What skills I have learnt this year

I came to the college in September straight from A Levels. The first project we were given over the summer was a huge challenge for me as it all had to be shot in film. We had a small dark room in school, however I only went in there once and with the help of my teacher I developed one film, prints were never made from it. Instead of shooting freely like on digital, I had to really concentrate and think carefully about camera angles and composition as I only had a certain number of frames. Developing the film was fairly simple but when it came to making prints in the dark room this is where I had to spend a lot of hours practising. I found the workshops and hand-outs really helpful as these allowed you to work personally but having the lecturers there for support if it was needed.

We had a few more film projects after that not just using 35 mm film like in the summer project but using 120mm film too. I found that I preferred to shoot 120mm film on a Hasselblad rather than a Mamiya as I liked the 6 by 6 frame it created. For these film based briefs it was required to print on resin coated paper, this could be put through the ilfospeed machine which allowed a lot more prints to be done in a smaller space of time. We were then given a brief in which the final images had to be printed on resin coated paper, this paper is a lot thicker and has to be dish processed. I had never dish processed an image, however the times were written in the darkroom so it was quite simple. The only challenge when dish processing is mixing your own chemicals if they run out or if you are first in the darkroom. I find that mixing is easier when working in pairs as one of you can measure the water and the other the chemicals.

Over the term there have been a lot of technical workshops which I have really enjoyed. Being inducted on all different kinds of camera, digital and film opened new doors in how images can be created. Lighting workshops teaching us how to use a variation of lights including portable and stationary lighting have been really helpful. I really enjoyed the Lightroom and Photoshop sessions which we had because we learnt something new each week. I had worked with Photoshop before, in which I could completely manipulate an image; this is what I tended to do a lot of in sixth form. However now I try to create my whole image within the camera, this is why Lightroom is really good because it allows you to adjust colour, contrast, brightness etc. but relies on you creating your image before-hand. Within these sessions we also learnt about different file types and how to convert these to the correct size for printing.

Skills I have gained through each brief-

FD101-Still Life:

·         Studio and home lighting set ups

·         Using the Hasselblad film camera’s

·         Film processing

·         Dark room printing

·         Using Hasselblad extension tubes

·         Using the Hasselblad scanners in the digital darkroom

·         Research different photographers work

FD102-Formal intervention:

·         Deciding that I prefer to shoot 6 by 6 frame on the Hasselblad

·         Working with people within the image to create the intervention

·         Finding locations appropriate for shoots

·         Dish processing images

·         Printing images onto resin coated paper

·         Research different photographers work

FD103-Cover Story:

·         Enhancing my knowledge of digital camera

·         Research different photographers work

·         Learning new lighting set ups

·         Testing out lots of different types of lighting

·         Research into a career which I hadn’t thought of before

·         Seeing the work of our lecturer

FD104-Client Brief:

·         Finding a client

·         Contact between me and the client

·         Being professional with client and people who she introduced me to

·         Confidence around people who I had never met

·         Creating my own project within the brief

·         Researching different photographers work

Contextual Studies:

·         Research

·         Structuring an essay

·         Working in groups

·         Being confident in presenting work to groups

Complimentary Studies:

·         Learning something completely new

·         Meeting new people which have different interests to you

·         Creating products such as a Zine, Placard, T-shirt and badge.