OCA The Art of Photography Course Discussion - Part 2

might find the answer in the Nikon thread rather than the OCA one?
 
I was replying to Warren. I'll not go off topic again.
 
Welcome Alex! Have a look back a few pages and you'll see a list of all the blogs of people on the course here. Some handy reference points for you.
 
DBT85 said:
Wildlife Photographer of the year exhibition at the Natural History Museum from the 24th October to the 30th August 2015. Just in case anyone didn't see it. £12.60 for adults.

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/wpy/visit/index.html
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thanks going down to london ( i perfume it is london ) 5th november and will be taking camera with me and this is one place i want to go
 
Yep it's in London, and yes you can get an NUS card.

Don't forget you can also edit your forum posts to include more text!
 
my pack finally arrived and when i applied i old them I'm waiting to be tested for dyslexia at my local college they said that was not a issue on the course and they actually sent a booklet on this and how to help me with the course dealing with it.

one of the points which has almost confirmed my previous theory was a bullet section regarding what dyslexia is and pretty much i ticked all but 3 out of 12 of the points they made about dyslexia.

I have now emailed a local uni that test's for it and await email back as I'm still waiting for the college to tell me what is going on and when i ask they say there still waiting

just going to start reading the 1st module on expressing your vision which seems to be different to others that have been on this course.

if any one has sat the expressing your vision course and has a blog on this can you point me to your blog wouldn't mind having a good read
 
Ah yes, I did hear they were going to revamp the course a little, it must only have been in the last 4-5 months though. Try the OCA forums themselves, there might be others who started it shortly after it's inception and who have shared their blogs already. Not sure anyone here has done the new version.
 
DBT85 said:
Ah yes, I did hear they were going to revamp the course a little, it must only have been in the last 4-5 months though. Try the OCA forums themselves, there might be others who started it shortly after it's inception and who have shared their blogs already. Not sure anyone here has done the new version.
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i had a feeling when reading others blogs on here still useful even if not same as my course

i will check on others threads but had internet down all day only just back online and reading the manual that was sent

think i will ask for another version in bigger print though as i am struggling to read t propel even with glasses on

going to london in two weeks time going to see if i can incorporate it in any way . Do want to visit the natural history museum though that is on the list to do
 
wegotitugetit said:
i had a feeling when reading others blogs on here still useful even if not same as my course

i will check on others threads but had internet down all day only just back online and reading the manual that was sent

think i will ask for another version in bigger print though as i am struggling to read t propel even with glasses on

going to london in two weeks time going to see if i can incorporate it in any way . Do want to visit the natural history museum though that is on the list to do
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The PDF they should also have sent you is the entire course as you get in your folder, so maybe you could try it on a tablet and zoom in a bit? I printed off a second copy at work and bound it lol.
 
DBT85 said:
The PDF they should also have sent you is the entire course as you get in your folder, so maybe you could try it on a tablet and zoom in a bit? I printed off a second copy at work and bound it lol.
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+ 1 for printing - I print off the part of the course that I'm working on and carry it round with me so that I can read it/work on it on my commute to work - easier to manage for me that way. I also keep a pdf copy of the whole course on my netbook.
 
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Can anyone suggest any particularly good books for some more reading material? I've got Understanding Exposure, Learning to see Creatively, The Photograph and the Photographers Eye and have Ansel Adams at 100 on my christmas list for Santa ;)

Any others that you guys have read as part of your further reading that you thought were particularly good? Looking to add some more to my list for my stocking lol.

Just about to finish my blog notes for Understanding Exposure.
 
hihi, i have enrolled to OCA and received the email from them. waiting for the pack at the moment but i printed of a copy to start reading through. excited!!!

have left school for so long, i am a bit anxious that i can't catch up with the course, fingers and toes crossed:D

just set up a learning blog, nothing has been written there just yet as i still try to get used to the feeling of 'going back to school' thing.

will read more notes from the OCA forum and here to get me more ideas on starting up. if any of you have any advises for me will be greatly appreciated.
 
DBT85 said:
Did anyone else find when they first started that they were trying to take the best possible pictures for the early exercises when its more about learning the technique? I looked around at other peoples blogs and saw that a lot of images from the early exercises were taken purely for the exercise rather than for any actual photographic merit. I've struggled to think of suitable subjects for some things until I released my mind a little and concentrated more on getting what the exercise was trying to teach me rather than produce the next masterpiece with every shot.
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Yes, I was trying to produce pretty images for everything, but also produce images others hadn't before.
 
hoftwi said:
hihi, i have enrolled to OCA and received the email from them. waiting for the pack at the moment but i printed of a copy to start reading through. excited!!!

have left school for so long, i am a bit anxious that i can't catch up with the course, fingers and toes crossed:D

just set up a learning blog, nothing has been written there just yet as i still try to get used to the feeling of 'going back to school' thing.

will read more notes from the OCA forum and here to get me more ideas on starting up. if any of you have any advises for me will be greatly appreciated.
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Welcome hoftwi!

Best advice I can think of is go back a few pages and have a look at some of the blogs for some ideas. Your TAOP course will be different to ours, but you and Alex will be doing the same new version together.

Ask anything you need!

Just finished my first book writeup myself. Hoping to get the first assignment finally done in the next couple of weeks.


http://www.dbt85.co.uk/blog/?p=182
 
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hoftwi said:
Hi Darren :D I have been reading through all the posts and looking around for student blogs to gather some idea.

Feeling excited to start this course!!!
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good luck with that

no one seems to have sat this course on here and the blogs that are on the oca are blank or not even attempted

i have started to fill mine in so be my guest have a keg but it is not great

the course is only a few months old so not a lot done it yet or even got past 1st part by looks of the blogs online
 
this is the 1st part of the course but I'm stuck on what i can do and also if i have the correct understanding any one's thoughts

i was thinking of going to a local dock that is not been used anymore and has buildings in a decaying state this was once a thriving area and i remember it well maybe some sign with the name of the area which part of it is now a retail park

any one help me to make sure I'm going down the right track on this and make sure i have not missed the point here

although not a assignment etc it is more see how you get on to give the tutor a idea of how you work but I'm a little stuck

In our earliest years we know a patch of ground in a detail we will never know anywhere again – site of discovery and putting names to things – people and places – working with difference and similitude – favourite places, places to avoid – neighbours and their habits, gestures and stories – textures, smells – also of play, imagination, experiment – finding the best location for doing things – creating worlds under our own control, fantasy landscapes.
 
What is the actual exercise Alex? The first ones for our TAOP were about shutter speed and aperture and stuff like that so we had to grab some images that fit that exercise, what is your one actually asking you to do?

If you both post your blog links in the thread I'll add them to the list.
 
darren that looks similar to the course i am on it starts with auto focus setting and taking several pictures and see how things change from each picture but this is a optional one and i would like to do it as i think the extra help will benefit me




Brief

Make a series of six to twelve photographs in response to the concept of ‘The Square

Mile’. Use this as an opportunity to take a fresh and experimental look at your

surroundings. You may wish to re-trace places you know very well, examining how they

might have changed; or, particularly if you’re in a new environment, you may wish to use

photography to explore your new surroundings and meet some of the people around

you.

You may wish to explore the concept of Y Filltir Sgwar further, or you may deviate

from this. You may want to focus on architecture and landscape, or you may prefer to

photograph the people who you think have an interesting connection to the square

mile within which you currently find yourself.

You’ll need to shoot many more than 12 photographs from which to make your final

edit. You should try to make your final set of photographs ‘sit’ together as a series.

Don’t necessarily think about making a number of individual pictures, but rather a set

of photographs that complement one another and collectively communicate your

idea. You may wish to title your photographs or write short captions if you feel this is

appropriate and would benefit the viewer.

However you choose to approach this assignment, it should communicate something

about you: your interests, motivations, and your ambitions for your photography. Think

Assignment one ‘Square Mile’

Photography 1: Expressing your Vision 15

of it as a way to introduce yourself to your tutor. There’s no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to

respond to this brief, as long as you try to push yourself out of your comfort zone in

terms of subject matter. Try out new approaches rather than sticking to what you think

you’re most successful at.
 
That sounds like the first assignment rather than the first exercises, correct?
 
Hi, I have received my learning pack and trying to work on the assignment 1, the square mile as @wegotitugetit

Also send to your tutor a written analysis of your work of no more than 500 words. This
should contextualise your project by briefly outlining:
• your first impressions and initial response to the brief, and how your idea(s)
developed
• which practitioners you looked at for inspiration and how their work influenced you
during the project
• your technical approach and any particular techniques you incorporated
• the strengths and weaknesses of particular photographs and your project as a
whole (self-assessment)
• any thoughts on how you could develop this project in the future.
This should be either Microsoft Word or PDF format, under 4 Mb in size.

Do I really have to stick to 500 words but not more?as i read other student blogs, they seem to have a rather long essay. I was trying to work on the assignment, husband has a look of my brief (who has got 1 science degree and 1 art degree) and said to me that if i want to get a good grade at the end, i have to stick to the requirements they ask for. even tho, it said the 1 assignment is meant to get to know us, they will still mark it.

his attitude made me worry. I mean, i would like to enjoy the course and learn something from it, of course I would hope to get a better grade at the end. now it seems like i have to guess what they want, rather than I work on it on my own mind, if that makes sense.

may anyone of you, advise how should i process? thanks
 
nice to see a fellow student on the same course , going to get my photos done this morning , I'm still thrown of by all this kind of stuff as best i did was college work and that was like been at school still

your husband probably trying to be cautious although things do change , why not contact your tutor to confirm this

also i looked at the links they put in the pdf and to be fair most were broken links and there was only 2-3 that i understood there work

think one was of portraits , one was similar to mine and one i didn't have a bloody clue what his work was
 
wegotitugetit said:
nice to see a fellow student on the same course , going to get my photos done this morning , I'm still thrown of by all this kind of stuff as best i did was college work and that was like been at school still

your husband probably trying to be cautious although things do change , why not contact your tutor to confirm this

also i looked at the links they put in the pdf and to be fair most were broken links and there was only 2-3 that i understood there work

think one was of portraits , one was similar to mine and one i didn't have a bloody clue what his work was
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lol, same here!! so i tried to do more research to get to know the concept of it. husband keeps saying to me that it's art, you have to explore more, bla bla bla.....i know he wants to help me as he knows it is something i love to do so he doesn't want me to get disappointed, so advised me to play with the 'rules'. it doesn't help tho.....
 
Sounds like a really crappy start to the course guys :(
 
hoftwi said:
lol, same here!! so i tried to do more research to get to know the concept of it. husband keeps saying to me that it's art, you have to explore more, bla bla bla.....i know he wants to help me as he knows it is something i love to do so he doesn't want me to get disappointed, so advised me to play with the 'rules'. it doesn't help tho.....
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I'm struggling with the whole grasping the idea for the square mile but this is what i have so far straight out of camera no processing yet

my idea is the fishing industry was a massive part of live around where i live and hessle road and st andrews quay played a massive part in local life almost every household was related to fishing and at one point it was the biggest port in the uk for fish but now it is in a state of decay as the industry has almost gone now


linky to images
 
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