Still thinking...

...what to do.  Some days I'm really up for the idea of studying exactly what I want to do.  Other days I'm thinking that it's really not necessary.

I have, however, booked onto an online course with the Equine Photographers Network, which is just a 5 week course.  It'll be fun I think, to share ideas with other photographers with a passion for horses.  It may even fire my enthusiasm for study.

Sue x

So we were talking.....

....yesterday about the cost of the OCA courses now, and we agreed that we don't have that kind of cash spare at the moment (who does!!). Especially as I can't guarantee that I will have the time to devote to studies - look what happened last time!

But then my husband pointed out that our youngest boy only has 2 more years at school, and after that I could "go to Uni and study photography full-time" if I wanted.  So, my question is, do I want to?  Sounds good - I don't have a degree, I went to work straight from school.  I enjoy photography, and I want to learn.  But do I want to go to Uni? And if I did, would it be worth it?  I will be 50 this year ( I know, I don't look it), so by the time I finished the course I'd be 55.  Is there any real point? I mean REALLY? Would I REALLY benefit from having a degree at 55?  But it does have an appeal! I mean, I'd be in my 50s and at Uni! How much fun would *that* be?

So, your thoughts would be appreciated.  And any recommendations for where I could study?

I'm going to give this some thought.......

Sue x

I have had a reply...

...from the OCA and if I want to study TAoP again I will have to enrol from new.  Kind of what I was expecting really, I just wanted to make sure.

So now I have to decide if I do want to study.

Then if the answer to that is yes, I will think seriously about doing the People and Places course rather than TAoP.  It's just short of £1000 for the course, so I must be certain that I will do it.

In other news, the sun is shining and the dogs are snoring on the deck.  It's Met Office start of summer tomorrow, but we had hailstones last week. Hmmmmmmmmmm

Slight change of plan

I know that I said I wasn't carrying on with TAoP officially, but was going to plod on through it just for myself, but....... I have been looking at the OCA website again and thinking that I would quite like to pick it up.

So I have emailed OCA to see what I would need to do and I'm just waiting for their reply.  I did have a little freak out at the cost of courses now, but I will worry about that when the decision is finally made.

I have been having some success with my equestrian photography business, (see my other blog CC&C for details) and I have rediscovered my love of photography in general.  I particularly enjoy taking photographs with a purpose again, which is fab.

I have had a couple of riding accidents which I have detailed in CC&C and I am suffering from really bad headaches, so I also have to think whether studying will be the best idea at the moment.  Staring at a PC screen for hours is not the best recovery for a TBI .....

So I might be back, I might not.  I'm hoping I will be back doing this - it has been on my mind for a while.

Hopefully I will see you all soon

Sue x

Gone off the boil a bit

Hi

I've not been in for a while - I've been taking photos for pleasure this year.  I have created a new website www.SueAbbottEquestrianPhotography.com which I am having a great time with. It's combining my love of horses with my love of photography.  Have a look...

So I've put the course work on hold for a while.  And that suits me fine as I really want photography to be enjoyable and not an added pressure .

And if you have a look at my other blog, Coffee, Cakes and Cameras, you will see what else I have been up to !

Sue xx

Projects 32 & 33 - Colour Wheel

I have quickly put together a colour wheel collage using the photos I have now taken for these two projects and I am also reposting the graphic of a colour wheel I used a little while back for comparison.









I am quite happy initially with the colour matches, except maybe the green which needs to be a bit more vibrant I think. I still need to shoot an orange flower, but apart from that I think I'm almost there.

I will reread the chapter to make sure that I have covered off or at least understood it all!

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Projects 32 & 33 - Primary and Secondary Colours

Ok so I have been reshooting some flower photos for my colour wheel for these 2 projects. I know that the brief isn't to produce a colour wheel by the way, but as I'm no longer submitting this for assessment I am having a bit of fun along the way!

I used a 105mm macro lens to isolate the flowers, but didn't use extension tubes as I was shooting outside and it was a bit breezy.

Yellow - daffodils are everywhere and that includes in my garden!




This was the cameras auto exposure which came in at 1/250 f4. I was happy with the yellow but still tried an alternative exposure




This was shot on manual 1/250 f5.6 and is too underexposed. So in this instance I am happy to use the camera's auto exposure.

Violet - I have clumps of these pretty flowers dotted around the garden. No idea what they are - probably turn out to be weeds! But they are a nice colour...




The camera's auto exposure gave a reading of 1/800 f7.1. I considered dropping the ISO, but as the projects are about the effect of exposure on colour, I went with it... The colour in this image is quite light, but I over exposed slightly to see what happened on the next one




Manual setting 1/800 f6.3. Still a definite colour, which surprised me as I thought it would be more bleached out, but obviously over-exposed




Manual 1/800 f8. Much truer to the colour and more detail in the petals as a result I think.




Manual 1/800 f9. Again slightly darker, as you would expect by under-exposing on the camera's auto exposure setting. I think this is the most accurate colour match to the flower.




Manual 1/800 f10. Too under-exposed.

Green - tulip leaf




Auto exposure 1/500 f6.3. This is quite an accurate representation of the leaf colour but I tried under-exposing again a couple of times




Manual 1/500 f7.1 and




Manual 1/500 f8. I think the slight under-exposure of the second shot gives the best and most accurate green. I need to refer to the colour wheel to see how accurately this and the violet match.

Blue - bluebells again. Initially I shot them from the front, but the colour of the bells is still too violet. But I noticed that the top of the bell was a definite blue, so I positioned myself behind the bluebells and shot from there.




Auto exposure of 1/500 f5.6. See what I mean about the top of the bell being blue even though the bell is violet? Never noticed that before. The blue is quite bleached out in this one so I under-exposed again




Manual 1/500 f6.3 and




Manual 1/500 f7.1. This is the one which I think gives the best blue, although it has more shadows. I think the overall impression of the shot is "blue"

So I need to look at putting together my new colour wheel to see where I now have gaps. Back shortly...

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