It's all so new!

[Donald]

Don't know if your country is the same as mine in that Governments tend to issue bad news or things they don't want to attract too much attention on days when they think people will be busy doing other things. Well, Christmas Eve seems as good a day as any to launch myself in a new direction.

As some of you know, I've signed up to undertake a BA (Hons) in Photography with a UK academic institution called the Open College of the Arts. I'm just at the starting gate and am just about to send in my first 'warm-up' non-assessed assignment. My tutor will, however, be giving me feedback.

Along with the images, I've have to submit all files as contact prints, along with a 500 word summary of what I did and why, etc. I won't bore you with that.

But, deliberately and in keeping with the demands of the course workbook, this is me so far out of my comfort zone that I need a survival kit.

Again, I won't go into the detail of the assignment, but suffice to say it's about the place where I live. I've said, in my summary, "On 31^st December 2014 my wife died. Since then a number of people, personally and by way of their business, have been hugely supportive and helpful. This series of images is about some of them and the community in which we live." But it's about them in their context, not mine. I've also written about this being the start of me getting into a long-dreamt of project about the life of my community.

Anyway, and for those who know my landscape work, here is a sample to show how far out of my comfort zone I am. I have acknowledged, in my summary, what I think the weaknesses are and the need for a lot more learning and practice in this sort of photography.

I don't usually post multiple images like this. But this is just to show folks what I've done. Or maybe it's more about me, because this is all so new, wanting to force myself to put this stuff out into the public arena.

Alice - The Chef




Joe - The Shopkeeper




Fiona & David - Earnside Coaches




Brian - The Landscaper




Robin - The Musician




Leigh - The Baker



Our Village Shop

[Shadowman]

I take it that you either don't like street or candid photography or just never had an interest in it. You are off to a good start, I like the use of UWA for the chef series, don't know if you shot in color and then converted or just shot B & W right out of the box; but the monochrome images are very crisp and pleasing. It will be interesting to read about your feedback from instructor. Nice series.

[Donald]

Thanks John. These were all RAW files, converted to B & W with Silver Efex Pro.

And you are correct, Street/Candid photography has never 'lit-my-fire', but I admire the quality of the images that good exponents of the genre produce. But obviously none of these are candid. With Leigh and Alice the end of the UWA lens was only a few inches from them.

[Mike Buckley]

I suppose this means you're going to be using relatively fewer square crops, huh!

There are so few people who could make such wonderful images when initially working beyond their comfort zone. Exceptionally well done with no need for qualifications about the images being a first attempt.

The first image probably presented the most complications. It has so many objects that could have become hugely distracting but you kept everything under control. Though most people would understandably call this an environmental portrait, for me the woman is a secondary subject and the primary subject is the liquid being poured into the mixer. The light automatically and naturally leads my eye to the mixer and then to the spout about to become overflowing with the liquid. I could go on and on about the other images but that first one is so difficult to pull off and so well done.

[Donald]

Thank you, Mike. Because I respect your opinion so much, you have just given me a huge confidence boost. Sure, I have the work of others to use as a reference point, but you really feel as you're finding you're way a bit in the dark and testing the water, to mix my metaphors.

I think the whole thing is quite exciting. I wrote in my summary that the idea of describing myself as an artist is a significant cultural challenge for me, but I realise that this course is very much about art, with photography being the medium used. I'm beginning to learn what is meant by contemporary photography and two of the journals/magazines I've already been referred to are 'Source' and 'Hotshoe', both very much about photography as contemporary art.

Also interestingly, I have noted that capturing these photographs gave me nothing like the emotional intensity and 'high' that I get when looking at a landscape scene just before I press the shutter. Maybe that will come, but ............!

[DEAN01]

Donald,
All are very well done. I especially like the village shop, the musician, and the landscaper. The hands of the musician look as though they would be a story unto themselves. The UWA of the landscaper with the emphasis on the dog is great. Want to see more.

[rpcrowe]

Donald,

I don't know how it works on your side of the pond but, here in the U.S. being enrolled in a recognized educational institution grants you "student status". Student status will allow you to purchase quite a bit of software at discounted prices as well give you discounts for entering certain places.

http://www.academicsuperstore.com/

[Donald]

Donald,

I don't know how it works on your side of the pond but, here in the U.S. being enrolled in a recognized educational institution grants you "student status".

Indeed, Richard, I am a registered student. As well as what you correctly say, I also get discounts in a number of other outlets, including 10% off foodstuffs from one of our small-town supermarket chains, which is pretty good! But I certainly intend to explore and utilise the opportunities for software purchases.

[mknittle]

Donald, looks like you do very well outside your "comfort zone"

[davidedric]

Hi Donald.

Excellent images, and a long way from your landscapes. I have sometimes wondered about taking a course, but this is frightening.

Whenever I see your posts, I think of you and Sheila. I do hope you are doing OK

Dave

[Clactonian]

Interesting choice of focal length with these images Donald. It will be interesting to see what your tutor has to say about a monochrome approach albeit this is just the first of many. You are certainly off to a fine start.
As a side note I found my student card very useful and got an excellent discount from Apple on a new MacBook and also from Adobe on software.

[IzzieK]

I like everything here apart from the chef and the baker shots...there is so much to take in....my two best preferences are the Earnside Coaches and the Village Shop...not as complicated to look at...the musicians tells a story to the shot itself without any narratives at all and that works a lot in one image. Just my opinion...

[Manfred M]

It looks like the workload has started. Nice shots from

I find that I get out and forced myself to shoot outside of my comfort zone, I end up learning new skills and those then have a positive impact when I shoot things that I am more comfortable at. When I first started out in photography, I shot a lot of B&W landscapes (that might sound a bit familiar ). Over time, I started shooting buildings, wildlife, people, boats and other vehicles. I tackled small flash and went on to work studio flash. I started by doing minor retouching of images and now do photo composites and sometimes some pretty major surgery.

Getting out of one's comfort zone has the potential to open up a lot of new avenues to explore.

[Donald]

Interesting choice of focal length with these images Donald.

And very deliberately so. I wanted to see what I could do with the UWA. Alice was the first person that I photographed and I liked what I did, so I decided to do the same when I went up to see Leigh. The shot of Brian (and Alfie) was the only one I had planned carefully beforehand. I knew exactly what I wanted. That showed when you look at the number of frames I shot in each session. For Brian (and Alfie) I shot 2 frames. For Alice I shot 47 and it was about the same for Leigh.

I like everything here apart from the chef and the baker shots...there is so much to take in....my two best preferences are the Earnside Coaches and the Village Shop...not as complicated to look at...

I think that is an interesting observation and is indeed one of the factors in terms of being way outside my comfort zone. My landscapes are usually much simpler in terms of having just one or two elements in the scene. It will be interesting to see if my tutor comments on this.

I find that I get out and forced myself to shoot outside of my comfort zone, I end up learning new skills ...

I could feel that happening and hope that it continues (as I'm sure it will). It certainly does make you think very differently about your photography. And that's got to be a good thing.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Donald I like them all but I especially like the shooting angles in The Chef and The Landscaper. Would you share the feedback from your instructor? Then, It would be a good lesson for us too.

[RBSinTo]

Donald,
Good luck with your course.
I think you've made a good start in your effort to leave your photographic comfort zone, and with this assignment, come into mine.
There are some interesting images here, which are thoughtfully composed, and I think you've done well.
My only criticism is the lens distortion that comes from using an ultra-wide lens in close.
To me, it is distracting in the shots of Alice and Leigh, and I find it becomes tiresome very quickly especially when used in a series of related shots. Otherwise those two shots are my favorites in the group you posted.
Again best wishes for your efforts in the course.
Robert

[Donald]

Thank you, Binnur and Robert.

Another interesting thing that, particularly, those who worry about higher ISO ratings might want to note.

The ultra-wide angle images (Alice, Fiona & David, Brian and Lee) are taken with the 11-24 f4L mounted on the Canon 5DS and hand-held (which I thought I'd never do - but that was before deciding to do this course), at 1600 ISO. I don't think noise is a problem.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Donald,

I concur with the general view that these are a very good start at a genre not tackled previously.

Since no-one else has fed back on each in turn, I'll do that now, although (as you must know), I don't shoot much these days and even when I do/did, rarely take these type of shots.

Bear in mind also that I'm not aware of any restriction that may exist from your tutor with regard to these needing to be effectively SOOC, so I may suggest PP actions that are inappropriate for this particular exercise. I do appreciate that they're to document the village lifestyle, rather than be fine art images of particular subjects.

So here (FWIW) are my thoughts on each;

#1 Alice - The framing works for the foreground, but I find the main subject(s) are quite to the right of frame and there's lots of sharp detail in the background that doesn't really contribute. It could possibly have been improved IF Alice could have stood slightly further to your left.

#2 - Joe - Again, I find there's a 'lack of contribution' in the left 10% of the frame, but simply cropping that off would make it too slim vertically. Hmmm, not sure that's much help.

#3 - Earnside Coaches (I can't see Fiona and David) - I'd like to see more 'community' in this shot, I note you've got some additional in by reflections in the left hand coach windows and we can see some above the right hand coach. I think the only answer would be a slightly higher shooting position, but you'd obviously need to keep the camera level (not tilted up or down (or left/right), so that would be tricky without being able to see through the viewfinder and probably precludes simply holding it above your head to shoot. Not sure if you could have had access to a step ladder, but that's my thought. Also I feels it loses something for not having any human interest - perhaps a hatch open and someone loading cases on the distant coach is an idea?

#4 - Brian - this shot succeeds on every aspect I critiqued in #3. My favourite.

#5 - Robin - Technically, I feel there's too much loss of detail in the dark areas. An interesting (and unusual) moment with regard to the guitarist's hands has been captured. Assuming the guitarist is Robin, I'm left wondering who the other guy is? (unnamed in title)

#6 - Leigh - If mine, I'd be toning down the highlights of the thing visible below her left elbow. This shot, like #1, also makes me wonder what aperture was used and whether a wider one was possible to reduce Depth of Field? (to render background less sharp)

#7 - Village shop - I'd have panned left a little to exclude that white triangle on the right edge of frame. I note that you have (apparently) used a wider aperture and achieved less DoF with this one.

I hope those thoughts are helpful, Dave

PS Wine gums please

[Donald]

PS Wine gums please

On the way as soon as the shop re-opens tomorrow.

Thank you, Dave. That's just the sort of critical analysis that I need.

[Kaye Leggett]

Donald, thank you for sharing your journey here. So much of what you say and the comments so far a/ resonate and b/encourage. I am no expert, especially when comparing my photography to yours, but will offer some thoughts....

Do the characters themselves like the images - if they are to be a 'life of your community' project, I think it is important that the subjects themselves like their own image.

I find Alice is a little too distorted by the UWA. I also find the background very distracting; it's the dishwasher/microwave/washing machine combo which don't say 'chef' to me. Could you have stood a couple of paces to the left to gain a better background or had Alice with the background of a cooker ?
Jo is fabulous.
Fiona and David aren't Fiona and David - like Dave I find I want some human interest
Brian is great - but should the dog get a mention in the title too ? he's obviously part of the team
Robin - again like Dave I want the other musician named and I think would be better square ? The full height of the window doesn't add anything
Leigh works although the UWA does distort her nose. Is it possible to get rid of what I think is the dog bowl on the floor ?
Love the village shop. I'd put this with the picture of Joe as the two go together in my mind

Keep on sharing with us Donald - we're learning too, and maybe we should be contributing to your fees ?