising to see such attitudes surfacing so early on - particularly when the workload is reasonable, and when most people would still have a fair amount of enthusiasm and drive. I think the tutors and quite a few of my other (attending) classmates feel pretty much the same.
My course certainly keeps me busy. I'd not really known what to expect before I began. My timetable accounts for twenty hours of classroom based time. This is already twice as much as the hours I spent in class during my degree.
During my spare time, I still find myself working hard towards my coursework behind the scenes. Effectively, I put in the same amount of hours, if not more, than when I was working. After classes, I usually head off to the library. I also read on the train to and from college - which at an hour long commute is quite a good opportunity to do some background reading. I also still enjoy reading photography books and magazines in my spare time, as a means of relaxing.
I'm thoroughly enjoying my course so far. There are no exams, the assessment is based on coursework. So a missed deadline is not a good thing. We have to successfully pass all the units throughout the two years to obtain our HND. So there's no last-minute-swotting here, but a need to keep the studying momentum rolling. This is why missing a deadline is a bad thing. You miss a deadline, you then get marked as not having completed the unit, and you need to be reassessed. I'm sure if it were operated in a similar way to exams in degrees, if you charged for the resits, then that might help to focus the purse, if not the mind into meeting particular deadlines.
There's also a lot of group assessment going on, rather than specific tutor assessment. This is beneficial on many levels. It enables me to hear lots of different perspectives. It also means that I don't end up "catering" my coursework to please one specific person's tastes. So far the course is rather good at hitting all the major points of photography: the practical exercises coupled with the planning and psychological thought processes; the side where you need to learn how to be a business person; the IT development side for post-processing; and the theoretical side of understanding f-stops from ISO numbers.
Interestingly enough, it's the photography section of the library which is the most used, and most messy. I suppose this says quite a lot about the students who are there (the ones that show up) and suggests they spend time in the library working hard.
I've also been learning more about how to take photographs. I still subscribe to the idea of when you see it, shoot it (in the non-animal violent manner). However, I've also learned about how to respond to being set an assignment, and work through various stages and processes before I even pick up a camera and produce a final shot. Although at times it does feel a bit forced, it also makes me look at my work in a different way, and have a different appreciation for what I am doing - a greater sense of self-respect for my photography, I suppose.
So far, so good, and so far, no complaints. As usual, as with all first impressions, I find my views changing from what they were of a particular course, or what I was doing or am doing and where I'm going. Financially it will be a long two years, but in terms of enjoyment, there's something special about waking up and being happy about getting up - even if I have had a restless night's sleep, or have woken up late (I'm a night owl). Going to class is not a hardship in the slightest - all I want to do is to go, and absorb information in a new format, as opposed to reading a book or a magazine or browsing the internet.
It's a lovely feeling this, of having found something I enjoy and studying it. Photography is an extremely competitive market, but that's a challenge I'm willing to take on. This feeling though, it reminds me of being a teenager again. The first time I heard a music track which worked for me - my first indie track, as opposed to listening to the latest chart hits and boybands with my classmates at school when I was 14. Back then, I'd gone along with the idea that chart hits were ok - but they never meant anything to me, they never made sense. I just didn't know any better. In fact, I rather assumed that I wasn't going to be a person who'd be all that much into music. But then, I heard my first track from an indie band, and it triggered off something in my head where finally I'd found music I liked, that I related to, and which made sense.
Doing this course feels rather the same. I'm no longer doing a nine-to-five job - leaving it all behind as soon as I walk out the door. I want to learn more about it, to read around the subject as well as within the areas I'm studying. Which ultimately should only really benefit me.
Any money I get at the moment is also going right back into photography. I've bought quite a few books - some recommended text books (although strictly speaking we don't have course specific texts) as well as some more broader photography based books.
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