I love photography! I have realised this more since doing this course and loving every minute of it. What would I do differently? Not a lot, just try to be more organised, time wise, especially from the beginning and not leave lots till the last minute. . . to get my final prints sorted earlier. Of course to just keep practising to try to get better at all of it.
On the whole I think my images came out quite well, as a beginner, so I feel sure my kit suited my subjects. Canon's L series 24-105mm lens is versatile for landscapes and portraits. I would like to look at other lenses, including a macro lens in the future. I have learned to use a manual camera (in aperture priority, shutter priority and manual settings). I have also learned some photoshop techniques, both of which I had never done before. I have learned to blog, another new for me. I have met some great people in class including the tutor Marie, who without her help, I now wouldn't know all this, and I thank everyone that has helped me along the way. I hope we keep in touch.
Since the start I have loved the handling of this type of photography and its results. At first though I found photoshop quite daunting, not knowing which bit to use where and I was sure I wanted to achieve the best I could 'in camera' and not really liking the sound of amending the images too much afterwards. I considered it cheating. I have to say I have changed my mind on that. Once I had the nursery rhyme idea and started manipulating my own images, I got quite excited about it.
Now I understand how it opens up all sorts of new possibilities that just wouldn't be there without it. In fact I hope to have CS5 myself one day... there is still lots more to learn and discover.
I'm glad I chose landscapes as my theme. I loved going out with the camera to capture the shots, this was one of the best parts for me, it really suited me as a person.... tranquil settings, taking pictures of what I liked the look of. Because I tend to take lots of shots, I found this helped because later on inspection there may only be some good ones you can use, and even the ones you don't consider the best may come in handy later for backgrounds on manipulated ones, and they did.
I have learned that the scenes should excite you emotionally in order for photographs to portray what you feel... In the 1920's a famous photographer (Alfred Stieglitz, who was Ansel Adams's mentor) did a series of works he called 'equivalents'. This is how he described the process of photography: "I come across something that excites me emotionally, spiritually, aesthetically. I see the photograph in my mind's eye and I compose and expose the negative. I give you the print as the equivalent of what I saw and felt."
I have learned that "equipment is important, but it is not what creates really great photographs. It's the connection that the photographer has with the subject": (Colin Prior): "The key is to go out and find a subject matter you have an emotional connection with. It's this empathy with a subject that really stands out."
The research was quite difficult, I enjoyed it, but time wise there was lots to do and I felt like I was repeating myself sometimes, not knowing how to relate to their work in different ways, due to my lack of experience. I understand I have learned much from this though and a favourite would be the live speaker photographer Joe Cornish who came to the college. He impressed and inspired me greatly.
I didn't start my manipulation research ones until after I have done my manipulated images, but I had already had the idea for me, and was sticking to it.
There is still much more to learn and experience to gain with the camera and manipulation, but I can't wait to go on, and out.
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