Feedback: Assignment 1

Tutor Reports Assignment 1

Overall Comments

The first thing that strikes me is the variety of your subjects and of viewpoints: anything and everything are possible subjects in your vision. This attitude lends itself towards experimentation and discovery, which is ideal for learning new concepts and skills. 

I feel that you are already starting to think of your photography in terms of what will make a good picture, or what will get a concept or a message across; rather than looking for subjects that are ‘beautiful’ then taking a snap (the classic amateur photographer’s quest!).

As I think you’ve discovered, a reactive exploration, looking for possible images that may (or indeed may not) fit a concept for a ‘contrast’, produces a body of images that can be edited into pairs for ‘contrasts’.  

Guiding your exploration towards looking for lighting, form, composition, layering, framing etc. will always be more successful than searching by subject topic, shape or scale. This will also be a more productive approach to generating future projects that are both varied and visually interesting. I’ll comment on some individual pictures in the feedback below.

It is difficult to get one concept across in an image, let alone two: The final image only needs to demonstrate one contrasting pair – aiming for five or more is truly ambitious!

The ‘photos from previous years’ section could be in the learning log as a reflection of your thoughts on the assignment: Only the assignment images and accompanying text need to be in the assignment (or illustrations of those images, such as the diagrams used in later assignments). Otherwise, the assessors (I assume/hope you’re going for assessment) might start by assessing the first four pairs. Alternatively, bold headings would also help to differentiate the boundary between sections on a blog, if you preferred to keep them together.

Could you include your name and student number near the top of your future assignments?

Assessment potential (after Assignment 1)

You may want to get credit for your hard work and achievements with the OCA by formally submitting your work for assessment at the end of the module. More and more people are taking the idea of lifelong learning seriously by submitting their work for assessment but it is entirely up to you. 

We are just as keen to support you whether you study for pleasure or to gain qualifications. Please consider whether you want to put your work forward for assessment and let me know your decision when you submit Assignment 2. I can then give you feedback on how well your work meets the assessment requirements."

Feedback on assignment 

Your exposures and focusing are largely good. Only ‘curved’ (a beautifully delicate image) has lost detail due to focusing and its shallow depth of field. The colour balance in your colour images is very good. Exposures are too dark in some images with large expanses of bright areas (e.g. wasp and snow). A little more exposure compensation (about 1 stop) dialled in at the shooting stage would cure this problem.

Lighting is variously flat, harsh and, at times, atmospheric. Outdoor lighting is difficult to control (or indeed to find!) in winter, but the artificially lit images (e.g. guitar, solid and brick) could be better controlled. If you cannot take your flash off the camera, use a different light source. Adding a reflector to the unlit side to balance out the shadows with the highlights would help a lot [see recommended reading below].

Often a property of a subject is only really apparent in relation to another subject e.g. the tallest tree in the wood only looks like the tallest when seen next to the wood. It is this visual language that needs to be thought about when framing and cropping images. Smooth and rough are apparent from the lighting, shadow and reflections, but long and large (where you’ve used tall trees) are relative terms that need some context.

There is a wide range in the creativity and imagination across the images. There are some choices of quite abstract examples of concepts, whereas in other subject choices the choice seems geared towards the theme of the title, without adding any of your own creativity (e.g. feather, brick and pin). 

The simpler shots (smooth, curved, rough etc.) work better at grabbing attention and conveying a concept than the more cluttered images such as straight and large. Cropping the top third off the guitar image might improve the concentration onto the strings.

When composing images, move the subject (especially if it is small) away from the centre of the frame after focusing – see the section on balancing composition and framing in part one of this module.

I feel that you could utilize your puddle shot as a combined liquid/solid contrast image (as the final 2 in 1 shot)

Learning Logs or Blogs

Unsurprisingly, given your academic background, the learning log is comprehensive, objectively reflective, contextually aware and well referenced. 

There are many images used to illustrate the topics of exercises that date from before this module started: These are a good resource for reflection and re-evaluation. New images made for these exercises are also shown: If these generate further reflections on the processes involved in the exercises please highlight those as being generated from that process.

Suggested reading/viewing

I recommend reading 'Basics Photography: Lighting' by David Prakel. I'd also suggest that you look at Section 4: 'Light' in this module before going any further; just read through it at this stage, in order to inform the work you do on parts 2 and 3.

Pointers for the next assignment

Your images produced for the exercises are just for your own experimentation and practice. The images for the assignments should be the best images you can produce on the themes. Some pictures show the hallmarks of time, contemplation and planning spent on their execution, e.g. dark and smooth: I’d like to see more in this vein in future assignments. 

Your sense of balance and proportion that is demonstrated in many of these images will give you a good insight into the next assignment. Assignment two is about producing good images around the varied themes of composition; proportion, diagonals, curves, pattern etc. Subject choice is open but should be visually interesting. Lighting and composition are just as important as the image’s composition. I am looking forward to seeing what you produce.

If you are unsure of the meaning of any of the categories in this context, e.g. rhythm (linear repetition), pattern (repetition in two dimensions), or implied triangles (three prominent points in the frame) ask me to explain them further. 

I received my first piece of feedback from my tutor on my first assignment, which i was a little nervous about receiving, as its been quite a while since I've studied photography, or any subject for that matter, and felt i might be a little rusty or perhaps not quite up to scratch.
I was quite pleasantly surprised by my feedback, overall, it was quite good. I received some constructive criticism on my lighting, and given some suggestive reading. I was not too surprised by this point, i know that this is something I need to work on, i definitely think the gloomy, dark winter days don't help as by the time i have finished work and am able to shoot lighting is poor and the weather is not always on my side, however i need to learn to use whatever lighting i have to my full advantage, and make the most of what i have available to me. I know sometimes i can be a bit lazy and just rely on auto, i have to get out of the habit of doing this occasionally and use manual instead to ensure i get the best possible image.
Being my first assignment, I tried to play it safe, albeit still creative, although, i don't feel this assignment really gave me the potentially to be wildly creative. However for future assignments i need to continue to try and push the boat out a bit more. I feel from his comments, my tutor would agree with this.
I am happy with the feedback i have received, and this has given me the confidence and drive i need to continue forward with the next assignment.