Induction Week Continues

My very second day at University was the classes' first opportunity to share its work with each other. We shared images with our allocated groups, discussed how they were taken and how it relates to our career aspirations.

My chosen image was my candid shot of a man at the temporary art installation, on Birkrigg Common, Harmonic Fields. It shows a high contrast, photojournalistic style that I hope to develop. Unfortunately the Mac and projector combination reproduced the image far too dark. Feedback was good but the lecturer was quick to point out that a modern photojournalist must also rely on other means to support themselves, unless part of Magnum.

I am pleased to say that the group I have been allocated to has proven wrong my assumptions from Monday, most had produced high level work though still carrying some niggles. Real critique was at a minimum until Ninja John, the wildlife photographer, gave some real insight into industry standards.

Again this was a short day, a half day in fact, so very little happened. I expect even less is going to happen tomorrow so stay tuned!

University - Day One

As hurricane Katya's dying breaths pass over the UK with winds reaching 70mph I had my first day as a photography student at Blackpool and the Fydle College. Cutting out the two hours of traveling, my first day of the three year course was somewhat uneventful.

After an introduction from the staff we moved onto the first photography related activity of my time at the college, a pub style photography quiz. The quiz, while fun, allowed me to get to know some of the students I'll be sharing the college with. Many of the students I teamed up with appear to share the photographic passion, they have interests in most aspects of the field, a necessity if you want to get through the grueling course.

However, there were some individuals that appeared to have no idea what should really be expected of them at degree level. Photography at University or College level has a bad reputation, the fees are extortionate and there is no guarantee of a stable job at the end. This is something shared by most courses. The thing that struck me is lack of knowledge, I have read about students qualifying with barely a basic knowledge of photographic terms and techniques, have I come to work with similar people? As far as I could tell, and in no way am I elitist, they had very little idea about basic abbreviations or even definitions. And since when did camera shake become a integral part of controlling depth of field, a genuine suggestion from a fellow student.

I'll have more stories to some in Tuesday's edition!

Canon 50mm 1.8 EF II - Review

There's a reason why the reply to the the perennially asked question "What lens should I buy?" is usually to go for the 'nifty-fifty'; they're fast, light and a great all around focal length. But should you spend your money on the Canon 50mm 1.8 II? I'll try to make your decision easier with this short review.

With a retail price of just £99.99 in most shops and probably a bit less on eBay it's certainly an attractive prospect. It's actually the most inexpensive lens Canon produces so it should be within the reach of any budding photographer. However, with such a low cost item there come some drawbacks.

Shot at the maximum aperture of 1.8

Undoubtedly one of the first things you will notice is how light this lens is, at just 130g this is one of the lightest lenses you'll come across. There is one good reason for this. Just about everything, bar the glass, is made from plastic. Plastic body, plastic focus ring and a plastic mount. There's no escaping it. As a result the lens feels very cheap and therefore not particularly durable, I know how un-durable the 50mm 1.8 II can be; my first one fell apart after dropping only 2 feet onto a table.

Bargain Find #2

It's not uncommon to see plenty of old cameras in Charity or Secondhand Shops, there's usually baskets filled with generic, no-named 35mm rubbish that shouldn't be bought for 50p never mind what must have been payed new.

My most recent find was one of few that are made where I actually recognise the name of the brand. Nestled amongst the bric-a-brac was a gray pouch reading 'Ilford', a name I associate more with the manufacturing of film. Inside the pouch was a grubby looking Ilford Sprite 35, a strikingly angular camera produced in the mid to late '60s.

 This simplistic camera has only one form of control over exposure , three aperture settings. Using the 'Sunny 16' rule you can choose from f/8, f/11 or f/16 with what I read to be a 1/100 shutter speed in an attempt to make a correct exposure. There was an option of external flash, which probably would have helped, unfortunately there were none to be seen at the recycling centre. 

My Sprite, as can be seen above, does not seem to be fully functioning. The film advance lever seems to have no effect but to cock the shutter. My hopes of running film through it appear to have already been thwarted until further notice.

Hopefully I'll find a way to get it up and working! Until then.

Picture of the Week

The photo I have chosen for this week was taken on 25th August during my trip to Blackpool. I took the photo just before I made my way to the University for a tour of the photography department.

I wanted to capture a more unique image of the Blackpool Tower than the typical tourist shot like the one I have posted previously. Stood around 500 feet from the tower I had the idea that if I could find a reflection in the surrounding landscape I could produce a more abstract effect, this actually proved quite difficult. There weren't any large windows or doors that were either immediately obvious or had a complete reflection of the structure.

I crossed roads, passed through Taxi ranks and pushed through crowds of people until I looked higher than street level and saw a marble clad doorway. The picture you see is the reflection I saw, albeit heavily edited.

The photo was taken on my Canon 20D using the ever-trusty 50mm 1.8. Using a relatively small aperture of f/8 selected in Aperture Priority I attempted to capture a wide enough depth of field to maintain sharpness in the reflection.

Post processing was quite extensive, in colour the reflection appeared very washed out which was quite uncomplimentary to such a brilliant structure. Black and white helped to define the reflection more and create an image with much more depth. To achieve such a definite reflection in what was black marble required me to play around with more options than just contrast, blacks and clarity. I had to use colour mixing in the black and white panel to create such a prominent shape.

I hope you enjoy the picture as much as I enjoyed capturing and editing it!

University - My Photography Education Begins Here

As a student recently accepted onto a University Level Photography Qualification I think I should introduce you to my views on British Universities and how they work.

Here in the UK University has lost its prestige, Sixth Form Students are pushed towards finding a place at University regardless of whether their chosen career benefits from an associated degree. The result of this is Degrees have become worthless yet a necessity, employers can demand a University educated candidate because there are such high numbers of degree holders flooding into the jobs market.

Because of this demand for degrees I have to go to University, but I'm not disappointed. For the next three years I'll be studying something I enjoy, I'll be experimenting any way I want and I'll be doing it with Hasselblads and Professional grade equipment.

My University of choice is Blackpool and  the Fydle College, a small-ish institution with an apparently enviable international reputation close to the centre of Blackpool . Today I had the pleasant experience of visiting the college and touring the photography department situated in the basement of an amazing Art Deco building.

Below is the Blackpool Tower, visible from the college, this is an instantly recognisable landmark to many Britons. I'm sure it will become the subject of many photos to come.

While I know that the photography career isn't easy I think I will enjoy the time I get to spend in Blackpool and the College. I'll try to update the happenings of my time spent there, as is usual in the English education system I'll start in September. I hope you continue reading.

Who Made the Rules?

There aren't many questions that I find on forums that haven't already been asked and in most cases answered. Recently, while reading on a relatively small forum, I came across a thread titled 'Photo Authorities' . The topic poster was asking who decided what made a photo look good and how could anyone justify what comments they made when criticising other peoples' photos?

It was an interesting question and it got me thinking. It seems fairly well established that the human brain naturally likes to see certain patterns, one of the most relevant to photography being odd numbers. From an education in catering I know that, for the most part, chefs build plates using odd numbers. As a student of photography I know that good composition can most often be made by following the rule of thirds. The tower in the photo below shows a composition that obviously follows the rule of thirds.

This seemed like an interesting pattern and one that had been 'discovered' 800 years ago in Italy. Fibonacci created the Fibonacci Sequence or the Golden Ratio, a sequence which from what I understand splits things into three. Artists and architects since the Renaissance have proportioned their work in line with the Golden Ratio and the golden rectangle. I may not understand the maths but I can see the results of his work.

I'm sure there are ways to explain other aspects of photography in over complicated ways, I'm content with just this.