#@*&%#}!...

@$%&*@#! printers!

Day 2...

Day number two of the exam... 3 more to go after tonight. With the majority of the work complete my thoughts turn to the barren period that will be Tuesday nights once college is finished. I have enjoyed the time in the last nine or so months and I am keen to continue. Without the stucture of formal lessons I hope to be able to achieve a little more creative freedom. There is the option of continuing study in the Autumn although this feels a long way off.

I have in mind a number of studies or photo-essays to complete over the summer. I think I will start to plan these in greater detail over the coming weeks and think how best to present these.

Here come the pre-exam jitters...

Calming down...

Wow - two posts in a day! Following the disappointment at the non-starter which was my photography exam I have just about re-grouped. It will give me time to consider my images and choice of medium for this exercise. Whilst I am confident that I am doing the right thing - another week of reflection will be no bad thing. Anyway - back to the pictures....

The above moody looking shot is of one of the benches near the Harbourmasters office in Warsash, England. The light was failing fast and I managed to fire off a couple of semi-usable post sundown landscapes. I had headed out in the car to try and get my young son to drop off to sleep. I was just packing up and walking down the steps when the above composition caught me. I fired off a shot using my 50mm lens at about f1.8. Being relatively new at this game I am still in awe of the power of a shallow depth of field shot.

My lesson for the day - never pack up the camera until you have had one last glance around.

Exam...

...didn't get off to the best start. I was overly prepared and found myself faced with photo-printers that didn't work. I really wanted to see the images to get a feel for how they looked in real size. Never mind - four more weeks to finish it off.

Welcome to the Darkslide...

If you get some time check out the website of Rob Luckins - www.welcometothedarkslide.co.uk - Rob is a talented and creative photographer with a varied range of skills. Rob has been the tutor on my photography course and he has been great. Four days before the course I had not used an SLR or photoshop in anger and I have to credit nearly everything I have learnt in the last 8 months to him. He has been unconventional, supportive, creative and above all PATIENT! Most importantly he has let us actually do and learn from our mistakes and triumphs rather than just talking at us.

Sunshine...

Wow - what a difference the sunshine makes. Some early starts this weekend making the most of the beautiful light. Had some odd creative vs. nerdy moments this weekend. Continuing with my exam shots and I reached a point where I needed some props. The long and the short of it was that I pitched up at a flat calm beach with a surfboard for 'art's' sake and felt a bit of a numpty. I guess that will pass and the results were really quite pleasing so it was worth it. Not sure I can say the same about being caught in the woods taking close up pictures of a mountain bike saddle... hey-ho.

Got the chance to take some fun shots of the family but as you delve deeper into the world of photography you even search for an arty angle on that. Big shout out to my gorgeous two year old son for his seemingly endless patience and his big brother who is entering that awkward and uncomfortable phase of being a young teenager. Yes, I will keep taking pics of you - we need something to remember these precious times!

Website...

So, the website moves at pace! This is all very new to me and naturally my main concern is content and style. However there is a great deal of technical wizardry that goes along with this and that is where I start to fall down... Anyway check me out, add me to your favourites, stumpleupon etc. Would be great to see you!
www.justlightreflected.com

Studio Lights...

So, I got to play with my studio lights properly for the first time. Some fun results - I have a lot to learn - but they give you great creative freedom. More creativity to follow!

Exam Portfolio...

So, I have decided on a topic for my exam portfolio. I just need to take the pictures. I have taken the measurements and done the preliminary sketches. I just need to flesh it out now with real images. There will be a lot of post-image work in photoshop which I still feel is cheating a bit... but it is mostly stitching panoramics and merging for high dynamic range so I don't feel so bad.