lighting

In today's lecture our task was to get into groups and explore uni to find lots of different types of light to photograph. Initially i thought this sounded a bit boring but once i got into i really enjoyed it.We did use a range of lights in the studio to begin with but then we searched for more unusual lighting around the building. We did have some really interesting photographs by the end. Although this lesson was about lighting i did find i ended up with a couple of interesting photographs that were based more on reflections.

photoshop with Harrison

21/10/2009

Today's lecture with Harrison was a bit of a tutorial on Photoshop we also talked a little bit more about Lightrom 2. However the main focus of this lecture was for us to have a go at importing our photographs then manipulating them using both software's.I found this to be a bit daunting as i am only just starting to get my head around Lightroom. Over the half term Harrison has asked that we spend a couple of hours experimenting with our own photographs using both softwares.

Thinking about 'time'

20/10/2009

after creating a mind map based around TIME i have a few ideas for my photograph. My first one being something involving tree stumps because if u look closely at the flat top side of the stump

there will be a ring pattern starting from the centre to the outer area of the stump how far the rings go out representing how many years that tree had stood for.My only issue with doing this i am very limited with different ways of taking the shot as i really need to show the pattern in detail to do this successfully there are only 1 or 2 angles i can take this shot from.My other idea is to have maybe and older lady still trying to cling to her youth wearing very young clothes and placed in a very young environment.I am sure that to represent time i want to combine and experiment with old and new in some way.

personal management 2 (getting organised)

20/10/2009

Today's lecture we were introduced to are new lecturer Katy (Suggitt) :). We started by having a chat about what we were all about our interests and our thoughts on the course so far.To give us a bit of an idea what we would be using this lecture time for Suggitt gave us a quick overview of what kind of work she will be expecting.I think she did a great job of making us all feel comfortable and not embarrassed with the different levels of knowledge we all have so far when it come to the more technical side of the course.She also made it very clear that whatever our strengths and weaknesses are she will work with us all individually to make sure we are constantly improving.

the only thing that we have been told to have ready for our next lecture is a file to keep all our paper hand outs from all our different classes organised.







Time to get organised :)

over the summer (Melanie Pullen)

17/10/09

over the summer i did loads of research to inspire me ready for my new course. Even though my course is photography based i researched all different aspects of art and design. I started by creating a list of things that i find really interesting for example: photography, textiles, advertising,fashion,history,and graphic design. i used this list as a starting point so whenever i had an hour spare i would search the Internet especially utube and find interesting articles about my desired choice of subject. When doing this i would find myself stuck to the computer looking at a range of fashion photographers, fashion shows, articles and tutorials on showing how to express emotion with a camera using body language, expression, composition background,colour and most important light. As i was researching i found myself very interested and drawn towards looking at anything fashion based especially photography. I particular like more high fashion work as i find its not always just about making something look beautiful its also about telling a story. I really like the work of high fashion photographer Melanie Pullen with her crime scene photography collection my favourite photo out of this collection being Chloe.
Here is a link to check out her work.
www.melaniepullen.com/




















Chloe

laptop

17/10/09

Today i bought my mac book pro laptop cant wait to get Lightroom and Photoshop set up.Now i have all the equipment i need for the course i cant wait to get stuck in :)

studio 2

14/10/09

was really gutted as i had to leave this session as i couldn't hear a word Farrington was saying :(. i will get the notes from this lecture from a class mate. As i haven't had much studio time since i started.I plan to book the studio out for me and a couple of others for a few hours this week to experiment with my new camera with studio lighting as i struggled to hear in the previous session. it hasn't really been a massive issue so far as over the summer i had been watching studio lighting tutorials on utube here are some links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uH84-pA7p-c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1arA_ZG3Cw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhnKKJ-PsFk
The first session in the studio was about creating different effects whilst using one light through the tutorials i have watched i already had a bit of an idea about this. Next session i will be sure to have my hearing aid set and ready to go :)

light room 2

14/10/09


This has been one of my favourite lectures so far. The reason for this is because Harrison gave us a tutorial on how to use light room 2 using the projector.Being new to digital photography i have been really nervous about using software to edit my work but i have to say i am now really looking forward to getting lightroom 2 installed on my mac. That is of course when i can afford to get one :) I am now definitely more aware of how the suttle changes that can be made using lightroom can make a good photograph great.I was also really surprised and relieved in how user friendly lightroom 2 is compared with other programs such as photoshop were i have found in the past the layout to be a little bit more confusing.From the advise Harrison gave us i also have a better understanding of the pro's and con's that people find with both programs for example: lightroom is really effective when wanting to organise and present work this is through i imagine the easy step guide we were shown briefly on how to create slide shows and websites, but on the other hand it is common for people to say photoshop is very good for manipulating certain specific areas of a photograph were lightroom is better for editing a photograph as a whole.For this reason i am really keen to broaden my knowledge on how to use both of these programs to there full potential.To help us out Harrison sent us some utube tutorial links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3PLt56ZvqA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcS6hb7EAx8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s3y3HB0U3c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjHsYEuKjT4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ8h1DkAs0k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCM95dp5bss

tutorial

13/10/2009

Time ??????????

in this lecture we were informed that we were to join the online art site flickr. the reason for this is that we have been given a 3 week picture project by Harrison that will consist of 1 photograph. Everybody in the class has been given the same theme to work from which is TIME. By the 2nd of November we all have to have our photograph posted on flickr. This is going to be an on going thing throughout the course which i am really excited about as i see this as our chance to get really creative and push boundaries as Harrison said 'anything goes' :) I think this will also help everyone in the class to become more aware of each others styles and ways of learning.We also learnt more about giving constructive criticism by this i mean giving useful feedback positive or negative in a way to help that person progress and improve. Anyway back to our theme TIME my plan of action to get me inspired is to create a mind map full with anything i associate with time this i think will help me in producing a photograph that's a bit out of the ordinary.

personal management 1 (getting friendly)

13/10/2009

this lecture was great as we all got the chance to learn a little bit more about each other. We all talked about our reasons for being on the course and our goals for when we finish university.I found it really refreshing as i was panicking about not having a perfectly clear view as to which direction i wanted to go within photography. After talking to a few class peers i realised some people have come into this course very focused on one specific outcome but there are plenty of people who like me are very open minded about there career options at the moment and just really enjoy photography and want to learn more on the subject. It was really interesting as i realised there is no one better than another in the class we all have our strengths and weaknesses but we can all bring different things to the table to learn from each other. We also did a quick overview of what we have learnt already on the course.

lighting techniques

7/10/2009

This was my first lesson with Andy (Farrington) in the studio. He did a great job of showing us the amount of different effects you can create with one studio light.

'Manual labour'

In this session i became aware that to have your camera on automatic is a crime within the world of photography although so many photographers do it. For me to gain full awareness of what my camera has to offer my tutor has advised i learn to use my camera in manual control this includes focusing,aperture/shutter control,metering. Harrison has also demanded that we all have our camera set on RAW not jpg. The reason for this i learnt is so that the photograph i get has not been edited at all from its initial form.This enables me to have full control over the editing of my photographs.If i was to have my camera on the automatic setting the camera would act as a brain and automatically change things like the white balance,tone curves,contrast,colour saturation and the sharpening to best suit that situation. Although this is a big convenience i believe in doing this as a photographer you become lazy.

A bag of tricks :)

Today i had my first Wednesday lecture with Harrison who is also my personal tutor. He has done a great job of giving me a better insight on what kind of kit is essential for me to purchase to really excel on this course. To do this he brought in his own 'Bag of tricks'. As i watched with a large amount of jealousy :) he whipped out his lovely leather Billingham bag full to the rafters with lenses,filters,memory cards,light meters,reflectors, a 430 flashgun and last but not least a squashed pack of airwaves chewy :/.The point of this was to show us what kind of kit we should be looking towards building over the duration of this course.It was a great chance for us to look and handle equipment that is essential to creating great photography. Harrison also informed us of other useful items to always have in your camera bag for example: a note pad,torch,a small tape recorder, grey card to help measure exposure, and a lens cleaner.