Photography Course - T189

Warning - Gibberish - Way over the word count and you are not forced to read it. :-)

We got our results this week and I am happy enough with mine. I passed - I didn’t get a fantastic score but I did a lot better than I expected! We had to put in a panel of 10 photographs but I was only happy with two of them. Serious photography is a relatively new interest for me and I had, and still have, a lot to learn.

We all start from different points on a course. My starting point on this was low. I’ve never used my digital camera as much as I could have done, and before that, I didn’t own a film camera. I have always felt put off by people taking and showing me thousands of holiday snaps which show nothing more than their jubilant social gatherings. Images with no meaning for me. This is a shame because, done well, photographs of holidays or journeys can be extremely interesting and informative. Dogga always does this very well - he tells a story and says something about the place and his experiences. My own holidays and journeys are documented by postcards. How lazy is that! Up until recently, I was in the habit of buying a pack of postcards for every place I visited. If people asked for my photographs they were told they could look at the pack of cards. They are all thrown together in a big box and I rarely look at them. I keep my memories in my head.

I had wondered whether it was wise to purchase a dslr at the start of this course. Perhaps, I should have taken the course first and used the compact camera. The dslr is a monster but I’m glad that I took the plunge and bought one. Although the camera itself, and its accessories, took up a great deal of my time - time which I could have given to other parts of the course - I have absolutely no regrets. Apart from the flash photography side of things, I now have enough knowledge and confidence to use the dslr. (Wow! I am seriously impressed with myself here - I’ve just realised that I know and understand more about the flash then I first thought - first and second curtain sync indeed). I have to get to grips with the equipment and feel happy with it before I can move on. I am not frightened of my computer and I am not and will not be intimated by a dslr!

There were three components to this course and the assessment: visual awareness, technical qualities and a written component.

Visual awareness - um.. arty. I have always thought of myself as having very poor artistic skills. It all stems from my childhood. I once got some very high marks in an art exam and was forced to take the credit and collect the prize. Unfortunately, it was all a big mistake and a huge embarrassment. We had 2 weekly sessions in which to produce an eerie night scene and we were only allowed one piece of paper. I made a gigantic mess and didn’t know what to do with my painting but came up with the idea of blacking it all out - I could paint over it when it was dry. When I turned up the next week a miracle had happened: my original work was shining through the black wash. The important bits had magically transformed themselves; the mistakes looked as through they were deliberate ghostly figures. The art teacher was ecstatic and he went on and on about my techniques. I tried to stop him but couldn’t get a word in. The more he went on about it, the more difficult it was for me announce the fact that it was nothing more than an accident. I didn’t want to make him look foolish in front of everyone - he was a nice chap and I couldn’t do it to him. I dropped art after that. I simply couldn’t live with the deceit or his possible expectations of me. I have got to make a decision to get over this - right here and now. This must not interfere with my photography. If I get a lucky shot, I am going to frame it, hang it on the wall and claim ( nay demand ) the credit!

I have a problem with abstract or modern art / photography - I don’t like it. This is not wholly true but some people go too far. A few squiggly lines in the middle of a blank page do not necessarily or exclusively represent the ripples left on the water by a fish! I have noticed that people sometimes make use of nothing but simple shadows in their photography - I like this and I am going to try it myself. I now appreciate the importance of light and how or where it falls.

There was some very good advice in this course re visual awareness and composition. I learned a lot and will try to put the knowledge to good use but if I want to break the rules I will do so. My photography is for me and for me alone. We are to get some feedback and I am half expecting the comment that there should be a person on the bench in one of my photos. No! no! no! That bench is for me. :-) Apart from this, I am looking forward to receiving the feedback. It will be extremely useful.


Technical quality - This will come. It will happen. If anyone is in any doubt - you are mistaken.


The written component - I am quite capable of scouring through a course, relating it to the course objectives and answering a question. In this case, I didn’t spend the time on it. I don’t think I gave it as much as an hour. I didn’t have the time and didn’t feel that I had the need to prove to myself that I could do it. ‘Achieved’ is all I wanted for this component and it has to be sufficient - thank you very much. This is not an attitude I like but I really didn’t have the time. The natural desire to do something well and to do it to the best of my ability is always there but when it comes to marks and the need to complete a course within a strict time frame, I am forced to believe that it is better to make the minimum effort required rather than none at all. I am not happy about this but if I am honest with myself, I would also have to say that I didn’t find enough time to do this part thoroughly because I wasn’t very happy with my panel of 10. I will have to live with the original decision to write any old junk, accept that it passed, but feel bad about it forever - but not that bad.