As I'm wrapping up the course and preparing for sending in my submission for assessment, I can draw some conclusions from the course and my experience.
The course has expanded my confort zones. When I started I had not done much portrait photography, and I was bit apprehensive of this before. But I have really enjoyed the portraits and the process of creating a series of photos together with the subject. There are many factors that can't be controlled in advance, such as natural lighting, the mood of the subject, the atmosphere during the shoot. I have become more confident in the communication with a subject, and showing myself as "the photographer".
I'm still not too keen on street photography, even though some of the images I took in this respect turned out quite well. But I didn't like the way I felt while I was photographing. I didn't get that zen like feeling, when photography fills my body and soul. I feel like I'm spying when taking photos of people unaware, and it doens't lie in my nature to do so. An organised event feels better, because a photographer might be more expected to be there.
The buildings part of the course (assignment 3) did not interest me so much, but enjoyed assignment 4 better, showing people in their place.
It has taken over a year to finish the course, but I wanted to give each project a fair amount of time, and also reading in addition to this. Sometimes it has been difficult to find peace of mind and concentration to do this, in the middle of everything else that goes on in my life. Ideally I would like to submerge myself and have lots of time to get in deeply to my studying mode, but this being distance and part-time learning I have tried to make the best of the situation.
Overall I have learnt a lot, and what I primarily bring with me from the course is the portrait photography. I have now started the landscape course, and am happy to keep on learning and expanding.
The course has expanded my confort zones. When I started I had not done much portrait photography, and I was bit apprehensive of this before. But I have really enjoyed the portraits and the process of creating a series of photos together with the subject. There are many factors that can't be controlled in advance, such as natural lighting, the mood of the subject, the atmosphere during the shoot. I have become more confident in the communication with a subject, and showing myself as "the photographer".
I'm still not too keen on street photography, even though some of the images I took in this respect turned out quite well. But I didn't like the way I felt while I was photographing. I didn't get that zen like feeling, when photography fills my body and soul. I feel like I'm spying when taking photos of people unaware, and it doens't lie in my nature to do so. An organised event feels better, because a photographer might be more expected to be there.
The buildings part of the course (assignment 3) did not interest me so much, but enjoyed assignment 4 better, showing people in their place.
It has taken over a year to finish the course, but I wanted to give each project a fair amount of time, and also reading in addition to this. Sometimes it has been difficult to find peace of mind and concentration to do this, in the middle of everything else that goes on in my life. Ideally I would like to submerge myself and have lots of time to get in deeply to my studying mode, but this being distance and part-time learning I have tried to make the best of the situation.
Overall I have learnt a lot, and what I primarily bring with me from the course is the portrait photography. I have now started the landscape course, and am happy to keep on learning and expanding.