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I have thousands upon thousands of photographs. Old Kodak prints, Fuji slides, XPan double-frame panoramics, uncountable digital files. Many I like, some I value, most are just ‘meh‘. So now I’ve enrolled in the OCA Photography Foundation. I’m going to learn, structure, focus and practice. No more ‘meh‘. Time to go on a journey. Continue reading First blog post
I have found 2.10 to be a really useful learning exercise. In the past I have tended to use it infrequently, and then primarily to correct exposure rather than as a creative process. The original image I used was taken on one of our recent hot, sunny Spring days near the London Eye. It was grabbed in passing, so there was no time for any … Continue reading 2.10 Dodging & Burning – the Hardcore Superstars
In this exercise we are asked to consider Michael Bühler-Rose’s “The Conversation”. At first sight my reaction is that this is not a photograph I have any great liking for, but I cannot pin down why that might be and if there’s anything this course has taught me it’s to think as much about why I don’t like something as why I do. So here … Continue reading Picture Analysis – The Conversation
For this exercise I have chose a photograph from a trip in the Summer to visit friends in La Rochelle. It is one of a number of shots I got of the Cafe Parisien, some were better composed but this one has the most interesting characters staged in the most interesting manner. The original image is top, and a crop below. I’ve cropped in such … Continue reading 2.4 The Two Dimensional Plane
Part 2 of FiP has been an interesting journey so far. On one hand I’ve discovered a real love for street photography. But I’ve also struggled to find a subject that I really want to work with for ‘People & Activity’. Whilst I search for inspiration and opportunity I’ve decided to play around a bit with low light and painting with light. I’m also going … Continue reading Faces
Noun; “The occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.” Just occasionally I have time to walk back to Waterloo along the Thames Path from my fluorescent-lit cell office in Southwark. Since starting the Foundation course I also take my compact Canon camera with me should an opportunity present itself. Wednesday evening was dark and bitterly cold, with an icy … Continue reading Serendipity
A weekend away in Selsey with friends gave me an opportunity to pick my usual suspects for the identikit portrait exercise. I selected 5 shots to use, basing the choice on clear expressions and a rough visualisation of what might work best together. many thanks to Mike, Margret and Carol (again!) for being my victims… I took a couple of approaches to creating the identikit … Continue reading 2.5 Identikit Portrait
Part 2 is a challenge for me. When I photograph people it’s a spontaneous thing, probably not even noticed by the subject. Now I have to work directly with someone. Direct them. I am definitely out of my comfort zone with this, so to plagiarise Morecambe & Wise I am going to do all of it, but not necessarily in the right order. An opportunity … Continue reading 2.6 – Near & Far
