Before Xmas Dinner (or after as well)

Can we all make sure that all images that are going towards your final units are selected, other images will then become apparent if you haven't got a broad enough selection. Extra photography over the xmas break should be done during breaks from too much food, film and drink. In this way you can make sure that you have all of your images ready for unit 211 or other final units that require to be done.

You should all be well on track to completing all research for each theme, if not this must be done over the break please. So when we come back its just finishing selecting images and putting them through photoshop.
Presentation of your work needs to be considered if you are considering printing your work and enough time to do this must be allocated. Please remember that for unit 211 you do not have to print but for other units you may have to so read carefully.

Time management for your work needs to match the end date of 26.1.12 as grown ups you will all find this easy I am sure. Some people have valid extension periods of 2 weeks beyond this and no more.

Also dont forget the exhibition you have all agreed to with Ian Hey, you need to liaise closely with him regarding this and make sure that you are all organised, I will not be doing this for you, I will sort the frames for you but thats it, you have to organise the rest to putting it up together and taking it down afterwards as this is all part of your unit 211 or other presentation unit.

Also can you use the xmas break to really add to your work whatever units you are doing, if you are doing portraits use the time to get images of family and friends. If you are doing landscape get out there for long walks and get frosty and snowy images as this will look great in your work. Wildlife, still life, fashion etc...etc..think laterally and add the images to your blog along with written work to support what you have done.

Happy Christmas/Holidays and New Year

Can I take this opportunity to thank all the students on the City and Guilds Photography courses for all their hard work since joining the courses in September.
Thank you for all the hard effort and commitment that you have all shown, and I wish all of your a very Merry Christmas and Holidays whatever your faith and also have a Happy New Year as we move into 2012.

Photoshop Session

From the images that you have shortlisted for this session we will be looking at how to post produce these and complete a digital workflow. This means looking at the software and its tools that you will come across more often than others.

Appropriate tools to suit each method mean that you will be able to select the most suitable one for your images. The cropping methods for your final images will allow you to work quicker will alot of images.

The photographs you have taken have to be shortlisted into 10 best images, I dont want to see anyone putting images through photoshop without first having their top ten approved. By definition as I said last week, if you haven't got enough then prepare to do more photography in that section.

All work in photoshop has to be screen grabbed to display what you have done stage by stage, this has to happen all the time for all images and methods used. Then these are uploaded to your blog work, and it will make your work easier to explain and evidence.

Plus don't forget all units need to be done before the end of the course, ie if you are doing unit 211 or others that they are started now and kept tracked and labelled as per all other units. You must time manage the weeks left on this course very well in order to complete and achieve high grades.

Ofsted Exhibition

In light of a visit by Osfted to the college on the 5th December I wanted to make sure that our area is well represented.To do this I would like everyone to gather all their best images together (anything between 25 and 50) so I can put all of them together on a gallery showreel. Some images I may well have but since this course is fairly new I expect there will be images shot fairly recently that I haven't seen.

Can you provide these as jpegs only please as this will allow me to put this together quicker and can you put these all on a DVD on or before the 3rd of December. We need to do this as Ofsted will come in the day time and miss all of our sessions which would be a real shame as there is some really good work happening.

The format of the exhibition will probably be a website / showreel to show off all the work from a large TV screen at the end of our corridor.

Criteria, Self Tracking and Labels

The sessions that we are doing now need to focus down on the labelling of your blogs and making sure that you have all of your criteria being tracked. In this way you can appropriate your time management to ensure that you are on track to achieve a high grade within your particular units.

You also should have both of your themes now well underway with supporting photography and research happening alongside. Critical analysis of this research and compare and contrasting of these images against your own will allow you to evaluate how well you have done.

Or in some cases how well you haven't done, this again informs and directs you how you could improve and in what areas, what you could do differently next time, what you enjoyed and didn't. Did you use the right kit for the right photo shoot, etc..etc...This all goes towards a good evaluation.

Photoshop will be happening soon once you have got together a blog about your top 10 images for each theme. We do not want to be spending too much time in photoshop as you could have a better image or have chance to provide better images by shooting again.

Let me know if you are ready and we can begin to look at photoshop techniques that would suit your work. Also dont forget many of you are doing additional units such as 211 which require you to study the areas of digital workflow, output devices (printers) print surfaces, design of layouts, use of colour within framing and a variety of ways you can display and exhibit your work.

Courses announcement

Can I just say how very pleased I am with all work being produced, everyone appears to understand the ownership and responsibility of their own units that they have chosen to study.Please remember that you have two themes and in some cases more, manage your time well between work produced at college and away from class.

The volume of research has to be really gathering pace now alongside exploratory photography creating your own photography inspired from a variety of influences.

Also don't forget that you have to compare and contrast your images to that of your research, this has to be done with help from critical vocabulary to describe accurately what values from research can be added as value to your own photography.

Photo Lounge

A new online discussion forum is just starting called 'Photo Lounge', it is to allow the interchange of interesting themes, events and discussions between all of the City and Guilds photography students.
Follow the link on this site and start the ball rolling. You will need an up to date college log in and password in order to access this, which as a student at BSDC you should already have.

Moodle 2

Moodle 2 is a hub where you as a student can have access to information which vital to your course. Please use the link to the side of this website to explore all that it has to offer. This is 'work in progress' and will expand week by week throughout the program of the course.

Studio session & work production

Tonight we will be looking at a session in the photography studio which will provide useful practice in ISO, F stops and shutter speeds for those that require it. It is usual to cover these at level 1, but for some that didn't do a level 1 this will prove useful.

After this session, can you research what ISO, F stop, and shutter speeds are (with accompanying images) and do a blog for each. Also what you learn from the session you will need to experiment within your own photography.

For the rest of the group I want to see more research of other photographers work, and for this to appear on each of your blogs with lots of images for us to look at and discuss. This is a vital part of informing, inspiring and planning for a photography shoot either on location or in the studio.

I went through labels of your work last week, and these need to be done throughout every session. Also in general you need to look at the volume of work that you are producing in relation to the requirements of the course. You have to be producing research and photography based on inspiration of ideas and then compare and contrast you work against your original research. And at all times typing about thoughts, ideas about how you work is progressing, etc..

As we looked at before, clear advice about 'what to blog' and 'how to blog' can be found in the blog archive if you need to recap on this at any time.

It is required and expected that to get the best out of the course this extended opportunity to produce work over the internet is grasped with both hands. Ask yourself the question am I producing as much work at home as I am at college.

As I have said before you need to take total full control and responsibility and ownership of all your units, criteria and work production / photography. Don't wait for me to tell you the next step, you need to initiate it and I will respond to it with advice and guidance.

Transparency & Following

 

Can I just make you all aware that should you wish to have an awareness of what each course entails and the type of images produced, can I recommend that you visit each others sites via the Followers Network. This will allow you to see what course progressions are available and the type of work they produce on different levels.
All you have to do is to click on the follow images to connect to each other. Also might be good to comment on each others work as all feedback from peers can be vital in improving as a photographer.

Week 3 already....

By now you should have a very clear idea on what you intend to do. You should have downloaded and printed all the units you have chosen to do and read them thoroughly.

Also you should have done at least one of your two statements of intent in full. The choices that you have made will then need to be researched via the web, books, magazine, youtube videos, etc..etc..of the photographers who work in your chosen areas.

We will look at research and what is required, also you can look in the archive on the main site to gain access to valuable information to help you on this course. Ask me about this and I will show you where and what you need to be looking at.

You should also be starting to label all your blog work so you can self track it all via the labels gadget which we went through the other week, any problems with this please ask me.

Also you need to be starting your photography now to run alongside your research. There is an expectation that you will be working a lot online away from the college at all times to add more content each week. This has to happen often in order that you might want to use the studio for a session, or go out to do some night photography whilst at college for example. For those who cant work online away from college, prep all your written work in word and I will show you how to copy and paste it into blogger, put your images in a seperate folder to allow a quick upload.

For those of you who do have access to the internet there is a high expectation that you are working a lot from home.After this session you will all be getting feedback from me as to how you are getting on and support.

Also you should all be commenting on each others work each week, this must be done as it is very valuable to have others critique your work as we go along throughout the whole course.

Welcome

A hearty welcome to Burton and South Derbyshire College!
Also welcome to the City and Guilds Photography courses. I hope you had a smooth process in enrolling onto the course that you have chosen. The levels within the framework of these courses rise from level 1 to 4, if at anytime you feel that you cant cope, or the course is too easy for you, please speak to the tutor in charge of your group for clear advice and guidance. We can migrate you across to different levels in negotiation with your tutor.

Enjoy your time at Burton and South Derbyshire College!

Steve Davies & Marie Holliday

New Level 4 Photography Course

The new City and Guilds Level 4 Photography course is now online and you can see all the latest information via this new weblink;

http://cityandguildslevel4.blogspot.com

Please take a look and see if its for you, there are all sorts of new and exciting prospects with our link with a large modern photography studio that has 40 years experience in a broad range of commercial and advertising photography.

Please let me know if you are interested. Thank you.

stephen.davies@burton-college.ac.uk

Well Done!

All marking and grading of work is now complete, I have left comments on all of your blogs on how well you have all done. Can I take a moment to congratulate you all on all of your hard work and commitment to achieving high grades across all of the courses.

The City and Guilds Photography course can offer you all with a progression onto the next level or the same level but in different themes, for example if you did Location Photography last time why not try your hand at Studio Photography in September.

I am available to give advice and guidance on all of these courses should you require more information.

Please email me for any information about any of the courses. Can you also forward this link to others who may wish to join in September

stephen.davies@burton-college.ac.uk

Again well done to every one of you, the course would not be as successful as it is without all of your excellent photography and drive to succeed.

Steve

On line final Critique

As we are virtually over the finish line can I ask that you visit each others sites that you are following and leave 'Critique Comments' on their final images for both themes please. This feedback from each other in the group is very valuable and supportive. Can you all at least do a minimum of around 5 other blog websites within your group. You may even wish to comment on students who are on different City and Guilds Photography levels.

The Final Countdown......

As both the level 2 and level 3 courses finish this week can you make sure that you have all your final images to give me on a cd ready for me to collect. I need all of your images as final PSD files along with your original jpegs before being put through photoshop.

Please can everyone make sure that all blogs are up to date as far as can be with all blogs requiring a label as per unit requirements. This is to ensure the highest possible grades are achievable from all the hard work that everyone has put in.

We are in a very strong position as a groups with potentially a large proportion of the groups on line for distinctions which is where we all need to dig deep and give it a final push.

Allowances will be made to all students work and extensions will be allowed via discussion. All work will be marked around 2 weeks after the final hand in day.

Last chance saloon

Can everyone make sure that they have all their images with them in the next class, as I will be doing a final collection of all student work for the college wide exhibition.

Some images are for the showreel which will play on all the TV screens in the main reception, the others will be used in a printed and framed exhibition in room CS118.

All printing and framing will be done via the college, so all I need is your high quality PSD files so that I can start to print them. This is a last minute change to space allocation that has become available so I grabbed it for City and Guild students to use.

If not a posse will be sent out and your on the next stage owt a town!!

(Oh and next week is the last session, so please can you bring all your finished sets of 10 images for each theme in ready for me to collect if I havent got them already).

Exhibition images

Can I remind everyone that I need all your images so far so I can select some for the exhibition please. Can you make sure that you have any originals with you along with any you have post produced in photoshop. As I don't want to leave gathering these images to the last minute, if you want to help can you make sure they are converted to jpegs to make my job a little easier as converting loads plus all my other courses work will take me a long time.

TV screens / Gallery of images

In addition to the use of an online website gallery, I have negotiated the use of the TV screens in the main reception to display all of the City and Guilds photography. For this you will need to supply me with a cd of your images or I will gather them from you on a hard drive. There are around 6 TV screens and a large projector screen which may also allow audio to go with the images to add mood, etc..

The website for the online gallery will soon be started, and again I will require images, from both of these ways of displaying your work I can use any images you want to give me, not just your final images. Also photographs from previous city and guild courses can be included along with any personal work you may have produced.

I will need all the images as soon as you can give them to me, no later than the 15th June as the exhibition opens on the 20th June and runs for 2 weeks. The online gallery will run throughout the year linked to the main tutor site.

Online Exhibition Gallery

From talking to all the groups and gathering opinions it has been decided to have an online website gallery exhibition rather than a wall space for framed photographs. It was felt that it was fitting that a web gallery displayed all of your work to the largest audience and thus would be of greater value. Also the gallery exhibition can stay up as it were for a whole year until the next, and so on.

I am currently exploring different options to achieve this to display the work in its best light, all suggestions are welcome.

Wifi update

It is getting nearer the time when the college will be able to offer Wifi and thus open up the possibility of you working with your laptops and ipads, etc. When the system goes live I will inform everyone of the date. All being well that date should be sometime in June - July.

Presentation units and photoshop

As we are moving towards the latter part of the course we need to be looking at presentation units that you may be doing such as unit 211. This forms the basis for discussion on how many possible print and output devices and formats can be used by you to finish off your work.

For example how many different ways can you output / print or display your work. To do this you really need to compare and contrast what different websites, high street shops and labs offer. Everything from print surface types and mounting to digital displays, and portfolios in all their different sizes and types.

Design, colour and layouts will also need to be considered in order to discuss properly what type of different presentation methods could potentially suit your work. When we look at more post production of your images we will discuss what might suit each one.
Remember though that for this course you do not have to print out any images in a portfolio, you may choose that you want to, but it is not a problem if you don't.

The rest of the session will be looking at more photoshop which suits and is appropriate to your work. Please can all final selections of images be made up to date as far as possible so we can really concentrate on the short lists I asked everyone to gather.

This thursdays session

For this thursdays session we will be looking at an overview of the whole blogs and the labelling of them as regards the units that have been chosen to do. This is to ensure that all work being produced is being clearly labelled as this forms the whole basis of taking ownership and the self tracking of the units that you have chosen to do.

By doing this you will be able to see the areas where there are gaps or indeed you may of completed certain criteria in sufficient depth. This will help show whether you have over or under produced in the unit criteria. In this way you can then target any areas that need more to improve the grade from pass to merit , or from merit to distinction.

The following 6 weeks left should be clearly time managed to make sure that both themes have been researched and developed in equal measure. Often people leave the second theme with not enough time to finish it thoroughly and in equal depth to the first theme.

Also we need to look at starting any units that are being studied alongside your theme work. For example some students are covering unit 211 which looks at all aspects of digital workflow and final output devices and methodology. Enough time has to be allocated for this unit as well to cover it in enough detail.

Can you all make sure that you have all your unit paperwork with you to allow tracking and accurate labelling to take place this thursday.

Alongside that later in the session we will be doing more photoshop work on the images that you selected for post production last week. This is a very important session which I need everybody to attend please.

Photoshop

Can you all bring in all of your shortlisted images and we will have a photoshop session where we will look at the most appropriate methods for each of your work. The digital workflow of your images will concentrate on only being applied to your best images, any that don't make the grade will initiate a reshoot.

We will not be spending time on images that quite frankly aren't your best work as this is often the most common mistake in digital photography. Good images which strongly link to your research will be considered.

Feedback / Student Voice

Can you make sure that you leave comments on this site as to this course and any possible improvements that you feel ought to be made. Any problems or concerns you can voice here about anything to do with the course. This is your student voice as regards what's right and wrong so I can address any issues. Your input is valid as it can lead to direct improvements to the curriculum and how its delivered.

It is very important that any of my students on this course know that they can make a difference to how and what they learn to improve this course for all concerned and future prospective students.

Welcome back...

I just wanted to let everyone know that they will need to bring all of your images to the next session so we can get an idea of how much photography has been done up to this point.

A short list of around 40 images from each theme needs to be available to see, this is so we are not spending time sifting through hundreds of images in class as this takes up too much time.
In doing this you will be able to see where the gaps are within your work and attend to them.

Also we need to get all of the blogs up to date. I am seeing a lot people commenting on each others work, when you do this can you make sure that you use the 'critical vocabulary' to articulate what you mean as this will lend more weight to your comments and thus aid the other person to really understand what it is exactly you like. Rather than just saying thats a good image or I really like that one!

Can I also stress that all blogs need to be labelled up to date now please, this is a vital process in understanding where you are within the course and will assist in time management of the rest of the course.

From the images selected we can then sort the correct images to put through photoshop. I will be going through an introduction to photoshop in the coming weeks , but we must be sure that the images are of the correct quality to be post produced. If they aren't we must allow time for any reshoots to take place.

Reminder....

                                         

Can I remind everyone that there are two other things going on in the background. Can everyone who has work produced on a City and Guilds course look at the competition for 2011 as the deadline for entries will be here before we know it. There is blog about it with a link on this site.

www.cityandguilds.com/photographygallery

Also the National Forest theme where you can submit some of your work , or fit your theme / photography into the area covered by the National Forest. The deadline for this is by the end of the course and there will be opportunities to get certain work or images into an exhibition / marketing material if chosen. This will happen later in the year.

http://www.nationalforest.org/

College Break

The college will be closed from April 11th until 26th April. Also we are closed for the 'Royal Wedding' on 29th April. (Bank holiday on the 25th April included).

Take stock...

After this weeks session we have the easter break, its over this period that great effort has to be made to eat as much chocolate as possible. Also its a time for consolidation of where you are within the course. Take a moment to sit down and sift through the assignment paper and your units paperwork. Look at the work that you have done, has it been labelled properly, what criteria does each blog meet, what extra can you add to some of your blogs to really raise the level of your achievement and aim for a higher grade.

Look at the amount of research you have done, is it enough, have you enough images to go with each photographer that you have looked at? Are you taking enough photographs yourself, if not why?

Have you got both themes underway, are you spinning both plates ? Have you done a lot for one and not the other, if so attend to the weakest one now and come back to the other one.

Plan out what you going to do over the up and coming weeks. To help this process you now need to sort out all your best images into folders of your top 40, from this we can then start to sort out which images can go towards your final 10 for each theme.

We can talk this through during the next session so you can enjoy easter and have a blog and photography work up to date and in place for after the break.

Nobody's left behind...

Can I take time out to say how well everyone is doing on the course, however can you all take more time to comment on each others work please as this will help push the group on together. It is really important that we encourage each other to move forward together and achieve higher.

Also when you do this you will see the amount of work other people are producing. If you see that yours is a bit light then now is the time to kick on and get this sorted.

This cannot be left as it will impact on your work. Ask yourself, are you researching enough 5 photographers for each theme, and 10 images for each plus the written work. And this is for both themes remember, don't leave it too late and do less for your second theme.

I need to see that everyone is producing work, can you make sure that all draft blogs are published and not left, you can always go back into them later to add more written work or images, etc...

If you miss out either research or taking images the learning cycle will not move forward at all so keep both moving please in equal measure.

Have you looked at Blogger lately?

Can you look through this and you may find that there are certain facilities on blogger that you may find of use to you on this course, if you weren't aware of them already. Enjoy.

Following and comments..

Can you all make sure that you are following each others blogs please from next week. There is a full explanation of how to do this on the blogger guide on this website. It is vital that you are able to follow each other and able to add comments about each others work.

Peer feedback should be relevant and constructive, but also you must use the correct vocabulary to describe what you see. Can you all make sure that you are commenting on each others work please, and you never know you should benefit from it, which should help you obtain a higher grade.

As part of this weeks session can you all please ensure that you comment on each others work so far, can you do this for everyone within the session please.

And I'm feeling left out as not many comments are being left on my blog about any concerns , problems or successes you might be having with any aspect of the course. 

I'm watching you!...but in a good way

To make sure that everyone gets the support they need but might not ask for I have a method in place which shows me how you learn, how often you learn and what you look at on the tutor site even when you are not at college.

Also I can even tell whether you are using a pc, mac, ipad or mobile to learn with. In this way I can monitor areas to improve and prompt anyone who isn't using the site enough to help them with their work.

This is a revolutionary way of looking into the 'statistical data' and how often you learn. I can offer better methods or plan how you can improve you grades whilst on this course.

This has been proven to work as all of the students in the last group managed to achieve distinctions. Its my personal aim that everyone who comes onto any of my city and guilds photography courses is not only supported in every way possible, but has the ability to challenge themselves to achieve higher.

I will demonstrate how this system works so you can all see the benefits of it. When I have shown you how to look at the stats, you can then look at them on your own site.

Also I want everyone to spend time to comment on other peoples sites during tonight's session. And to make sure that you are following everyone in the whole group, this must happen to ensure that we have a strong team spirit.

Research and beyond.....

With all good research there has to be a thorough investigation into the whole theme. This can only be done by collecting all the evidence you can find and then to examine each piece to see what value can be drawn from each one. In a similar way to Sherlock Holmes and then deduce what best action to take.

This is the week where we really need to dig deep and concentrate on research in all its forms. Then collect at least 10 images from at least 5 photographers in the area you have chosen. Then produce the written analysis based on the critical vocabulary we have discussed before on this site.

From that you will become informed and inspired to produce work at a higher level. Then we will move into the preparation stage where you put all that knowledge into practice.

And don't forget alot of you are running two themes as well so make sure that you time manage your weeks now to avoid a log jam towards the end of the course.

Labels, Labels, Labels oh and Criteria!

This is the week where we look at the work you are generating to make sure that each blog has a reason and a structured purpose. Each entry has to be targeted at meeting a certain criteria so as to ensure what you have written has a very clear purpose and aim.

To know how to label properly look at the how to blog guide, and read the section on labels are how to embed them onto the design of your website.

Also each week you need to have the units you are taking in written form in front of you to refer to at any time. The computer will automatically stack all the labels into your website. You will meet criteria again and again throughout the course but just label each blog for the criteria you are aiming it at.

Some blogs will meet various criteria and be appropriate for more than one, just make sure that you put a comma between each one so the computer can seperate them out into the label stack.

By using this method you will be able to take ownership of your own learning and be able to tell where you are and on which missing or weak criteria to target next. In this way you will be able to raise the level of your work to achieve a higher grade.

Remember all the criteria that you need to get a PASS , MERIT or DISTINCTION is included within each of the units you have selected to do, have these to hand to refer to at all times.

Gain Momentum Again

Tonight has been slightly revamped into a session where we will, under the circumstances, catch up with the blog and the work cycle that you need to be producing. As we have had an enforced break at the wrong time really, so I will also cover any areas of confusion

Can everyone spend the main part of the lesson making sure you are;

1. Linked to each other via following as this course is dependent on successful feedback from everyone to each other. And I want everyone to look at at least 5 other blogs and leave comments on each others work in an encouraging and constructive way

2 . Make sure that you are also linked via the RSS feed to get the latest updates.

3. I have commented on everyones work, can you make sure that you read these as well.

4. Add more images that you may of taken over the past 2 weeks with all technical data and written work of how, when, what and why, etc...

5. Did anyone do the recommended homework to produce images around objects, in squares, see blog week 2 homework in the archive.

6. Make sure a clear statement of intent is done and blog written about it along with the unit numbers you have chosen, also a blog about all your kit available to you.

7. Rest of session spent developing research in to your chosen areas and gathering images you like from the internet and loading them onto your blogs.

New! - Launch of new Level 3 Tutor Site

Hi great news!! the new City and Guilds Photography group now have their own tutor site. Its early days and there is a lot of content to add. The link for this site is below. If you set up a new RSS Feed with this link inside it will link to your site.
Also can you make sure that you follow it and it will add onto you list of blogs to appear in your dashboard as normal.

http://cityandguildsphoto3.blogspot.com

Up and coming weeks - Blog Archive

If you look through the blog archive on this site (lower to the right), you will see a rough outline of the activities of each session. This changes and adapts sometimes in response to the dynamics of the group, but in the main it stays similar as written . It evolves over the weeks and it is hopefully improved and adapted based on improvements or changes I need to make within the course.
At the moment you will have to go back to november dates to see the weeks as they ran last time around.

What to blog - A bit like a diary

(Ok not quite Anne Frank but you get the idea).

When writing a blog you also need to explain what kit and equipment you used. It may be useful to put a blog together just about your complete camera kit. This often dictates what photography you are able to do.
To help with this add some images from the web of the kit you have got and add these onto the blog as well.

You need to tell a story in your blog, after all it is an online diary. If you have gone to a location or event for example write about what you did, what kit you chose to take and use?. Did you have the right lens, could you of done with a better wide angle lens?.
Were the light conditions poor and did you need to alter the ISO settings on your camera?. Did you have a great success or a bit of a failure, What would you do next time to improve or alter your approach or technique?

Writing in this way will help you to explain what you did in a logical way. The way that you think about what you did will help you identify what you need to do next time to improve.

City and Guilds Competition

Hi All,
Here is the lastest poster with all the info about the City and Guilds
Competition. Can you let me know what images you wish to enter.
To find out more visit this link

www.cityandguilds.com/photographygallery

How to blog and what to include?

What to include in each of your blogs is of vital importance, what I mean is that it must be relevant and add value to your learning.
All that you do is all based on the learning cycle for which there is a another blog on this site all about it. This is to help you to understand the process. A blog is all about a free written piece of work with no cut and paste work of the internet in it. It has to be about your thoughts and ideas based upon the inspiration based on the research that you do.
Your research of the work of other photographers is a vital part of this process. It is the value that you identify from this that you are able to add to your own work and photography. For example you must see what clearly shows in their work from a range of about 10 of their photographs. These photographs you grab from the internet and upload to your blog. Then looking at these images you may see any of the following showing through as predominant throughout their work;

Composition, Colour, Shapes, Patterns, Lines, Tonal Range, Frames, Rule of thirds, Texture, Form, Focal Point, Perspective, Scale,  Denotation, Connotation, (literal and implied meanings)


Once you have used these words to help identify what value you can add to your own work. For example if one photographer uses colour, or patterns , or perspective in their work you could try adding this value into your own work.


For example the work of Rut Blees Luxemburg and her night time photography;

This image shows the use of colour, shape, lines, patterns, and also the deeper meanings of the aspirational artwork images of an ideal home within that community.

Whereas this image is more about composition and frames within frames, colour, scale, perspective, but also is a social comment on how people live stacked one upon the other.

Where this image is about colour, scale, viewpoint and perspective. Also it a social comment on how that for someone this is where they work as a car park attendant.

Where this image is about perspective born out the unusual vantage point, also the focal point, the vanishing point is also a critical part of how this image is constructed. Also colour is playing a part again along with lines and scale (such as the size of the cars).

Working from your mobile

Whilst out on a shoot somewhere, on holiday abroad, or just on location with your camera, you can upload images that you take with your phone to your blog. Obviously you can also upload any written work as per a normal email to your blog.

First select settings from your blog

Then select the email and mobile tab, you then need to fill in the secret word into your posting options settings

You need to look at the settings on your blog and activate the mobile settings. Save these settings and then you can start. Once it has been sent from your phone you will need to refresh you web page for it to appear.

The Design (Learning) Cycle

                                       Research, Research, Research

                          

The research that you do fits the ‘Design Cycle Model’ this is a cyclic event where continual evaluation takes place.

You may start with the ‘Design Stage’ and plan what you wish to explore based on inspirations from your research. Then the idea will enter the ‘Development Stage’ where the whole concept, theme, resources and equipment required will be considered.

The ‘Implementation Stage’ is where the actual photography will take place in a practical way. And the ‘Analysis Stage’ is where you can reflect back on how well the outcome has met the initial thoughts and ideas.

All the way through all of these stages you will be continually evaluating how well your project is evolving. This takes the form of a reflective process where you will consider what went well, what you think needs improving and what you would do differently next time. The areas identified can then be rectified, and so you will go round the cycle again repeating the same process hopefully in an upward spiral raising the level of your work each time.

The whole point of research is to examine the images of photographers who are renowned in their own particular field or genre. The analysis or deconstruction of these images is very valuable and will enable you to add value to your own work.

The main key words you can use to identify the value from the photographs are;

Composition, Colour, Shapes, Patterns, Lines, Tonal Range, Frames, Rule of thirds, Texture, Form, Focal Point, Perspective, Scale,  Denotation, Connotation, (literal and implied meanings).

For 'example' for a portrait photography theme the research area could start with;

Working in your blogger, determine and identify useful information, i.e. subject matter on the theme for study, examples of suggested and personally chosen artists, your own photographs.  Analyse, organise and manipulate your research, i.e. evidence of development of ideas - visual thinking, through studies and exploration and experimentation with media and ideas.   Some artists you may wish to refer to are: Rembrandt, Steve Pyke, Annie Liebovitz, Tom hunter, Richard Avedon, Julia Margaret Cameron, Josef Karsh, Sarah Jones, Edward Steichen, David Bailey, Arnold Newman, Irving Penn, Diane Arbus, Mary Ellen Mark, Rankin, Nadav Kander

Or for street photography you may wish to research and critically analyse the following;

Some artists you may wish to refer to are: Andy Goldsworthy, Richard Long, Kurt Schwitters,  Callum Colvin, Marcel Duchamp, Christo, Mari Mahr, John Blakemore, Joseph Cornell, Max Ernst, Henri Matisse, David Hockney, John Piper, Elizabeth Frink, Damien Hirst, and Tracey Emin. www.artistsbooks.com    www.aragopress.arago.co.uk

Or,

Collect and evaluate relevant examples of black and white photography.  Examine the work of some of the following photographers and artists:

Paul Strand, Edward Weston, Ralph Gibson, Ansel Adams, Aaron Siskind, Minor White, Walker Evans, Don McCullin, Chris Killip… www.pbs.org/art21/artists/mann  http://masters-of-photography.com/

Research is to help inform and inspire in your chosen area of photography and you should identify what is you like about the images and how you can add that value to your own work.

The research needs to come from magazines, books, the internet , the library or from an exhibition you may of seen. It may be you have been watching a series on photography on telly, or a guest speaker at an event. You need to reference where this information has come from and put links on your blog where required.

All students are required to research the work of a minimum of 5 photographers. From these you must collate at least 10 photographs and evidenced these in your blog . For each photographer you are required to write a minimum of 500 words– for level 3. All of this written work needs to be free written by yourself and not cut and paste (plagiarism). This word count may be spread across several blogs and thus be met in smaller pieces of written evidence.

RSS Feeds

The website you are working on can receive RSS feeds, what this means is that all the latest blogs that appear on this site can be linked with a direct feed to your blog. All you have to do is to go to the design area of your website and add the FEED gadget to your blog site.

Add the web address for this site which is  www.cityandguildsphoto.blogspot.com

Then the feed and lastest blogs etc that I produce will appear on your site. This will enable me to give 'Global Comments' and 'Feedback' to a larger group when the general message or information is the same.

Normal comments and feedback will be given individually as and when required to guide and help you achieve a higher grade.