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.