Panic

Phew logged on here tonight and it asked me to create a new Blog. Thought for a second it had lost mine. Actually i had just logged in a different account. Did make me think however and will backup contents of blog regularly.

Funny

Got accosted in street today twice. Lucky old me. A chap stopped in street and accused me of being a snooper for the DHSS or as he put it "spying on folk on the brew". Then after that some woman came rushing out of a shop because I had dared to photograph her window display.

Comparison between exercises on workflow

So what are my conclusions about the two different styles of workflow required for a formal portrait session and a street scene.

Well...there are elements of both styles of workflow that can come together,

• namely trying to plan in advance; for example what picture do you want to take, what lens and equipment do you need, is battery fully charged and do you have sufficient space on the memory card.
• the casual approach can work in both planned and unplanned sessions, trying to be ready for the unexpected.
• the selection and edit process (which are covered in future exercises) remain a constant.

In summary I think that a workflow can be generic and suit all circumstance but that different styles and genres of photography require flexibility in approach.

Exercise 2 - Your own workflow 2

I used a street scene for basis for this assignment. Session was un-limited in terms of time with an indeterminate number of shots.

I found the workflow used in this exercise to be far more casual and less regimented that the previous. At times I was able to review pictures I was unhappy with, bracket exposure and retake however there was an element of grab shots where time was actually very limited. Blink and moment is gone. In general the session was less organised as although I had an idea of what I wanted to photograph from the outset, the lighting and the subjects were actually fairly random and uncontrolled.

Most obvious difference between the two workflows represented by exercises one and two is in number of pictures. The casual, unstructured and open ended nature of assignment gave rise to much more pictures whilst I looked for suitable images.

As for previous exercise I will wrap up thoughts on experiences on workflow in a seperate blog entry.

Exercise 1 - Your own workflow 1

This assignment was a portrait session. Session was time limited with on the spot development and improvement of composition, taking a sequence of images and looking for improvements in subject's pose and facial expression. The workflow continued with selection of image and processing of the selected images.

For this exercise I used my son as fairly willing volunteer.

The exercise of planning workflow for a portrait session was quite controlled, organised and even regimented. Giving time to take arrange image, arrange and adjust composition, lighting by using reflector, even setup camera on tripod and working through preset range of poses.
Workflow was very suitable for a formal portrait session, however, for my own personal preference would prefer more informality and a slightly more flexible approach.

Below have shown sequence of shots. these are unedited at this stage. I will use this sequence for exercise 4 on editing.

I will do exercise 2 on workflow then wrap up my thoughts on workflow in a blog after that.

Hello

Introduction
A big hello to the wide world out there. A little about me to start.

I come from Edinburgh. I am 44 and married with 2 children. Photography wise, my dad was always interested in photography and there were always camera in the house. I started out using a box brownie and made my way onto the world of the SLR with an old Russian Zenit. In the past year have finally taken big leap and replaced my film based 35mm Canon system with a digital setup.

I last studied with OCA back in 2005 when I was studying Photography 2 - Social Documentary. Had a little gap because of things at home so now getting back into swing with a level 1 course. Have always been interested in photography and have decided to take plunge and work towards my degree.

I started out with OCA as was unhappy with getting films back and not having results I had hoped for. So embarked on a a formal course to improve standard of my camera skills and learn how to see the image I want before I press the shutter. I am now at stage where this has changed round and I would expect to see certain results every time.

Had my Photography 1:Digital Photography Practice (bit of a mouthful - hate acronyms but is DPP just easier to say?) course for about 6 weeks now. So far have been enjoying course.

Have to admit have been away from any kind of studies for a few years now so finding the discipline of forcing myself to make time for home study a bit challenging to say the least. Now that I have got round to starting a blog am hoping this will be a little spur to me.

I do tend to take notes as I go, capturing thoughts about specific photographs or situations or techniques so sitting down at computer and wrapping some sense around my notes is a new thing.

Good couple of days, started an assignment in spring sunshine. Model setup, day planned, happy with poses and lighting and bam, broke my tripod. Sums up start of year for me. Despite this setback am feeling positive.

Equipment
Rather than me saying what equipment I have been using in every single blog thought would get that over and done with here. Some people not overly interested in what equipment you use and instead focus (excuse pun) on final image rather than on how you take picture, where from and what equipment you use. If you are one of these people just skip this next part.
Here goes anyway, my camera is a Canon EOS 5D. I have never used this for a course before as for last course I used 35mm SLR film camera. I have a couple of zoom lenses; a 24-105mm and 16-35mm. I also have a fisheye 15mm lens. Would like to have longer zoom, something like a 70-200mm but can't afford this yet.
Software wise I use Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop Lightroom 2. I shoot my pictures in RAW as this gives me the most latitude to make any changes I need on the computer.