UNIT 1, PART C. Cardiff Before Cardiff Exhibition Review.

Today I went to the 'Cardiff before Cardiff' photography exhibition in The Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay. The photographs are by two photographers, one is Keith S Robertson and the other is Jon Poutney. The older photos by Keith were undiscovered for years but then Jon found them and did lots of research about them and then he reimaged lots of them to a modern version of the old photo. All the pictures are off Cardiff from 1970’sish till now. I liked the exhibition and liked how the people were all in their natural surroundings and not posed, I didn’t like them all being Black and White, some I think I would have left in colour. In some ways the photography is a bit like mine because I like people to be natural and not posed but I don’t think I’d be able to walk around city streets taking photos of strangers. The display was very simple and neat and the black frames and white mounts showed off the photographs really nicely. The style of street photography and the all black and white was not really something I liked I found it quite boring but I did really like the relaxed poses and this is something I do in my photography and will continue to do but I dont think I will be doing any street photography and lots of black and white photographs.

cardiffbeforecardiff.tumblr.com

Here is the link:  http://www.whatsonwales.co.uk/galleries/i/23654/

And another:  http://www.wmc.org.uk/Productions/2012-2013/18969/79765/

Report on my Achievements and The Future.

REPORT ON MY ACHIEVEMENTS.


I have mostly done everything I had planned to do, I was not able to do the band photographs in the end as it was really hard to find a time they were all together at rehearsals because they all work aswell. I did not do the tattoo pictures of my dad as he has been doing so many hours in work but this is still something I want to do one day in the future. Im really happy with everything I have done for the art award and everything I have learnt, I think my portrait photography has really improved and I know what I need to do to get a good photograph with good lighting and good set up now. 






THE FUTURE FOR ME AND MY PHOTOGRAPHY.


If I wanted to in the future I think id be good enough to go into portrait work, I could join the local photography club in Pontypridd and could go to University to do a BA Honours degree for three years like Julie James did. It is an intense course and lasts three years but it is worth doing if you want to work for someone else. You can then work towards your Masters degree which is even longer. You dont have to have a degree to be a photographer but it is more professional if you do as it shows you know what you are doing but some people just set up in business and then if their work is good enough they get known by word of mouth. There are other ways to work on photography such as for a newspaper or as a sports photographer or wedding photographer. I would not work for a paper because they would be telling me what photographs to take and I like my own way of taking photographs. Sports photography can be very hard, my mam and dad have done Motorsport photography before and it is hard work and it is not really something that interests me as I only like Drift racing and Golf anyway. Wedding photography is something id like to try but I am too young at the moment to do it but it looks like something I would enjoy but the days are long, sometimes 10am till 10pm and then all the work you have to do after with the photos. Im not sure if I will go into photography as a career when I am older though as my dream is to become a Pro Golfer but this is something I can keep in mind.

UNIT 2, PARTS A AND B.

I have researched what is needed to become a professional Photographer, there is no rule really…. But if you’re trying to work for someone else ( as a photographer) then getting a BA HONS Degree is the best way to start, it’s a 3 year course and is very intense and you have to research about past artist’s not just photographers mind. Once you get your BA HONS Degree you can work towards your Master, but that’s another 3 years.

In the next few weeks I am going to be teaching a family friend about photography and stuff I have learnt to help her learn. The first week I will tell her about the different settings and what they do to the light and also a bit about my favourite photographer and his work and his ideas and get her to try them out in her house using a doll or something. The next week I will have someone who will be willing to pose for photographs and will get her to try different ideas and settings in her garden. The third week we will go to a park or somewhere and take someone with us and I will see how she does with all the settings taking a portrait.

I think it will help for me to keep things simple and explain things simply and also have her to do things on her camera as I explain them. I think to teach her well I will need to go over the settings a few times and also keep patient when I do the lessons.

I plan to teach Ann how to take a photo of someone without having to use flash and without it being too dark. Ann has told me this is something she has a problem with because she does not know anything about settings on a camera so just puts the flash up and hopes for the best. Ann’s main interest was in taking a good portrait and not having to use flash for it. She told me this when we chatted about me helping her with her photography. Ann had her own camera to use and plenty of things in the house to practice on and also a nice garden to practice in. We planned to use her granddaughter for the photographs outside but in the end she couldn’t come so we had to change plans. All the way through the lessons I would ask Ann to explain stuff back to me to check she understood and remembered and then id decide if she understood and I could teach something more or if I needed to go back over the stuff I’d already told her. I think the biggest skills I need are patience and calmness and to be able to explain things simply.

Health and Safety.

I had to think of health and safety. I had to check the garden and make sure it was enclosed and safe. I had to make sure I had another adult with me incase Ann got ill or fell or something. I had to think about what would happen if it rained and would the decking in her garden get slippy. There are not really many health and safety risks with photography in the home. For the last photo lesson we were going to go for a walk so I had to think about where we were going to go and if there were roads to cross and crossings to use and if we went to somewhere old and tatty would there be bits of rusty stuff on the floor or rickety walls. In the end her granddaughter could not do the photos so I had to get my dad to be a model on one of the days and he brought our dog so I had to check the garden and check she could not escape and even though she is a sloppy dog still had to make sure there was a medicine kit in the house incase the dog got spooked or something.

LESSON PLANS:-

Week 1.

Teach Ann the basics of the camera, show her all the buttons and show her how to change the F-Stop, how to change an ISO and why it is important to change the ISO based on the lighting were she is and get her to try out all the settings by taking photos of a doll or something.

Week 2.

Take what Ann has learnt into the garden and take photographs of one of her grandchildren using all the different settings and then study the photos to see what she done good and what she needs to work on before taking the photos on week three.

Week 3.

We will recap on the settings she has learnt and recap on what she needed to work on from week two photos. We will go outside to take more photographs of her grandchild but outside outside in the outside world and use the things she recapped on.

After the lessons I will ask her to give me a review of my lessons and how I was as a teacher.