OCA The Art of Photography Course Discussion Including Assignments and Submissions

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Reidy36 said:
Andrea, Have you decided which blog to go with? I am still looking, seems most have Blogger, but looking they all have their images in the centre (and read you can't change this, somebody please correct me if i am wrong), where in Wordpress, you can move the images around and a have some side by side (Byker, can you do more than 2 images in a row?).

I am presuming my course work comes this week at some point, guess what i will be doing this weekend then....lol
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Blogger - You dont have to have the images in the centre, just like text you can left hand, right hand or centre justify the image. I've not found a way to have 2 images side by side. I assume you want to do this for excercises / assignments where comparisons or contrast is involved
 
Reidy36 said:
Thanks Alfy.

Had seen a couple next to each other, but not multiples like that.
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Im using WP, when you set a page up you add pre loaded images from a gallery and at the bottom of the image list is an option to say how many columns you want, im using 3 here.

http://ashleycottle.co.uk/MyBlog/?p=284

I started off with Blogger but a)found the UI fiddly and b)it was blocked at work. So i changed to WP and self hosted it. Im still not 100% happy with how you build pages but its fine for basic layouts, if you know a little html it allows you to customise posts a bit which is good.
 
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Total beginner on it, so everything is one steep learning curve. Just want to make sure I choose the right one.
 
Byker28i said:
Did you do anything special to do that?

I've put some images side by side but really it depends on your layout and page. It's easy to spill over to the right if you're not careful, so I generally pick a reasonable size for the image, linked to a 800x600 sized one.
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I didn't really do anything special. Just used a standard HTML table.
 
Hi All

I have been reading this with interest; have signed up myself today with a view to testing the higher education waters again. Am keen to get an MA in photography but want to try this first.

Spooks
 
Signed up yesterday to avoid price rise. Really looking forward to it- just trying to work out what is best to do while waiting for literature? Any advice?
 
I signed up yesterday to avoid the price increase. Just trying to workout what is best to do while waiting for literature - any ideas?
 
gercam said:
I signed up yesterday to avoid the price increase. Just trying to workout what is best to do while waiting for literature - any ideas?
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Hi Gerry and welcome from another newbie.

I signed up a week ago (also to avoid the price increase) and will get my materials delivered on 10 September. I won't be starting any of the exercises until my self-imposed kick-off date of 01 Jan due to upcoming house move and ensuing upheaval and chaos of living out of boxes for a while. I've started looking at OCA photo blogs to get an idea of what I how I would like to set up my blog as I'm new to blogging - theme (undecided), background colour (dark I think as it shows off the photos nicely) - and today I also borrowed two books from the library; "The Photograph as Contemporary Art" (which is on the TAOP reading list) and "The Genius of Photography" (which I've seen suggested as further reading) to get me started into the swing of things. I will also have a look at other blogs to get an idea of how to write a book review (it's a long time since I have written any critical analysis) and also so as not to copy.

Other ideas from others further down the line would be really welcome.
 
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Carol S said:
Hi Gerry and welcome from another newbie.

I signed up a week ago (also to avoid the price increase) and will get my materials delivered on 10 September. I won't be starting any of the exercises until my self-imposed kick-off date of 01 Jan due to upcoming house move and ensuing upheaval and chaos of living out of boxes for a while. I've started looking at OCA photo blogs to get an idea of what I how I would like to set up my blog as I'm new to blogging - theme (undecided), background colour (dark I think as it shows off the photos nicely) - and today I also borrowed two books from the library; "The Photograph as Contemporary Art" (which is on the TAOP reading list) and "The Genius of Photography" (which I've seen suggested as further reading) to get me started into the swing of things. I will also have a look at other blogs to get an idea of how to write a book review (it's a long time since I have written any critical analysis) and also so as not to copy.

Other ideas from others further down the line would be really welcome.
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Hi carol

Thanks for reply.

Think I feel a little overwhelmed. I have read this whole thread but I think I'll go back through it again and see the different layouts and workout which ones I like and why.

Good idea about the books - I think I'll get them too.

Good luck with yours when you start and your house move when it comes

Gerry
 
First thing you'll be asked to do is to write a brief summary introducing yourself to your tutor. You could make a start on that.
Then have a google of people's blogs, or look at the ones listed on this thread.
 
Gerry,

You could always do the excercises and "post" to a word document your progress, thoughts, learnings etc until you decided what you wanted to do. Alternatively try one for TAOP and then with experince decide to continue or try the other

I personally use blogger but the logs I've seen appear to be a mix of blogger and wordpress so I dont think there is a clear winner, its just personal choice

Blogger for me is dead easy, sign-up choose a layout add a title picture, an intro to your self and then just post away. Edits are easy

The purpose of your log is to demonstrate self critique, learning, progress, difficulties and thoughts. I find it takes a lot of work but the whole process embeds learning and development and ensures you go over what you have done.

I think I'm about 20% through TAOP so thats my feedback from my limited experience so far
 
gercam said:
I signed up yesterday to avoid the price increase. Just trying to workout what is best to do while waiting for literature - any ideas?
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Gerry, I signed up on Tuesday afternoon and got an email on Thursday to tell me that my course materials were dispatched and the box arrived on Friday, so you shouldn't have long to wait.

As the others have suggested, sorting out a blog and doing some reading online should fill the waiting time :)
 
Any reading isn't wasted as you can blog about reading other things. It's all useful context ( something I got marked down on as I didn't reference enough other photographers/ student blogs)
 
Although I started TAoP back in June I have only just completed assignment 1. Must admit I am not happy with some of the photos that I have taken but hope that they at least forfill the requirements.

I am new to blogging so am having to learn that as I go along also. Using wordpress seems ok, my blog is at http://robsea.wordpress.com/.

Having looked a few blogs posted in her and listed on the OCA student website, think I need to up my game. Still hopefull will get there in the end.

Apologies to Byker seems I have choosen the same theme as you.
 
Well I've had fun this afternoon looking at the various Wordpress themes, having decided that I wanted a clean and classy look with a dark background to show off my photos (as they will need all the help they can get). I've got it down to a choice between two - Piano Black and Parament. I see a couple of people on here use Piano Black - do you mind if I ask you how you find it to use? Does anyone use or considered using Parament?

Thanks in advance for your help - really appreciated by a blogging newbie.
 
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Try them and see. You don't lose the posts if you change theme.
 
I think I'm using parament or whatever it's called. Seems ok so far since I migrated from blogger, but I've not messed around with it too much as I've been focused in just uploading exercises.
 
Parament looks a really nice theme, I'll take a look at your blog later to see how it looks
 
 
Robsea - I just completed my images for Assignment 1 Contrasts. I just need to do the write-ups for the blog and send the assignment off to my tutor. I'll post the link when its done.

Looking at your blog I think the contrasts work well and you've avoided I think the "favourites" that many people seem to use regularly. My favourite pair of yours I think is the diagonal & rounded

It will be good to see what feedback you get from your tutor. Ultimately we are learning so this means we are not doing thinks perfect and will expect to receive constructive crtique and thoughts since this is part of the learning process including our own self critique

My personal experience is that there is an initial desire to rush because of the need for at least 17 images but its worth slowing down and doing some creative thinking / and looking around at options. Well I'll see what you all think when I post the link
 
Well I got fairly positive constructive feedback from my tutor on assignment 1, if you receive a similar level and detail of feedback it will be a good learning curve. The most predominant criticisms on mine was context in my shots to add interest and my heavy use of b&w. Hence in subsequent exercises I've steered away from any b&w conversions and I've tried to include more context, particularly when it comes to still life.
 
They tried to deliver my course today, but nobody was in, so hopefully will be redelivered tomorrow.
No going back now.
 
FrattonFreak said:
Robsea - I just completed my images for Assignment 1 Contrasts. I just need to do the write-ups for the blog and send the assignment off to my tutor. I'll post the link when its done.

Looking at your blog I think the contrasts work well and you've avoided I think the "favourites" that many people seem to use regularly. My favourite pair of yours I think is the diagonal & rounded

It will be good to see what feedback you get from your tutor. Ultimately we are learning so this means we are not doing thinks perfect and will expect to receive constructive crtique and thoughts since this is part of the learning process including our own self critique

My personal experience is that there is an initial desire to rush because of the need for at least 17 images but its worth slowing down and doing some creative thinking / and looking around at options. Well I'll see what you all think when I post the link
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Warren, thanks for the comments, was unsure on the contrasts, I feel that some of the pairs are poor, but they were the best I could come up with at the time. I had already extended my time scale for this assignment due to other comitments, just wanted to complete this one as it had dragged on.

My tutor is currently on holiday so will be a while yet before I get the feed back.

Look forward to seeing your "take" on contrasts.
 
Reidy36 said:
They tried to deliver my course today, but nobody was in, so hopefully will be redelivered tomorrow.
No going back now.
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Enjoy unwrapping it. ;)

I'll share my feedback from Taop, have to be tomorrow - I forgot the letter today.
 
I took dog to the vet and they tried to deliver again.......
Nobody heard doorbell.
 
Couriers eh. Can you ring them for a redelivery? Is the depot close enough to pick up?
 
Byker28i said:
Couriers eh. Can you ring them for a redelivery? Is the depot close enough to pick up?
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Well i have the package, so presume i can now be classed as a mature student.

Had a quick look through it (nothing too heavy tonight), and going to put off emailing my tutor for a day or two, so that i get my profile email right and not put any old rubbish and he think i'm a moron. I had better look him up, I do hope he is more of an outside fresh air tutor than studio.

Silly one, but on getting the NUS card, on the education bit, on the drop down it has Art and design, is that the category it comes under, the only other option is other, but that doesn't seem right ( i have been winding my g/f's daughter up saying i am joining her on freshers week next week).

I had better sort my blog out as well now it's official.
 
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