Assignment 5 - reflective summary

The hardest element of this assignment by far, was deciding what to shoot, with the first subject being a local steam punk group, which after some initial planning and meetings, didn't come off, but have gained contacts for future photographic requirements.

My second subject, ‘a day in the life of a dog rescue centre’ took three visits, much planning and the selection of the  images for the assignment, which I was quite happy with and included examples of enhancement and addition in post processing, but I realised that I’d shot the whole three days in JPEG and not RAW! After communicating with my tutor I decided to re-shoot the assignment and as a result have learned a valuable lesson in checking every setting, I now shoot everything in RAW. My opportunities for shooting images at the dogs home was quickly running out as in the run up to Christmas and the demand on the dogs home to take in more dogs meant that they were closed on the days I was able to shoot, so reluctantly I decided another ‘subject’ was needed. Another problem to overcome was the realisation that I needed to update my post processing software after recently purchasing a new camera. I have been using Lightroom 3, but after using my Canon 700d, couldn't figure out why it couldn't find the RAW files, after researching the issue I updated to Lightroom 5 which uploads the RAW files easily.

My final choice of subject was a dance school in Lincoln, who were performing their showcase at a local theatre. Challenges for this choice of subject were firstly the obvious one of lighting with the spotlit stage along with selecting the right shutter speed to capturing the movement of the dancing subjects but also letting enough light into the camera so as not to produce an image that was too dark, the best ISO setting for the situation was required. My decision making before commencing the performance considered  the dynamic range, the possibility of highlight clipping; for which I was unlikely to have the opportunity to check for clipping during shooting so the choice had to work. And the additional issue of not using any lighting such as a flash gun, which would be a distraction to the dancers and particularly the younger members of the dance troupe, and the possibility noise in the final image and the subjects would be perfectly lit with the floodlighting, all I had to do was get my settings right. I had an opportunity to take some test shots before the

Another learning point would be to appreciate that although one can plan as much as possible, which I did, but to be prepared for things to change on the hoof, as we had planned to shoot the performers as they came off the stage but the children were quickly ushered into the room as any noise they made could be heard in the auditorium so we quickly changed that plan.    

The main learning point from the assignment for me would be settings, settings, settings, check every setting on your camera, and then check again. Especially in the situation of a performance that isn't going to be repeated, take every opportunity to have a trial shot & never leave to chance.