OCA The Art of Photography Course Discussion Including Assignments and Submissions

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Reidy36 said:
I had my feedback from assignment 2 and my tutor commented that he has seen a change in my images from being literal and starting to turn more arty.

He has suggested that i take the same images again when its a cloudy day to see what the difference is (they were taken on a bright day).

Was advised to try and do things away from the norm to stand out, so hopefully i will get some inspiration as on a holiday for a week now.
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If you took these in RAW maybe also try say adjusting the white balance to cloudy to see what difference this makes?
 
Hi all, been ages since I been here. I deferred my course because my wife fell seriously ill. Things are a bit more 'manageable' now and i hope to restart the course. Can anyone remind me how long the TaOP photography course is when you start? I think I will have 12 months to do it - but this will probably become 10 months by the time I start on it. Is it do-able in that timeframe? I want to start from scratch rather than use the limited assignments I did when I quit all that time ago!
 
Hi dubcat, welcome back. Depends on how much time you have to put into it. From memory there are 69 exercises? Plus 5 assignments. Wheni was unemployed I was able to do 4 or 5 exercises a week putting 4 or more hours a day in, but on taop I had too many breaks so took 16 months.
You could always speak to the office and explain to see if you could get an extension at the end if you need it.
 
Damn that will be super tight! :( Oh well - i will just get stuck in to it and if 2 months from the end it is looking impossible I will speak to them then. What do you think?
 
I'd give them a chat now just to explain the circumstances. They are very approachable but it would be best to know now. Then you need to sit down, seriously plan how long you think everything will take, probably add another third and then it's all split down into how much you need to do all week. Then at least you'll soon know if you are falling behind or getting ahead.
 
OK will have a chat with them tomorrow. Thanks for the advice.
 
I think its 14 years for the degree so with 7 modules thats 2 years per module but too allow some flexibility aim for 12-18.

As a guide I'm 1 exercise away from starting assignment 3 after about 6 months. I work away from home midweek so that impacts my time
 
FrattonFreak said:
I think its 14 years for the degree so with 7 modules thats 2 years per module but too allow some flexibility aim for 12-18.

As a guide I'm 1 exercise away from starting assignment 3 after about 6 months. I work away from home midweek so that impacts my time
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They mailed me recently. It's 12 years for the full degree in total but 2 years max for each module. Because this doesn't fit in the 12 years, I think they recommended 15 months for the level 1 modules and 24 months for level 2 & 3 modules.

I'm also close to starting assignment 3 but its taken me 9 months to get there. Work commitments took over at the end if last year so the course work had to wait.
 
Great news (for me!) :) Spoke to the OCA and they said I could have 12 months. However, as long as I can get 3 assignments done in that time I will be allowed a 6 month extension to complete it. I am going to do my best to do the whole lot in 12 months though! Happy days.

Reading through the notes now - thanks Byker :) Thanks to others for info too.
 
What image size do you folks recommend be used for photo's in the online log?
 
dubcat said:
What image size do you folks recommend be used for photo's in the online log?
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If I remember rightly, mine are 600px on the long side.
 
I link mine from my pbase account as I can then use the medium size on the blog and link them to the 800x600 size on pbase. I think mine are 400 on the long size but then I like the smaller size in amongst the text. Click the pic and it opens a window to the bigger size.
 
Ok thanks. I have mine small in the log but when you click on them you get a pic with longest leading edge 1000px. Sounds about right.

I decided to reuse the exercises and writeups I did before deferring. Will save me a few days of work.
 
Bit weird now, stuck in limbo. I've everything ready for formal assessment except for assignment 5 which I'm waiting for my tutor to mark return. Got to get the formal assessment in by the 15th. As soon as everything comes back then it's getting sent off.

I've got to wait until pay day before I can buy my next course. I'm looking forward to people and places.
 
Well done! Maybe take the opportunity to go and photograph something just for the joy of photography rather than for an assignment?

I was really hoping they would assign me a different tutor. Got the same one again though.
 
Just bought a 5d mk3 with my redundancy so I've been shooting for fun the last couple of weekends just to get used to it :)
Handheld a one sec shot of a flooded river this morning. Yesterday I was out in the cloudy afternoon shooting iso1600 without any noise issues at all. Very nice. Just getting used to how wide my 24-105 is now. I may have to look at a 14mm lens as a replacement for my 10-22
 
On full frame you benefit being able to get wider angles but lose on the telephoto reach, depends on what you enjoy shooting most. I use a Nikon 20mm prime and a Nikon 18-35, both bought second hand. Once you get used tyo the full frame trying using a DX camera again...its surprising

Blog Images - I reduce the DPI from 300 to 72 and then save the resulting jpeg at around 100kb per image.

In blogger you can display the images at 4 different sizes regardless of size upload, obiously may pixalate if the image is a small size when uploaded
 
Byker28i said:
Just bought a 5d mk3 with my redundancy so I've been shooting for fun the last couple of weekends just to get used to it :)
Handheld a one sec shot of a flooded river this morning. Yesterday I was out in the cloudy afternoon shooting iso1600 without any noise issues at all. Very nice. Just getting used to how wide my 24-105 is now. I may have to look at a 14mm lens as a replacement for my 10-22
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I've bought a 5d3 too! Mine is in a UPS warehouse at Castle Donnington since Friday lol. So annoying - hope to have it tomorrow. I have bought it with the 24-105 also! I too need to replace the 10-22 and was thinking about that Samyang 14mm 2.8 lens. I will hold off for a while though.

Thinking of selling my 50d and 10-22 to MBP Photographic along with the 17-55 2.8 IS once I have had it repaired (sods law, decided I wouldn't use it any more and the thing stopped auto focusing!). What are you doing with yours? I thought about keeping as backup but i'd rather just sell it i think.
 
FrattonFreak said:
In blogger you can display the images at 4 different sizes regardless of size upload, obiously may pixalate if the image is a small size when uploaded
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Thx for the resolution info.
 
5d mk3, 50d, 400d and my lad has a 600d
Lenses I have 10-22, 24-105, 50 f1.4, 70-200 and 100-400, plus 1.4 & 2x converters.
Should do. If I need reach or really wide I'll swap back to the 50d. It's not worth much, had a hard life so the paintwork is rubbed off on most corners and I think I've put around 120k shots through it. So I'll just keep it as a backup.

My youngest has his 600d, the 400d as a backup, 18-55 kit lens, 15-85, 70-200 f4, 100-400 and 50mm f1.8. He has an eye on my 10-22.
I think we're well covered :). I'd quite like a go with a ef14mm though. Can't afford one though. The 24-105 works quite well as a wide on full frame though.
 
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I have the 17-40L in my kit and I find a it great lens. Had a 40D was quite a shock how wide it is when I upgraded to a 5D2. A much better lens on ff than crop.
 
17-40 though isn't too much different from my 24-105 and Only offers me a little wider.. I think my wide options would be samyung 14mm, canon 14mm or possibly the canon 8-15 fisheye. I can't afford anything so will stick with the 50d and 10-22 for now.
 
Byker28i said:
17-40 though isn't too much different from my 24-105 and Only offers me a little wider.. I think my wide options would be samyung 14mm, canon 14mm or possibly the canon 8-15 fisheye. I can't afford anything so will stick with the 50d and 10-22 for now.
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Must agree I had the 17-40 when I had the 40D. Since having the 5D2 I have bought the 24-105, this on my camera most of the time. I use the 17-40 for its wide end only as I already have it. Don't know if I would use anything wider than that. Could do with something longer than my 70-200+1.4 converter. Need to save some money I think.
 
Having bought two, I can honestly say the 100-400 is a great versatile lens. I bought both mine second hand, one for £600, one nearly new for £800.
 
Byker - the 10-22 on a dx camera is going to be about 15-33 full frame / 35mm equivalent, possibly slightly more on a Canon DX frame. That said I loved my DX D90 combination with a Sigma 10-20

On my D700 I use a secondhand UWA Nikon 16-35mm.

The crucial element in thinking about wide angles is what are the optics like when you are shooting at its widest angle, quality of image is key and longer zooms are reknown for distortion at the extreme ends. These quality lenses are generally bigger amd heavier and thats the crux....and thats not even thinking about money :( 24-105 sounds great as a walkabout lens. Fast ultra wide angle lens are not so much an issue as you may likely have VR / IS fpr handheld but assuming its landscape then you are probably on a Tripod anyway so f3.5 or f4 is fine

Thats my 2ps worth :)

As an aside (I had sold my D90 to fund the D700) I've just bought a second hand D80 (less than 5k actuations) and have just had this converted by ProtechRepairs to IR with a 665nm filter. My piggybank is now 100% empty but I'm looking forward to working with an IR convereted camera. This means I can use it hand held and see through the view finder. Using IR filters on the end of the lens is hard work if you have ever tried.
 
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Oh well.

I'm now considering my future with the OCA.

I've just had assignment 5 back from my tutor and I don't feel happy submitting it with those comments for formal assessment, so I'm going to have to withdraw and rework it. I've emailed my tutor a long response as feel he hasn't fully read any of my work nor recognised the direction I've been taking for the last 6-7 months.

I feel I've never clicked with this tutor, but I thought I'd made significant progress during this course, not in image taking but in the thought process and appreciation surrounding the image. The trouble is, I felt really happy about that assignment and if I'm that far out then perhaps this course isn't for me. I'm no prepared to put so much work and effort in if it's just going to be below average.

To say I'm disappointed is an understatement.
 
Warren, I've got a 720nm converted D80 and love it. I really need to work on my technique for processing them though. There are some awesome processing styles on Flickr that I'd love to be able to achieve.

Byker, that sounds really disappointing. Have you considered just submitting without changing? When I started this course I was worried about the subjective nature of doing an arts subject and it sounds like you're on the wrong end of someone that just sees things differently to you. How do you think your work compares to other people's that have submitted already?

Would you be able to look past the mark? It's easy to say I know but it seems like the course has taken you so far that if you're enjoying it, it would be a shame to stop because of one persons comments.
 
I've said before I'm not sure about this tutor. I don't feel I've engaged him at all in any of my images or work throughout the course. Theres rarely been any comment about my images, certainly never any praise, usually pointing put issues with the quality of print, or overshapenening, then on the next assignment, softness whenive changed my workflow based on his previous comments.
In this instance there no comments about the images, how they fit together as a series, nor on the overall project at all, the idea behind it, anything apart from how the images are flat in print.

My issue is that I'm not prepared to just submit low quality work and move on and there is a bigger issue here. I thought id made real progress in this course moving from just taking nice images to expanding on a theme, the thinking behind it and really developed as a photographer. If I've got that all wrong then I'm not sure I'm cut out to work at this level and I've made a huge mistake thinking I could use this as my artistic escape from my technical work life.

This is a huge commitment for me and my family. Working on the course does impact on my limited free time, with usually at least one day at the weekend and a few evenings a week spent either taking images or researching. Am I just being selfish?
I'd just bought a 5D mk3 in preparation for people and places and was about to commit to that course. At the moment I'm really regretting that purchase.

As you can see from the time, I'm not sleeping, constantly thinking it over.
 
Hi Byker.

I've been following your blog with interest. I read about your final assignment a few days ago and was really impressed. I admired the way you went out to get the photos as well as the photos themselves. I figured I would keep that post in mind when I came to part five or any photographing in public places actually.

It sounds like you've been given a bad tutor. It certainly sounds like you've not been given the feedback you should have been.

Don't give up. It looks like you are more than ready for PaP, assuming it's something you'll enjoy.

What was the problem with your photos, according to your tutor? They certainly seem to be on a par with others I've seen submitted for assessment (and better than many of them). I haven't read the criteria for part five yet, so can't really comment about that aspect unfortunately.
 
I forgot to say, but it might help to speak to some other students, as you'll probably find many have been in a similar situation. There are a few study visits coming up soon I think..
 
Ian - If you have any RAW images you've taken maybe email / put them up on an FTP server and I'll have a go at processing them. You could try the same for mine. We can then share techniques...assuming we like the results. PM me if interested.

Byker - I recall comments from previous submissions for this tutor where you thought his comments were cut and paste / generic with perhaps just 2 lines of personal comment.
Firstly dont despair - As fellow students we can see the quality of your work
Secondly contact OCA. They may be able to give advice or get 2nd opinion. Additionally what has happened to you may be a common theme for some other students so you may not be in an individual position with this tutor.

From a truly consumer perspective, you are the paying customer, the tutor is a freelance employee and as such he is regularly reviewed I believe across several areas by OCA. Just like out old school teachers some are just not as good as others. Education and learning is a balanced mix of encouragement, constructive critique, and education of ways/methods to improve. Isn't this why we are doing the BA? Perhaps your tutor has become misaligned with this

You'll recall with my TAOP I had to submit assignment 1 for TAOP 3 times because the previous 2 had been mislaid by him so things do happen.

Furthermore with art its appreciation is an individual thing, in this it appears your tutor just hasn't invested the time to understand the images let alone look at them.

Photography is your hobby so that wont ever change. In terms of your tutor its quite likely he / she may simply be a bit rogue for whatever circumastances and not investing the time.

Also remember that its not your tutor who is doing the overall assessment. In you submission you can state you've changed workflow and this has brought a 180 degree change in the tutor's response so where is the consistency, perhaps when making assessment he is not even looking at previous assignments and feedback

So maybe email the OCA. Knocks for us learners can be difficult to take some times but I think as students we see a lot of work and can ourselves give some measure on what our view of quality is. I have no doubt that yours is a good submission and the accompany text really adds to it. I'm currently taking images for the TAOP Colour Assignment and looking at your images I can see that yopu have taken elements of this into your images

I do hope you PM me the name as I'd like to avoid this situation from the start
 
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Thanks all for your replies, thats been really supportive and helped me step back and look at things in perspective.

I sent two lengthy emails to my tutor highlighting my concerns on Thursday evening and to be fair to him he responded yesterday.

I'm not going to go into detail but I guess to summarise, I feel I've not engaged with this tutor. Throughout the course, there's never any feedback on the coursework, on the images or subject matter, unless there is an issue with the print. His response is that this course is primarily the development of technical skills and his time is limited.

His advice is to continue with submission.

I've reread my assignment and can see a couple of areas I can make improvements. I've made the mistake of being on a journey and thinking others were along for the ride as well. Instead I think I need to change my brief to explain exactly the journey, reference and explain the influences for the project further. I've not mentioned much about the workflow as I though that had been done to death, instead concentrating on the aspects I'd learnt and the changes I'd made to my workflow. I need to expand this section more.

The rest I'm happy with although no doubt I'll rewrite bits of it.

Still it's all one big learning process and I guess the real lesson learnt is to go with your gut feeling at the start.
 
We all need a lift / help to re-centre ourselves from time to time. We've also taken advice from you, I'm sure we'll ask for more :)

"Time is Limited" - not an inspiring comment from tutor to student but this puts the emphasis entirely on him to use it wisely in the best way that can help your photography progress. Only he can answer if he has done this.

I would still contact OCA, explain what has happened. As I said before this may be a one off or could also be an issue for current students, it could become one for another student in the future..maybe one of us.

Anyway lets see what your formal assessment gives you.

Best remedy - get out with that new camera and capture something to remind you why you like photography :)
 
Been out today, went to symonds yat just to get out and walk and clear my head. Climbed to the top of the rock to the viewpoint but it was full of birders spotting buzzards miles away. Walked along the river to the footbridge and back again, then a nice pub lunch.

I won't put much in my learning log but I will include all my emails to him, plus his answer this time into my formal assessment. I always provide a covering letter so will add it into that. I did it last time, explaining how helpful the tutor had been and why. I struggle to how on an arts photography degree that the images and ideas are inconsequential to e technical skills.

Right thanks all. Back on track.
 
Byker - Cool, thats excellent. The images are in my opinion the method for displaying technical skills in addition to the words that describe how you have used them to construct your image, thats with the camera and the post processing. Fingers crossed then for a better Tutor on your next module

Symonds Yat rock - thats 20 mins from. Great location!
 
FrattonFreak said:
Ian - If you have any RAW images you've taken maybe email / put them up on an FTP server and I'll have a go at processing them. You could try the same for mine. We can then share techniques...assuming we like the results. PM me if interested.
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Warren, that's an awesome offer. Just sent a PM.

Seeing as a lot of processed IR images have strong colour contrasts in them, I emailed my tutor last night to see if it would be appropriate to use them as some of the images in assignment 3. I was in 2 minds as to whether it would be. She emailed back this morning saying she thought it wouldn't be appropriate because it wouldn't really be using my 'creative eye'.

If anyone is interested, this is the type of thing I'd have looked to do but probably with a stronger blue in the sky:

New Zealand IR by Bushtography, on Flickr
 
Oh I'm glad to find this thread!!!

I have an HND and was thinking of doing my final year with the OCA.
Can anyone who has done/is doing this level let me know how they found/are finding it!
 
Most of us on here are new starters, however I've spoken at length to other students on the Study visits and all on level 5&6 speak very highly of the Oca.
 
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