TAOP Assignment 1.

8 pairs of contrasting photographs plus one photograph that demonstrates contrast in one picture.


1. Rough / Smooth.


Rough
Manual mode f10  1/30s 1S0 100  70mm

Smooth
Auto mode f7.1  1/400s  ISO 640 300mm





2. Rounded / Diagonal


Rounded
Manual mode f10  1/25s ISO100  34mm

Diagonal
Manual mode f10  1/13s   ISO100 50mm



3. Light / Dark.


Light
Manual mode  f9  1/50s  ISO 1600 70mm

Dark
Manual mode  f11  10s ISO100 70mm



4. Pointed / Blunt.


Pointed
Manual mode  f10  1/30s ISO 100  70mm

Blunt
Manual mode  f10  1/30s  ISO 100  70mm



5. Many / Few


Many
 (coloured glass pieces)
Manual mode f3.5  1/400s  ISO 100  42mm

Few
Manual mode  f5.6  1/5s  ISO 100  31mm



6. High / Low.

High
Auto mode  (Panasonic DMC/FX10) F8  1/320s   ISO 100  6mm

Low
Manual mode  f11  1/3s  ISO 100 42mm




7. Straight / Curved.



Straight
Manual mode f5.6  1/40s  ISO 100  25mm

Curved
Manual mode  f5.6  1/30s  ISO 100  23mm



8. Broad / Narrow.

Broad
Auto mode (Panasonic DMC/FX10) f8  1/160s  ISO 100  6mm

Narrow
Manual mode f10  1/50s  ISO 100  38mm




9. Contrast in one picture. Transparent / Opaque.

Transparent / Opaque
Manual mode  f8  1/200s  ISO100  70mm




I discussed with my tutor whether he wanted any notes with my assignment photographs and he suggested that I only provide them if the photographs weren't self explanatory.He pointed out that the main part of the reflection occurs on receipt of his comments after submission.  However the course book does ask that I review how I think I've done against the assessment criteria and note my thoughts in my learning log.


I will take each of the assessment criteria in turn and consider my whole assignment submission against them. When I receive my results from my tutor I will revisit each photo with his comments and the assessment criteria in mind.

  • Demonstration of technical and visual skills materials, techniques, observational skills, visual awareness, design and compositional skills.
 I have certainly tried to demonstrate the aspects covered in the exercises in my final submission choices. Although two of the photographs were taken on my compact digital camera I opted to include them because I felt that although it has automatic settings there are some choices to be made regarding ISO, picture style and composition. Prior to this course I had never investigated these options on the camera and I was pleased with the outcome. Consequently I felt that my studies had informed my practise and the shots were therefore appropriate to use. The remainder of the photographs were taken on manual settings on my Canon EOS 1000D and I have tried to consider composition, depth of field etc in all of them. I hope that my observational skills and visual awareness are being conveyed  in my composition and choice of subject but I'm aware that as a real novice there could still be a lot to learn here. 


  • Quality of outcome content, application of knowledge, presentation of work in a coherent manner, discernment, conceptualisation of thoughts, communication of ideas.
I do have some concerns about the quality of outcome. Specifically I struggle to get a sharp image. I discussed this with my tutor who has said he'll see if he can identify how I can improve this aspect. Another problem that I have can be seen in the Curved/ Straight pair where the overall image is poor due to lighting. I am looking forward to learning how to address this.  I have tried to produce related pairs which I hope addresses the 'coherent presentation' point. I will have to wait to see if I have conveyed any discernment, conceptualisation of thoughts and communication of ideas. In truth I am not aware of any specific ideas that I was trying to communicate with these images.


  • Demonstration of creativity imagination, experimentation, invention, development of a personal voice.
I have tried to demonstrate creativity in my choice of subjects. I tried to avoid going for the first thoughts such as rough/smooth surfaces and many/few birds etc as these seem to be commonly used themes. I wanted to use slightly more unusual subjects and I will have to wait and see whether my 'artistic interpretation' of the given contrasting pairs has worked. I did lots of experimentation with indoor lighting for the light/dark contrast and although I am really pleased with the 'dark' image I realise that it could easily be the reflecting light that I find attractive. Again it could be personal interpretation that defines the outcome. I doubt that at this stage I am developing a personal voice yet but it's difficult to be objective. 



  • Context reflection, research, critical thinking (learning log).
Although I do consistently reflect on my work I am not yet doing any real critical thinking and I'm aware that this is lacking in my learning log. My reasoning is that I have focused on practical aspects to date. Now that these are developing I feel able to start on the theoretical aspects but I acknowledge that this could be a weak point in my first assignment submission.




Tutor feedback.


My tutor feedback arrived and I've spent some time considering it. I have to say that it is spot on and I have learned a lot from it. I'm both pleased and annoyed with myself because I knew (and indeed documented) my weaknesses in the images that I submitted and now I'm wondering why on earth I even submitted the weaker ones. It made me sit back and determine why I did and in doing so I learned something about myself.


For the straight / curved pair I planned a trip and had in mind the images I wanted. I forgot that the last time I tried this the results were a disaster  (noted in my journal - click here and scroll to the entry entitled '1/07/2012 The Six Ps' ) and that I'd resolved not to make the same mistake twice because as they say 'Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results'. Consequently I made the same mistake twice and, even worse, then submitted the results for my assignment. Clearly my sanity has to be questioned.

My reasoning at the time was that in difficult personal physical circumstances and running out of time I made the trip and tried to get the pictures I wanted, compensating for the overexposed white sky and reflections (as indicated by the histogram) by reducing the exposure. At this point I should have acknowledged that the shots were unsuccessful and selected alternative images to submit but for some bizarre reason I didn't. I spent hours in Photoshop Elements trying to improve them to no avail, then I submitted them, reasoning that at least I would learn where I was going wrong and how to correct it. I did learn. Sometimes you have to concede that your photo's haven't worked, maybe as a result of not thinking through the composition vs the conditions.  Sometimes you can post edit the result to improve it and sometimes you can't. Sometimes you shouldn't take the photo at all.  I've realised that I get stuck with an idea and fail to be realistic about the potential outcomes. My imagination races way ahead of my ability.  I have realised that the amount of time and effort that I put into trying to achieve a planned photo is not a good enough reason to submit it come assignment time. Of course when I dig deep I already knew this so I can only plead insanity. But boy am I glad I got this out of the way early in the course. Surely I won't repeat this mistake a third time? Will I? No surely not. But if I do I can absolutely guarantee I won't submit it at assignment time. I hope.

My tutor gave me some great constructive criticism and advice well mixed with encouragement. Having previously undertaken distance learning at degree and Masters level  I am very familiar with the fairly limited feedback that is the norm. I'm impressed with the level and detail of the constructive criticism for this assignment and the identification of targets for the next. I really feel that I've done absolutely the right thing in taking this course.  Over the next few days I intend to review my assignment images in the light of his comments and will post the revised images here.  He has also guided me towards a wealth of relevant reading. So I have quite a bit to do to consolidate Part One before moving on. 














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