Reflective evaluation of my personal methodologies of practice; knowing, making, creating.
Blogging has been an integral part of my working practice and has enabled me to work in a much more effective manner. It has been an indispensible tool within my personal working methodologies as it has allowed me to look back into previous research that I have undertook as part of my final major project and allowed me to make creative decisions about the work that I am producing.
As part of my creative decision-making, I have researched into various other artists and photographers that have or are still creating works within the genre that I chose for this project. All of the works that I have been drawn to and inspired by were of relevance to my particular practice, even though the works that I sourced were all very different in their approach. As well as looking at other practitioner’s work purely on an aesthetical level, I have also researched and read the theories behind the works that have lead to their creation. This has helped me immensely when creating my own images and the theoretical reasoning behind them.
During the creative process for the Final Major Project there have been a lot of considerations that have had to be made. Once I had established what it was that I wanted to achieve, I had to consider the time frame that I would be working to. This is where my Time Management Plan that I created as part of Assignment 1 was put into use and I found this to be advantageous. The time plan enabled me to keep on track and reminded me of what was required to be achieved by a certain time, so that I was able to stay on track and not become behind in my project. For the most part I stuck rigidly to the time plan and even found myself ahead at some stages.
Whilst I was shooting the images for this project, it was also important for me to keep in mind that a few of the locations that I had chosen may have been inaccessible due to the fact that some of the sites were on private property but luckily for me this did not cause me too much of an issue. As I was shooting 360º panoramic images with a particular look in mind, weather and time of day were of the upmost importance to me but because I had accounted for this within my Time Management Plan, I didn’t have too many issues that arose. Although I had to return to some of the sites for a reshoot.
Once I had chosen my final images I had to consider how they were going to be exhibited. This included looking at a suitable print size and of course framing, this was where money had to be taken into account. Overall I feel that I have chosen a print size and framing that complements my images and allows them to be exhibited to their full potential.
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Identification and evaluation of my new learning over the project.
Over the last year whilst I have been studying for my Master’s Degree, I have had the opportunity to look at and evaluate in some depth my own individual learning process. Time management has been key to completing my project within the given time and has enabled me to work efficiently and effectively without the need to put myself under any unnecessary stress. Of course there are times when things do not always go to plan and this is where I have learnt that it is important to have contingency plans set in place so that your working process is not hindered by any unforeseen circumstances. Luckily for me I did not encounter too many problems but I had made sure that I had plans set in place should anything unexpected arise. I was also able to work methodically with the help of my time plan but this was something that I was already aware of before embarking on this project as I have always worked well to deadlines as I am a natural worrier. Therefore, rather than learning to work methodically, this just confirmed what I already knew.
However, I have learnt this year to work much more independently and have found myself seeking less reassurance than I previously would have done and have found this to be a great learning curve and hopefully this will be a skill that I can utilise within my future projects once I have left the university. I feel that the Master’s Degree has helped me to mature and work more confidently within my practice. Because I have mainly been working independently, apart from a couple of interdisciplinary projects, I have had to be more self assured and confident within my decision-making and I have learnt from this experience that when it is required from me, I am able to achieve this.
As a small group we have had tutorials and workshops on studio lighting and postproduction but most of what I have had to learn for my particular project I have learnt independently, as it was fairly specialised. I spent many hours researching on the internet for the best software and techniques to use for my project and from here I started on my journey of reading blogs, information sites and watching videos to learn about the new software and of course there was also hands on practice. All of this took a lot of time but I feel that it was worth the effort and I am pleased that I have now finished the Final Major Project with these new skills and techniques that I can possibly use in future projects.
Overall, it has been a challenging year and I feel that I have learnt a lot from the experience, coming out the other end with new practical skills and also learning to look back at my own work and be able to critically evaluate it. I will be taking these new skills forward with me.
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Brochu-Williams PHOTOGRAPHY 