Welcome Back...

Having had a break we now need to build momentum again, there are several areas that have to be up to speed. The Unit 211 is the main one that we are starting now, it is a fairly straight forward unit and looks at the various aspects concerning how to present your final images.
This will require you to compare and contrast the variety available from both high street suppliers and professional labs. Discuss how you could potentially use your images in a variety of different scenarios such as an exhibition, brochure, website, books, etc.

Within each of these areas you will also need to look at design, colour, print sizes, format, print surfaces (glossy / matt / semi matt / pearl etc...etc...) and clear evidence of a consistently coherent explanation for your choice of presentation method. Alongside evidence of considering all the possible alternative options for displaying your work. What type of printer could potentially be used against the types they use at professional labs will also need to be considered, contrasted and compared. You may have to consider the different stages of preparing an image for printing and the whole digital workflow from your camera profile  through to your computer and printer settings.

Think of this in the context of the research you have done in your own areas, how do landscape photographers for example display their work, where does reportage photography regularly appear, on what scale do they print and where could you get your work done in a similar way.
You also need to look at cost and differences from a variety of different suppliers both online and high street.
Remember that you are using one method all the time already with the use of your websites but you could explore that further into online galleries and photo libraries, Flikr, etc..

Also you do not have to produce printed work for this unit you can just display your work on your websites, but if you want to print as well thats fine all prints need to be sized at A3 (300 dpi).

If you are working on another presenting images unit other than 211 then read carefully as you may well have to produce printed portfolio work.

And lastly dont forget as part of this course and the presenting of images you are having an exhibition, which you all agreed to provide prints for. I will need to see the images you have chosen before they go to be printed from everybody. Please liaise with Ian Hey as regards the final printing as I believe they are all being sent off at the same time and to be printed the same size and print surface.

I need to check about the sizes and quantities of frames for the exhibition, I will need to confirm this once I know how much work is being collated. The frames usually take an A3 but I need to check this before any prints are ordered.

As mentioned before you will also have to prepare your images to A3 300 dpi for the final hand in of images, I will need both themes in their own folders one of original images and another of images that have been through photoshop, saved as PSD documents for EACH THEME.

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.