Group Crit

I signed up to one of the group crit sessions just to get that last bit of feedback before we leave for Christmas. I'm really glad I did too because I managed to get some really helpful advice and things to consider to complete my project. From our previous group crits I felt like I wasn't getting anything new or helpful, because everyone had seen my work and had already given me their thoughts and advice for photographers, etc. I've always turned up to them but it would be good to have a mix around in the groups once in a while to get different views because everyone is creating such different work. 

The work of Karim Skalli, former student of NUA, Larry Towell, books and Joe Barrett, flowers were mentioned to me by James S and another student. I had been told about Karim previously but had forgotten to write it down. His work concentrates on tones which is similar to the style of work I have been producing therefore this will be relevant in my visual logbook research. As I spoke about making a book for my final piece for this project Larry Towell makes interesting books which someone recommended for me to look at for ideas on presentation.

As James C asked me to do, I printed off around 15 images which were my favourite from the project so far. The majority of the images were from my recent shoot because I was really pleased with the outcome in comparison to my previous shoots. A few of the images caught the groups eye, especially the portraits of my nan and of her bedroom. 

They noticed a few areas of the image where it was over-exposed. They advised me to use a light meter or spot meter on the brightest part to make sure I don't lose any information of the image. 

Also a lot of my work is either wide or mid range. I haven't got any shots taken up close with the objects in my images therefore that could be whats missing from my work at this stage.

I have a wide range and mid range, and students noticed that there was no close up range. This could make a difference in my final images and make it more interesting. They said about getting close up with toys or ornaments that I have already photographed within my nans house using a soft focus. 

I mentioned how I felt my work is just repetitive and none of the images are particularly different from one another. Therefore one person mentioned about including myself into the project by photographing myself in my house just like I have with my grandmother. 

As of development for my project within the next project, they advised me to apply what I have learnt from my interests and apply to other peoples families. It would help it to become less repetitive and more interesting working with different people and locations. It would certainly give me plenty of work and variety within the image making. I found that I was getting bored towards the middle of the project because there was nothing different or new about my work to motivate me further.

When printing my final images from my current project I need to consider what paper type would suit my images and concept the best. I had printed a few on 6x4 on gloss which James didn't like much at all. He recommended that I try the cotton rag in the digital dark room. Usually I would just print on the cheapest without consideration for my work. This time I will make sure I do test strips and get the best results for the work I have created because it will make a big impact.