Assigment 2 - Tutor Feedback

The mixed assessment...

My tutor’s feedback for Assignment 2 gave me a lot to think about for my preparations for Assignment 3: though I had spent a lot of time thinking about and preparing for my Elements of design submission, I was not happy with a number of the photographs and the feedback reflected a number of lessons that are ‘nothing unusual for this stage of the course’.
I had a lot of correspondence and advice following the assessment and a number of questions answered that will hopefully help me produce much better photographs for the colour chapter of TAOP.
Unfortunately, picking my own subject of motor vehicles didn’t really help me much. Though I enjoyed myself going to motor shows with my DSLR a lot of things did not work in my favour.

One of the main things I need to avoid in the next assignment in the use of ‘record shots’, or, more descriptively, capturing someone else’s work in a photograph to satisfy a ‘tick-in-the-box’. For example, a photograph of a Morgan’s bonnet ticks the box for the curves effect; however it is merely capturing the work of the car’s designer. Also, I am guilty of using my Nikon’s auto mode for a couple of the shots so that I could concentrate on the design elements – this results in the camera doing to work and I am only responsible for the framing.

When I am in control of the camera settings, I am not explaining why I am using the aperture and/or shutter speed I have selected. I will need to make more notes in my field notebook at the time of shooting and explain my reasoning in my later work. Also, I will need to include the reason for the choice of white balance for the next chapter of ‘colour’.

On the plus side, I am still experimenting and fully intend to keep doing so – I’m getting better with a few techniques and already have some plans for Assignment 2. Also, a few of the photographs from this assignment are usable for the final assessment - but, before I submit my work, I will be discarding a number of shots and replacing them with better work (with the advice and approval of my tutor).