[ndillane]

February 1, 2008 at 7:43 pm

They follow pretty much the standard Open University format.

I received a large lever arch folder with all the course notes.

The course author is a guy called Michael Freeman, allegedly “one of the world’s most respected photographers, he is widely published,with more than 80 books to his credit….worked on commissions for Time-Life, Readers digest and Geo”

He looks pretty accomplished to me !!!!

The notes are very comprehensive, although they don’t explain how to use the camera itself, I guess that’s what the manual is for :-> They essentially get you try something and then get you to analyse/think about it

You are assigned a course tutor (not Michael Freeman!) who will work with you.

The tutor I have been assigned, had her own exhibitions etc so looks pretty good to me also.

You have a lot of assignments that you work through and have to comment on.

You also get to do projects that you submit to your tutor who marks them and provides feedback.

If you want to work towards a degree you need to maintain your work book which you need to submit for overall assessment and grading. This costs extra.

I travel abroad a fair bit with my job so its impossible for me to do a regular course so this format has suited me in the past. You need to set aside about 6 hours a week if you want to progress. You get two years to complete each module.

I made a big mistake signing up in Sept as the dark evenings and wet weekends are not conducive to photography. I haven’t made a lot of progress to be honest (my issue) and have not submitted my first assignment to my tutor yet.

If you serious about getting a decent qualification it looks like a decent option, however if you don’t travel and have access to a local face-to-face based college I be inclined to recommend that. Alternatively you could combine the OCA course with some short face-to-face courses so that you get the best of both worlds.

If you want more info feel free to post. If you are in the Cork area I can show you the notes some weekend or evening. Mark (the PI admin) can vouch for me that I am not an Internet stalker :->

As I make progress (hopefully) I will post again

[ndillane]

January 30, 2008 at 8:53 pm

You can do a BA in Photography with these guys
I have their Photo I course. Materials ar every good

http://www.oca-uk.com/courses/photography

[ndillane]

October 10, 2007 at 8:00 pm

Have to say I am leaning towards the Toshiba at this stage.
Can’t see any major advantage of the Mac and I am very familar with the PC.
Will probably end up using Photoshop Elements and CS so they run on both platforms so no Mac advantage there

Thanks for all the input so far!

Noel

[ndillane]

October 1, 2007 at 7:15 pm

These photos have no artistic merit what so ever unlike my other pictures ‘:wink:’

More sharks as requested. We were out on a 19ft bayliner powerboat and this guy apeared. They are harmless plankton eaters but are REALLY big and ominous especially when the come so close our liddle boat :lol:

Shark Attack !!!!!!!!!!

These things get to be pretty big you know!

Phew looks like he disappeared down the plug hole :->

I’m out of here !

[ndillane]

October 1, 2007 at 6:08 pm

Yep, I really think they are all better a a result of the advice.

I was surprised that the light house looked better with out the sea in front of it, I thought the sea “placed” it quite well but it definitely looks better with out the sea, makes it look more isolated maybe ?

My favourite is definitely the B&W version of the lighthouse, it’s turned me off the colour version . I now feel the sky looks too blue on the colour version although to be fair it was a beautiful day and the sky was actually close to that blue. The B&W does not reflect the fine day that it was but I still prefer it.

Not sure about the red sky, it has improved but feels a bit flat as a photo for me. It was a spectacular sky but the photo does not capture the breadth of it.

Great advice in general though and much appreciated !

tks
Noel

[ndillane]

September 30, 2007 at 7:16 pm

Not sure I could see that the horizon was crooked which I think was Patricks comment ?

[ndillane]

April 2, 2007 at 10:12 pm

Thanks for the link ..had come across it before …have trawled the web for stuff at this stage !!

Noel

[ndillane]

March 17, 2007 at 5:44 pm

allinthemind
Can you explain further please, not sure I understand what you mean
tks
Noel

[ndillane]

February 26, 2007 at 9:48 pm

Nice job Mark, feels much warmer.
I didn’t realise how dull it was until you warmed it up.
Seems clearer/more in focus also

Today I learnt :D
tks
Noel

[ndillane]

February 25, 2007 at 11:23 pm

I tried a different colour back ground and it has helped. Picked some different sheets from arts supply shop in town. I am not a huge fan of black as a background so tried this. I think it looks better although depth of field needs a it of improvement ?

thoughts ?

tks
Noel

Am following up with Thorsten also !!

[ndillane]

February 19, 2007 at 11:05 pm

I am travelling this week but will try out new backgrounds when I get back. Have tried various colours and busts to date but will give it another whack !!! Thanks all for the tips especially Terry!!!
Noel