A New Year

Well, it’s been a long time since I updated my T189 blog but I have a few minutes spare this evening

I did save up my September birthday money and finally bought myself the Fuji Finepix S5800 digital camera together with a 2Gb SD card and a Tamrac bag. Christmas brought a travel charger set together with four 2700Mh rechargeable batteries so I can keep the camera ‘well fed’.

It’s a really nice camera and I’m glad I bought it. But I haven’t had much opportunity to get ’serious’ with it since I actually got it I did take it on a short break to Lisbon in Portugal in December and took about 200 pictures with it. I’ll try and post some on Flickr soon.

Of course, after the compact, relatively lightweight Fuji Finepix F700, the S5800 feels both bulky and heavy (the latter due mainly to four AA batteries instead of an internal rechargeable cell). But it suits my small hands and the controls are pretty intuitive after getting used to the way Fuji organises things with the previous camera.

I’ve also got so used to the small F700 living in my handbag, available to whip out at a moment’s notice and snap a quick shot, that the more ‘prominent’ S5800 feels much more conspicuous. I’m not overly keen on wearing it around my neck on the supplied strap but said strap isn’t really long enough to sling over one shoulder so I can carry the camera on the opposite hip.

I hope everyone who reads this blog had a merry Christmas and a pleasant New Year – I know I did!

Quandrary!

Oh Fuji, what have you done???

Thrown a spanner in my works, that’s for sure *sigh*

I was almost settled on the S5600 over the S5700 when I found that there was a brand new S5XXX camera just released – the Fujifilm Finepix S5800 which is SOOOO tempting! It’s supposed to be available from October 2007 but the first ones are now appearing on Ebay and a seller has it for sale on Amazon as well.

It’s around the £150 mark at the moment but I’m waiting to see what price it will be from Amazon itself a/. because it will be post free and b/. I do value Amazon’s customer service. I bought an Archos Gmini MP3 player last year and it went wrong within a week – I was able to print out a personalised returns label from the Amazon site, send the faulty player back and subsequently received a brand new one in less than ten days.

So, not surprisingly, I’ve put my new camera plans on hold for a little while so I can save up the extra cash to get the S5800

Not feeling QUITE so down :-)

My disappointment at my T189 marks is now mellowing and it’s certainly NOT going to stop me taking photographs! *lol*

Having a Fuji camera, I signed up with the MyFuji website and registered my camera. They send monthly emails and stuff, run competitions and forums, have useful Photography tips etc. Recently I received an email offering a 15% discount on Fuji refurbished cameras It’s valid to the end of the month and I have some birthday money burning a hole in my pocket so what to buy? I think a bridge camera would be the best option and, hopefully, nothing too bulky or heavy that would make it difficult to carry around. So …

Fuji Finepix S5600 Zoom

OR

Fuji Finepix S5700 Zoom

(Sorry Georgy, I really can’t afford a proper DSLR – in fact, I think it would be wasted on me to be honest!)

Decisions …. decisions …. decisions ….

Back!

It’s now just gone 9pm and I’ve been up since 5.30am so apologies if this post seems to be a bit disjointed. I don’t think or write very well when my brain needs sleep …

I confess that I am faintly dismayed by the number of students on the OU T189 conferences and also on Flickr who are celebrating having sent their ECA After seven years of OU study, I thought I was pretty much immune to the feelings of panic, indecision and anxiety that seem to invade the consciousness of a student nearing the submission date for an ECA when surrounded by students who have already completed it.

So I’m sternly telling myself that I took my draft ECA away with me on my laptop and gained valuable insight and feedback from various family members as we travelled upcountry and back down again. The deadline isn’t until midday on Monday 16th so I still have plenty of time. Creating the slideshow in Acrobat format wasn’t difficult and I’ve done a fair amount of zipping and despatching of zipped files through the OU’s electronic TMA (tutor marked assignment) system so neither of those pose any problems. Writing has always come pretty easily to me and 200 words x 3 isn’t exactly taxing. But still there’s this still small voice inside telling me that I’m behind everyone else …

Part of the problem is the conflicting feedback that I’ve been getting on OpenStudio and on Flickr. One image may be a ‘hit’ on Flickr but a ‘miss’ on OpenStudio AND vice versa. This brings all sorts of doubts and anxieties bubbling to the surface and it’s induced a sort of paralysis over the final choice of ten for the panel. I thought I had it pretty much sussed out but now I’m not quite so sure. I was planning to drop the Ripe Golden Pear in Sunshine which, although nice, hadn’t received much feedback and replace it with the rather more dramatic Evening Storm Cloud.

But now the pear has gathered some very favourable comments on OpenStudio and I’ve been thrown into indecision

The other “not sure” has been the dramatic blood red amaryllis close-up (image on a previous post) which was raved over on Flickr, gathering several ‘awards’, but managed only one single comment on OpenStudio. Talk about conflicting views! I was wondering whether to replace it with another moody grey evening sea image (probably one of the week 4 images either Porthloo at Dusk or Steely Sky) … but would that be too much sea in my panel? Would the poor assessor have to reach for the Kwells to stave off seasickness?

As you can tell, I’m both tired and confused. I think I need to sleep on it and return refreshed to the fray later this week….

Flummoxed …

I just popped in to check on my blog one last time before I shut down the computer and finish off the packing ready to go away this evening and I was … well … I think ‘gutted’ might not be too strong a word … when I read a comment made in response to my previous post. I’ll paste the comment and my reply just to make sure they don’t get overlooked.

Your pictures are very very good. Loved the waves crashing on the stones, especially. But what I really want to say is, that I’m very glad I happened upon your blog, because I did consider doing T189, but now I’m really pleased I didn’t, because I’d be so embarrassed by the inadequacy of my photos, if your standard is anything to go by!

Comment by nomdeplume — July 7, 2007 @ 10:00 am

Oh No! nomdeplume, I’m writing this blog in the hope that people will be inspired to take the course, so it’s really upsetting and disappointing to read that you’re PLEASED you didn’t do T189 because you feel your photos are inadequate

Surely the whole point of taking a course like this is to improve your photography and creative skills? If you start from a high point, where do you go from there? Better to start from not-so-good photographs and end up with brilliant photographs.

I don’t think I would have managed to produce the ten ECA images if I hadn’t done the course. Part of T189 is learning how to correct and enhance your images using Elements 5 – it’s astonishing what you can do to rescue a so-so image. If you saw my ten images before I edited them, you wouldn’t be quite so embarassed – trust me!

It’s a striking fact that lots of students are now posting delighted comments on our conferences about how much they have improved and how much the standard of photography has rocketed between weeks 1 and 9. That’s what we all hoped for when we signed up for the course!

Please think again and consider signing up for T189 – I PROMISE you won’t regret it …

Almost crunch time!

Trust me, it’s a challenging process trying to whittle down your T189 portfolio to just ten images to submit for the ECA!

I selected about fifty images that I thought had potential, trawled OpenStudio and Flickr to glean further inspiration then narrowed the choice down to about twenty. We aren’t compelled to submit ten images using completely different techniques but I felt it was probably best to select ten that illustrated various important aspects of digital photography.

My problem was a portrait image. As I’ve mentioned before, my family runs a mile if I point a camera at them so I had to resort to an archive image. Christmas proved a particularly good source of images because people are generally relaxed and happy, less likely to bolt at the sight of a camera. I narrowed it down to about four images … then two … then put them up on OpenStudio for other students to comment on … then narrowed it down to two … tried some of the editing techniques suggested to improve them … failed dismally on one but succeeded on another.

So, if you visit my Flickr photostream you can view the ten images that I think will probably be my final panel for the ECA submission. I say think because I’m well aware that an unfavourable response to any image may well see me reviewing my choices again.

Aqua Marina’s Photostream

But, since I’m away from home tomorrow evening until Wednesday lunchtime (and I intend to take my laptop so I can show my prospective ECA slideshow panel to family members to gather their opinions), I am planning to chill out a little, enjoy a few days away (collecting autistic daughter from college) and then return ready for the final push. So the ten images aren’t absolutely definite but they are pretty certain.

Let me know what you think of them, please?

Refreshing the memory

I decided this morning that I would revisit my OpenStudio weeks and re-read the comments that students made on my images just to refresh my memory. I also went through all the images on my Flickr photostream as well and did the same. It’s interesting that there isn’t necessarily a correlation between the two – an image that was liked on Flickr and got several comments might be languishing un-commented on OpenStudio. I’ve now got a good selection of ECA ‘possible’ images and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to choose between them.

I’d like to get a fairly broad selection of images rather than mainly macros or mainly landscapes. One of the trickiest subjects has been portraits which have been common amongst other student images but which I find very difficult, not only because I feel self-conscious about photographing other people but also because most of the folk I know would run a mile rather than let me take their photo! If I do manage to ’snap’ someone it’s usually a spur-of-the-moment candid shot – grabbing the opportunity when it arises – so the images tend to be less than perfect technically but usually capture a great expression or a special moment.

The other problem I’ve had has been weighing up one image against another and trying to determine which one should be included in the ECA panel. It’s very difficult to make a decision when you’re comparing two very different images. Adding the potential for editing in the Elements digital darkroom just complicates the issue for me especially since I’ve not mastered all the techniques in the tutorials, especially the more complex week 8 techniques. Anyway I’ve always had problems making decisions and the final ten images for the panel is going to take a lot of time and deliberation.

We’re also going to be away for four days over the weekend so that raises the prospect of taking more photos which will then throw all my ECA panel plans into disarray!

Week 8 Assignment

Yes, I know, I’m a bit behind but the weather has been very changeable this weekend and The Artist hasn’t been able to get out and paint. Consequently he’s been working on the computer – catching up on the delicate task of balancing, resizing and adding text to images of paintings ready for printing on our professional giclee printer to sell in the Gallery.

So I haven’t had much time on the computer neither have I been very inspired to go out and take photographs. What is it about inspiration? It seems that either I’m full to overflowing with it or flat as a pancake (mixed metaphors, I know …) Anyway, I’ve been suffering from a badly blocked right ear and my hearing and balance are both affected so I’m due to visit the Health Centre for a ‘de-coke’ tomorrow morning. I intend to take my camera on the walk there and back – if the weather is halfway decent (as it might be according to the Met Office) I might get some good shots en route …

This evening I’m re-reading the week 8 assignment and spending some time online.

Your central task in this week’s assignment is for you to put into practise better commenting and critiquing of others’ images. Constructive criticism is a powerful tool – both for the giver and the receiver of it.

Spend at least 1 hour this week giving constructive criticism on the photos in your group. Share at least three images that you have created by using some of the advanced image editing taught in the course and use the rest to share any other images you wish. To help you focus and improve your commenting, use the language and terminology in the criteria on visual awareness and technical quality used in the ECA. This in turn will help you prepare for your own ECA as well as next week’s assignment.

 

As I’ve mentioned before, constructive criticism is a tough call. I’ve been reading around various photography forums and camera websites and almost everyone seems to agree that it is beneficial but it can be surprisingly tricky to get right. So this evening I’ve settled for browsing the images that have already been submitted by my Week 8 group and admiring their efforts. I try and comment on some of the images that haven’t received comments yet – usually they’re the ones that you look at and think “What do I say about this and how do I phrase it constructively?” as you scratch your head.

 

In the meantime, I thought it might be interesting to post some raw statistics about OpenStudio. Bear in mind that these statistics have been produced about two weeks before the end of the course so they are by no means definitive. But they give an insight into MY experience of OpenStudio.

 

My Photos

• Week 1 -  10 images submitted – 5 received comments
• Week 2 – 10 images submitted – 4 received comments
• Week 3 – 10 images submitted – 7 received comments
• Week 4 – 10 images submitted – 9 received comments
• Week 5 – 10 images submitted – 6 received comments
• Week 6 – 10 images submitted – 5 received comments
• Week 7 – 10 images submitted – 0 received comments

(I haven’t submitted any images for Weeks 8 and 9 yet!)

My Groups

• Week 1 Group – 21 students – 186 images submitted
• Week 2 Group – 20 students – 164 images
• Week 3 Group – 20 students – 163 images
• Week 4 group – 20 students – 109 images
• Week 5 Group – 20 students – 116 images
• Week 6 Group – 20 students – 81 images
• Week 7 Group – 20 students – 60 images
• Week 8 Group – 20 students – 86 (to date – 2nd July 2007)
• Week 9 Group – 20 students – 104 (to date – 2nd July 2007)

Now I’m off to track down and copy my ECA possibles to a CD-RW so I can work on son’s computer tomorrow because it looks like The Artist will be working on the Office Computer….

Sunday Gardening

I spent this afternoon gardening and was hoping to take my camera with me to catch any inspiration … unfortunately it poured with rain for most of the time so I was stuck in the greenhouse, taking cuttings and potting up young plants. Given that my greenhouse isn’t watertight, the rain was hammering on the roof so hard it felt like it was trying to break the glass and the drips were multiplying exponentially, I decided to leave the less-than-waterproof camera back in the house.

So this is one I took earlier …

“Heart of Fire”
Close-up of one of the huge blooms on my Benfica amaryllis – the colour has proved really difficult to capture effectively but I think this is a reasonably good result

Comfort zones

Having been treated to breakfast in bed this morning by The Artist (since the weather was horrid outside and he couldn’t go out painting), I tentatively brought up the subject of T189 and the concept of ‘comfort zones’ which we discussed for some time over mugs of tea.

I explained that I had come to the conclusion that photographing people was definitely outside my photography comfort zone. Apart from immediate family, where I tend to use photography as a sort of visual diary, I very rarely point my camera at people unless they are a reasonable distance away. The complications and implications of photographing people, especially children, has been discussed in the T189 conferences. It was felt that female photographers were more accepted when it specifically came to photographing children whereas male photographers found themselves subject to considerable suspicion. This is sad because children are fantastically photogenic.

Personally, I dislike having my photograph taken and I know The Artist feels the same way. This is despite me having taken quite a few photographs of him painting ‘en plein air’ with his easel, small adjustable sun brolly, Tilley hat and rucksack. He hates the ones that show his face and much prefers the ones taken at oblique angles that cast his face into shadow or obscure it completely. (This is not to say that he is ugly – on the contrary, he is handsome and distinguished with strong features, pepper-and-salt hair and beard, and ready smile ….)

Not that I’m going to be photographing people today because the weather is wet – in fact, it’s just started pouring down again – and there are very few people out and about anyway. So it’s a morning for getting on with Gallery tasks while The Artist is restocking a local outlet that sells his giclee prints and our range of cards.

I feel a cup of coffee calling me ….