Assignment 5 – My Response to Tutor Report
As this was the last assignment for the landscape course, and I felt I had undertaken the project with much time, care and passion that I could possibly commit to anything I waited for my tutor appraisal of my work with much anticipation. Was it up to standard? Was the background editorial detailed enough? Did the quality and the composition of the photographs reflect the technical expertise and model of Ansel Adams’ work? Did my images portray the love I have of the subject?
Indeed, the bottom line is “Did I cut the mustard?”
All these thoughts were troubling me as I awaited the report.
So, it was with great joy and relief that on receiving the tutor report that the opening sentence stated “producing a set of images that are the result of a high level of commitment and dedication”. A good start, but was the quality and content of degree level standard? I read on, and there are some words such as “excellent rationale” and “establishment of a distinct personal voice”, in the general appraisal of the assignment.
I continue to read (and digest), now to the feedback on the individual photographs, presented in the form of six diptychs. On the whole I am happy that the 12 images I submitted were acceptable, some even “strong”, but the general feedback I am getting is that perhaps to stitch panoramic images together in an effort to emulate the feeling of openness and expanse was not a good idea, due to some technical glitches – namely concave curvature of the horizon line, (highlighted by my tutor when critiquing the first pair of photographs). Probably this could be overcome by using a Photoshop Plug-In as suggested by my tutor or perhaps re-shooting using a longer length lens (not 15mm) and stitching those shots together. In any event I have decided to do neither of those things, but to crop the panoramic image to give a standard portrait or landscape format, a good move, the photographs have much more impact and focus whilst retaining the tonal range and ‘near-far’ composition. What do you think?
Bordeaux Low Tide
Bordeaux High Tide
Loss of detail of subjects on the horizon was also a criticism of some of the images, I agree, but how to improve? I had my aperture set at the highest it would go (f.22), I tried to shoot on clear bright days, I shot at ISO 100, and took a number of frames using a variety of exposure times. So what else can I do? Post production adjustments?
However, the tutor did agree with my evaluation of my two favourite photographs, the words “nicely captured” and “lovely” are music to my ears, along with the conclusive words “ a very good set of images …. a great deal of thought and consideration …. a strong sense of place”. So hopefully I am progressing along the right lines, I certainly feel the quality of my work has progressed and that I am beginning to develop a style in my work portraying my passion for Guernsey and the sea.
I only hope that my work fulfils the assessment criteria when it comes to the formal assessment – always a bit of a grey area I feel, maybe because of the subjective nature of this art form or possibly because our work is never evaluated against key criteria levels during the course!
francessmithlandscapes 