Wednesday, 9 October 2013

DPP-Assignment Five; Learning Log

Learning log – DPP assignment 5; Personal project


“Clear focus is one of the most compelling virtues of photography.”
 
(Sean Wilkinson – Taken from the book The Elements Of Photography-page 132)

Now on reading the rest of his extract, he is questioning the above statement and saying that it seems perverse to shoot an image that is blurred, but wanted to emphasise that an image could be blurred and beautiful. On looking at his images, they are all blurred and very beautiful.

I decided to look at this quote in another way, in fact, the way I thought about it when I first read the line. I thought it was representing, not so the clear focus of an image, but the clear focus of the person who is making the image and on looking at it in that way, I think the statement is quote profound.
 
My Thoughts
This assignment was difficult but thought provoking, up until now, we have had to stick to a format, obviously the format is still there, but lesser so and I could be more selective, which I enjoyed. For my project, I had to do a lot of technical reading, so to be able to use my speed lights correctly, however, I am happy I finally managed to find the time to do it. I also really enjoyed creating my web gallery, this also gave me a lot of technical stuff to do and I am really pleased it is up and running.

Strengths on my assignment
Was the ability to be able to recognise my mistakes and correct them as much as I could at the time, by trying different compositions and lighting techniques, which normally for me, lighting is a massive problem, however, I feel I am getting better in this area, but there is always room for improvement.

Weaknesses on my assignment
Is the inability to not be able to achieve the look I wanted first in my head and photograph it, now I know this is normally the case, but I would like it to come more naturally to me, knowing whether it would work or not first, before trying to attempt it.

Some of my research sources-Books, websites and documents
  • The Elements Of Photography: Angela Faris Belt (This is a really interesting book, it contained artist’s portfolios with a statement and the process of how they achieved it, which I found intriguing, as each photographer seems to each have their own style. It also gives accounts of different techniques used)
  • Mastering Canon EOS Flash Photography: NK Guy (This book is my god send!, I have always struggled with flash photography and had little knowledge with regards of how to take it out of the “P” mode on the speed light, this book gives a truly accurate account of how to use my speed light in the correct way to achieve the results I want)
  • Light, Science & Magic: Fil Hunter, Steve Biver, Paul Fungua (Another god send, a perfect book that describes how light is used and how, as a photographer you can manipulate it to achieve your overall goal and how to photography certain types of materials that always seem to pose a problem, such as reflective items etc)
  • The Photograph As Contemporary Art: Charlotte Cotton (A collection of images from a myriad of different artists, broken down in to seven categories, or themes as it were, with the inspiration and motivation behind them )


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