Nicks Photography Blog

“Photography is not like painting,” Cartier-Bresson told the Washington Post in 1957. “There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative,” he said. “Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever.”

I thought I’d moved away from upgrading kit and concentrating on the photography, but no it catches you unaware. Sold my 24-105 F4 L and bought a second hand 24-70 f2.8 L. First thing I noticed was the speed of focussing, just that bit quicker. Need to check out the quality of the images this weekend.

Last photo taken with 24-105. It’s 6.10am and the mist was everywhere. I left the white balance to auto knowing that it would render the image blue.

I’m always looking to explore other people’s work and this article came up in the professional photographer website.

http://www.professionalphotographer.co.uk/magazine/photographic-inspiration/100-most-influential-photographers-of-all-time

I hate to say this but I’ve never heard of some (acutally most to be honest) of them. I think I need to spend a couple of hours looking at their work.

As I moved further into the course, received more feedback, and developed my techniques, I’m starting to expand on my approach to each exercise. This is the updated template & notes I intend to use for each exercise.  I use the word “intend” as time constraints (due to work commitments) may cause me to I summarise / skip sections.

Exercise / Assignment Template

• Exercise Objective
• Personal Knowledge
• Summary of College Notes
• Summary of Exercise Tasks
• Background Reading
• Examples
• Approach / Thoughts
• Results:
  • Notes
  • Locations
  • Equipment Used
  • Camera Settings
• Conclusions / Thoughts
• Open Questions
• Supplemental Notes 

General Approach / Notes:

• Inspiration. Document:
  • Any ideas
  • Example photographers including other students
  • Some background on the photographer
  • Own comments on photographer
  • Where obtained (Harvard Referencing)
• Exercise Images
  • Consider different styles, genres etc
• Document all of the experimentation / thoughts including:
  • Contact sheets
  • Notes and analysis of any enhancements and cropping processes
  • A description of my intentions and analysis of results at every stage
  • Comments on my working process as I progress my work to final collection
  • Diagrams / Sketches that support notes

Self evaluation

Refer to the four Course “Aims” or “Outcomes”

1. “Demonstrate an awareness of the principles of composition when planning and taking photographs using suitable cameras, lenses and other equipment.”
2. “Demonstrate a knowledge of the different qualities of light, both natural and artificial, and the properties of colour, using methods of control to pictorial advantage.”
3. “Show a basic knowledge of the principles of graphic design in photography, conveying information by means of a single photograph or a series of photographs.”
4. “Reflect perceptively on your own learning.”

• Comment on how I performed against these
  • What difficulties did I experience?
  • How did I overcome them?
  • What can I take forward from your experiences during this assignment?

Exercise Specific Notes

• Comment on objectives

Photos (potential examples)

Consider:

• Themes
• Individual images
• Variation of genres, styles
• Materials etc

Joined the Dunmow photography club and went to the first meeting last night. The members were really welcoming and made the newbie feel at ease. It’s also nice to part of a club where no matter what level you are everybody listens to ideas.

The work in module 1 and 2 have been reformatted into one page to make it easier for the viewer to read. Still need to add the photos. It was interesting reading through certain sections and made me realise why I should incorporate the college notes.

If you’ve read any of my exercises, you’ll know that I’m struggling with the concept of “Photographic Art”. I know it’s essential for advancing my photography so I decided to take a break from the course and read around the subject. After devouring the books below, my understanding and more importantly appreciation of art, jumped exponentially.

• Photography (Routledge Introductions to Media and Communications) – Stephen Bull
• Ways of Seeing (Penguin Modern Classics) – John Berger
• Photography (Key Concepts) – David Bate. A book I really recommend
• Criticizing Photographs: An Introduction to Understanding Images – Terry Barrett
• The Elements of Photography: Understanding and Creating Sophisticated Images – Angela Faris Belt

So much so that I volunteered to present to a photography club I belong to regarding the subject. The attached ppt. file (Photographic Art) is my attempt to condense the subject into 20mins. My notes extended to 30 pages.

Bottom Line: If I could offer only one piece of advice to any new art student is:

• Read these (or similar) books before your start your course. It will help you!!

Photographic Art

Had the pleasure of meeting Daido Moriyama at the Photographer’s gallery. Very quiet man whose work I’ve only just started to look at and more importantly appreciate.He also signed a couple of his books for me.

Went to Biggleswade Bird of Prey centre today thinking I could use some of my newly found knowledge to photograph birds of prey.

In flight they move so quick my Canon 1D Mark (on high speed) with 70-200 F2.8L lens couldn’t keep up. I tried everything panning, pre-focussing even asking for larger birds like an eagle that flies a little slower. Results – 250+ plus blurred shots!

I did take some decent static shots and tried concentrating on specific lessons i.e. balance, depth of field and subject placement.  The shots will be added to projects gallery.