Reflections

As I progress though this course I am discovering things about photography and also about myself. Both are important.

1. I find it exceptionally hard to take photos ‘to order’. I think this is because I have spent so many years just taking pictures randomly, what I like, when I like, and lots of them. I am rather this way in my own work, in that although I have a very intense job, to a large extent I can make choices about when and how I do things.
2. Culling is hard. I still am bad about only keeping the best. I always think that I might find a use for the others. This is a mistake. The end result is that I can’t find the good ones, I was going to say the jewels in the crown, but that is definitely overdoing it at the moment. This is a skill I must learn. I only ever show the best to others – so why keep them?
3. Avoid repetition. I tend to go back to the same places, inevitably, but I need to think clearly each time about what is new, and why it is worth re-doing. Is it because I see something in a different way? Is the weather different? Am I thinking differently?
4. Look first. I don’t often carry a tripod because of the weight, so its too easy to just shoot. I need to learn to look and absorb the scene – then try taking just 1 or 2 shots only.
5. Reading about photography is interesting, but I need to focus on one book at a time!
6. Attending exhibitions is important, but so is absorbing the pictures and thinking about styles and learning points.

Most of these reflections are the same as those I made at the beginning of the course, have I changed at all? Have I learned to look critically at my pictures – yes , but not enough and not often enough.

Plan:

1. Be really harsh with the culling, keep only the best (family shots an exception).
2. Finish a book a week, then think and summarise it.
3. Critically evaluate 1 picture a week of mine.
4. Look at more of other peoples images and evaluate them, – off Flikr, out of magazines, off the news.