OCA The Art of Photography Course Discussion Including Assignments and Submissions

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Yup already looked on there.. Posting on the forums too btw :)
 
Since the learning log is going to be critical at assessment time I have decided to separate my learning log from my general photography blog. My learning log is now at http://ocalog.blogspot.com/

I was not planning to keep a paper based log. Is this going to be a problem when i go for assessment? Is it necessary to keep a paper based log in addition to my electronic one?
 
Nope - I haven't a paper one. As far as I'm aware it's all online, hence their insistence you keep an online learning blog.

I do plan however to print mine out, along with my assignment photo's, turn it into a book/folder. Maybe use one of the book making sites?

Jobs for later though. First thing is to put a Blog backup plan into effect.
 
Byker28i said:
Nope - I haven't a paper one. As far as I'm aware it's all online, hence their insistence you keep an online learning blog.

I do plan however to print mine out, along with my assignment photo's, turn it into a book/folder. Maybe use one of the book making sites?

Jobs for later though. First thing is to put a Blog backup plan into effect.
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Whats the best way to back up your blog, would hate to loose it at the end of all that hard work
 
Gorbsteruk said:
Whats the best way to back up your blog, would hate to loose it at the end of all that hard work
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Are you using google blogger/blogspot? If so it is really easy.

Click on Settings, Export Blog to backup all your posts and Comments. To backup your Design/Template, goto Layout, EDIT HTML and click the Download link.
 
Gorbsteruk said:
Whats the best way to back up your blog, would hate to loose it at the end of all that hard work
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dubcat said:
Are you using google blogger/blogspot? If so it is really easy.

Click on Settings, Export Blog to backup all your posts and Comments. To backup your Design/Template, goto Layout, EDIT HTML and click the Download link.
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I'm using wordpress, as a subset on my website, so I'll have to backup the SQL database and files. I must do that today as it's now got quite large. I've a plugin I need to configure: Edit - done :D
 
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I know most of us are a LONG way from assessment but I was reading through some of the posts on the OCA forum and this is one I wanted to share with you guys because I think it is so useful. It is written by Jose Navarro, one of the tutors, and is in response to a query about what you should submit for assessment.

I'm a photography tutor and also an internal assessor, so I can give you some first hand advice on what you need to send and the best way to present it.

These are the new assessment requirements for level 1 courses - the pdf file can be downloaded here

http://www.oca-student.com/sites/default/files/photo_reqs.pdf

• All five assignments in their original form plus any amendments made in response to the tutor reports
• Tutor reports
• Learning log or url for blog.

And no more!

Now, the format. You were wondering if you should include printed media. The short answer is that, while it is not compulsory, it is advisable that you do so. I would suggest that you print the images that you took for your assignments at least on A5 paper, ideally on A4. Assessors find it easier and more efficient to review physical prints. We can spread them on a table and have an instant overview of the assignment, its strengths and weaknesses. It also denotes the student's interest in showing their work in a professional way - i.e. it shows that they value their own work.

If you decide to send printed media then there are some further considerations:

prints should be of sufficient quality or you will be doing yourself a disservice - mid-weight, semi-gloss paper is ideal. Don't try and print them yourself if you don't have a professional-quality printer. Having them printed by a professional lab should not cost very much.
prints should de adequately labelled on the back
you don't need to protect each one of them in individual plastic sleeves. Assessors will need to take them out of the sleeves anyway.
you can submit them, together with tutor reports and your assignment comments, in a box. Each assignment and its relevant set of images and tutor report can be stored in a single plastic sleeve or folder inside the box.

About CD's...

I would recommend that you only send a CD if you have your learning log as a word document. And in this case I would convert it to a single PDF file and save it on the root directory so that assessors can find it straight away. However, if you opt for an online learning log (blog) then there is no need to send a CD at all, only the link to the blog.

A word about books...

I wouldn't recommend commiting to the time and money that putting together a book requires. Bear in mind that a book is not a photo album, and that a book is not a substitute for a loose set of prints. A book is a visual product in its own right, with very distinct qualities which demand time, skills and a clear conceptual focus. This is something that is more suitable to level 2 courses.

To sum up, your assessment submission would then consist of:

a box with 5 plastic sleeves or folders, each of which contains your assignment comments, A4 prints of the images you took for the assignment, and your tutor report - plus any follow-up work in response of your tutor's comments.
A CD with a single PDF file, your learning log, or a link to your online blog (you can save this on a CD too)
A physical folder with extra research material - e.g. exhibition brochures, magazine articles, etc.. - which cannot be added to an online learning log (unless you scan all the bits which is not a very efficient use of your study time)

I hope this helps

Jose
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source: http://oca-student.com/node/57199

I hope this helps - I know i found it interesting.
Cheers,
Dub
 
Oh and for those of you thinking of printing out their blog at the end this site may be quite useful:

http://blogbooker.com/

They can take the file your blog exports (xml for blogger) and turn it in to a PDF.
 
Have just enrolled, planning to eventually do the lot whole lot towards the degree. Can't wait!
 
I am not sure whether to submit the black and white or the colour version of my shots for exercise 1. What do you guys think? I have asked on the flickr group too - may also ask on the OCA student forum. It would be great if everyone just used one location :) Doesn't seem to work that way though:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/therealamir/collections/72157625887722254/

Cheers,
Dub

ps. Benj - good luck with it mate!! :) I am brand new on to this too as are others.
 
dubcat said:
I am not sure whether to submit the black and white or the colour version of my shots for exercise 1. What do you guys think? I have asked on the flickr group too - may also ask on the OCA student forum. It would be great if everyone just used one location :) Doesn't seem to work that way though:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/therealamir/collections/72157625887722254/

Cheers,
Dub

ps. Benj - good luck with it mate!! :) I am brand new on to this too as are others.
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Having looked at your Photos Dub I personally like the colour better than the B&W ... I'm yet to start exercise one I will start this week , was trying to get a nice sunny day :LOL:
 
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Ah ok we got very similar results then :) That's good. I noticed Matt got similar to me too. All is well again lol.
 
dubcat said:
Ah ok we got very similar results then :) That's good. I noticed Matt got similar to me too. All is well again lol.
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Yeah i found it at around 48mm so 50mm is a good shout mate.

As far as your photos are concerned, you could submit both colour and B&W if you wanted, i dont thionk your tutor would mind you posting up a second set of images so long as you give a good argument as to why you felt they should be posted up.
 
Ta. It's interesting trying to take 'good' photo's and surprising how many I take for each exercise. I took about 520 for Assignment 2!
 
Blimey!!! :) 250? Jeez :)

I've submitted the first two exercises - they are a bit war and peace though lol.

I need to write up the third and then move on to the photographing movement one asap. Matt - you are steaming away there man - NICE ONE :)

Has anyone worked out a timetable of when they plan to do each exercise and assignment by? I might do that so i dont fall behind.
 
dubcat said:
Blimey!!! :) 250? Jeez :)

I've submitted the first two exercises - they are a bit war and peace though lol.

I need to write up the third and then move on to the photographing movement one asap. Matt - you are steaming away there man - NICE ONE :)

Has anyone worked out a timetable of when they plan to do each exercise and assignment by? I might do that so i dont fall behind.
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haha, cheers mate. Im enjoying doing the exercises and once i get my head into something i just plough along. I havent really set myself any time scales apart from the one my tutor gave me for my 1st assigment. He gave me a flexible 6 week time frame to get my 1st assignment in so am working to that.

My tutor actually called me this evening after I left a message on his voicemail last night. Seems like a top bloke and we had a decent chat about the course and a little bit of photographic history etc. Feel lucky to have such an aproachable tutor on my side.
 
hewhoknows said:
haha, cheers mate. Im enjoying doing the exercises and once i get my head into something i just plough along. I havent really set myself any time scales apart from the one my tutor gave me for my 1st assigment. He gave me a flexible 6 week time frame to get my 1st assignment in so am working to that.

My tutor actually called me this evening after I left a message on his voicemail last night. Seems like a top bloke and we had a decent chat about the course and a little bit of photographic history etc. Feel lucky to have such an aproachable tutor on my side.
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Grrr you are just making me more jealous :( On another note - i just posted Exercise 3! :) Yay. So now i have to think about a moving subject. I want to find something original - haven't thought of anything yet though.

My submissions are less like war and peace now too lol.
 
Your photos are looking pretty good for the exercises mate. Think i need to slow down and focus on taking better shots after seeing yours ;)
 
It's tempting to rush through the first exercises, but I think everyone does that for the first few looking around at other blogs. The first few seem easy, you're excited and eager over the new course...

I have a mental timetable of when I'd like to have completed this but it was 6 months from starting which I know I'm not going to make, but hopefully not by too many weeks. Most people seem to take a year for each module. I've found that after each assignment I take a week off to recharge, mind you I shot rugby the last couple of weekends and had rather a lot of product and F1 related stuff to do for work which has taken up my spare time.
 
Not had any sort of confirmation email from OCA yet but my course materials turned up today and I must say I'm very impressed! There's a lot to read through but I'm very excited and can't wait, just sent off my profile to my tutor and now time to dig out the 50D's manual!
 
So far I am giving my self about 4 to 6 weeks to get each assignment done I think that is an ok time scale? I'm just about to finish assignment one and have learned alot.
 
Muz - is that 4-6 weeks for all the projects/exercises + the assignment to go with that section? That seems like a very fast pace!
 
I upped the reading/log time to 100 (they reckon 87) hours and summed up the hours per course That's 413 hours. I figure if i do 10 hours per week that is about 42 weeks worth of work.. more than I had hoped for (I wanted to do it in 26 weeks!) but probably all that i can commit to.

Reality is that i probably spent longer than the expected 18 hours on the intro exercises. However I will put that down to the fact that i was just learning the whole system.

I wonder if I am being over conservative.. or ambitious.
 
I'd like to do it in 6 months to be honest. Will see how I get on, only just managed to find the manual for the camera!!

I'm hoping to dedicate one full day and at least a couple of evenings a week. Aiming for 12-15 hours and I already have a rough idea of what I want to do for the final assessment :thinking:

By the way my blog will be at http://benclist.co.uk/oca/ if anyone is interested.
 
Benj thanks for sharing blog. I will subscribe to it.
Muz where is your blog - if you are up for sharing it?
 
Yeah I was thinking about 4 to 6 weeks for the exercises with the assignment at the end as well. That's saying I'm not offshore anytime soon and i can still squeeze in the time at nights. My blog is here folks http://muz-muzza.blogspot.com
 
Byker28i said:
I've not published my blog too much, but if you want a look - it's here:
http://www.nineelmsphotography.com/blog/
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loving the blog. i thought about doing the nodules to make the degree, it was the empathise on creativity that won me over, use any (dslr if possible) model camera but its how you interpret the assignment that is being looked for i guess.

I've gotten down to the food assignment and i am rivetted (y)
 
Have managed to do the focal lengths and focus exercises today, just need to write up the focusing at different apertures.

Found it quite enjoyable being able to go out and have a set goal in mind when taking photos. Bit of a new area for me.
 
SamuelSlade007 said:
loving the blog. i thought about doing the nodules to make the degree, it was the empathise on creativity that won me over, use any (dslr if possible) model camera but its how you interpret the assignment that is being looked for i guess.

I've gotten down to the food assignment and i am rivetted (y)
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Cheers for the feedback. It's always encouraging. I'm really liking this as it's practical and that suits me. I'd hate to have to write a great long thesis.
Hopefully you can see an improvement even at this short stage. I was really happy with my broccoli tree shot and lighting.
And I'm working my way through everyones blogs :)
 
Muz said:
Yeah I was thinking about 4 to 6 weeks for the exercises with the assignment at the end as well. That's saying I'm not offshore anytime soon and i can still squeeze in the time at nights. My blog is here folks http://muz-muzza.blogspot.com
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Yeah im in the 6 week camp here too but think i might have to re-think that to more like 8 weeks due to work comitments. Im in my 3rd week now as I started the second week of Jan and have just finished the 'Object in different positions of the frame' exercise.

Am planning to do the 'Sequence of composition' exercise tomorrow as ive got a great location in mind already, and its a tourist spot so should have a good street photography feel to it.

Some great blogs here, have followed a few of you. Its great to see how different people interperet the exercises and to see a wide variety of results.

 
Hi folks what size of images do you guys upload for your blog 700mb? Also what width and height?
Thanks
 
Muz said:
Hi folks what size of images do you guys upload for your blog 700mb? Also what width and height?
Thanks
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I started to upload to blogger but decided against it as the quality wasnt that great. I now host all my images with photobucket for my course and link to the images. End up getting a mucvh better quality image in the post and i can upload 3mb and 4mb images to photobucket with no worries.

Just finished A Sequence of Composition, heres a link to the post so you can see the quality of hosted images: http://mattgilesphotography.blogspot.com/2011/01/project-4-sequence-of-composition.html
 
That's a good plan I never thought about linking them to photobucket.

That's a good sequence of events too my favourite being the one under the leg.
 
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