Assignment 1 - Reflection

Look at the assessment criteria for this course: review how you think you have done against the criteria.

I think I am probably just about technically competent in the main although still have a great deal to learn, and recognise where I have failed to be competent - even using some less than competent work at times.  I would say that every time I do a shoot I learn and the handle I have on it all improves (probably far slower than I'd like).  I can see many examples of images where I cannot understand what I was thinking regarding the values I chose - such as using f1.8 when I really should have gone for something a lot smaller (higher number).  I also tend to leave the values where they are when I should change them.  Even though I did feel I understood this all quite well I think I have absorbed and understood it more profoundly just recently.

I have struggled to work out how Blogger works best so I can present everything clearly but I hope I have managed to get round things.  My system might be a little odd - I hope not. Being ordered and clear takes an enormous amount of thought and effort.  I think I could also find greater levels of flair and professionalism in the way I present everything - I suspect it's done in a rather pedestrian way. 

I have without a doubt been influenced by reading about, seeing and reflecting on other people's work since starting this course and I can see it filtering through to other areas of my photographic life.  What this means often is I am seeing the gulf between what I want to achieve and what I am actually achieving.

It feels weird to think I might be assessed (if I go that route) on my creativity.  Creativity is something, of course, that can be developed and revealed but I am who I am - and perhaps I'm never going to be the most creative person in the world.  I am painfully aware of my limitations and have in the last year or so decided not to allow those limitations to prevent me from taking risks and putting myself on the line.  'Finding a voice' is a lifelong project and one that always seems just out of grasp but I do feel as if I have taken steps recently and am perhaps moving closer. 

Looking at my work I can see where I have put myself on the line - the mere fact I am here at all says a lot.  But that doesn't stop me from recognising examples that might be derivative of other people's art that I might have seen and remembered consciously and otherwise.

I am concerned that my reflections and other written work is far from academic.  I chat away and perhaps it's not always appropriate but it feels more enjoyable than writing in a dry and very serious way.  I'm not sure where I'm meant to be in relation to that.