Best Laid Plans and all that...

Haven't had a lot of time during the past three or four days. Work has kept me busy plus I had to attend an all day conference on Sunday. Not many photo opportunities there...just 8 hours sitting in darkened lecture halls listening to eminent speakers from around the world expound about the latest research on a diverse range of topics: from a quick canter through the thorny issue of avoiding professional disciplinary proceedings, right through to current trends in retinal and optic nerve diagnosis taking in immunology, cataract surgery and the grading scales and diagnostic dyes used in everyday practice along the way!

But now I'm back and snapping away again.

We're on week two and here are my observations:

The video tutorials are useful but the presentation is as dry as the Sahara in most cases.

It's strange not having tutor input. For the most part the only feedback given comes from other students. Now there are clearly some students who are professional photographers (or who should be). They are incredibly helpful and supportive of those of us who are completely pants but it does beg the question Why are they on an introductory course and what are they getting for their 165 squids?

This comment came up on the forums and there seem to be two reasons why the course is run this way:

1. It's cheaper...there are 1500 students and to break them into groups of fifteen or so with a 'qualified' photography tutor would ramp up the costs involved considerably.

2. Nowadays it is felt that peer review and feedback is the way to go. The comments are 'real', often instant and should provoke lively debate thus helping to produce more dynamic, vibrant work. Waiting for feedback from a professional each time might actually stifle creativity and experimentation.

Experimentation is what digital photography is all about. You don't have to get everything right first time. You can take hundreds of shots and then delete all but two or three if you like. Digital photography is all about freedom.


Now, having said that there is little in the way of tutor or moderator feedback I have to tell you that one moderator passed on these marvellous words of wisdom:

Quote

When I did my degree in Photography we had one tutor in particular whose critical approach was one of the best I have encountered, he never criticised an image (well one of mine at least) he would look at it thoughtfully, then turn and ask you what you thought of it, then he would ask you what do you think would happen if you had done x, y or z when taking the picture, this then led you to be self critical of your own images ... next time you have produced an image look at it, ask yourself these questions ...

Is it what I envisaged?

Is it well exposed?

Is it well produced?

Could I have done better?

And how could I have done better?

At the end of this course you should hopefully be able to extract from your camera and software all the possibilities they can offer ... the rest is up to you ... almost

Dave H
Moderator for T189

I thank him very much for this. I have printed out the comments and pinned them on the wall where I can see them when I glance up from my PC as I'm downloading my masterpieces / disasters (delete as applicable).