# data[].attributes.headline
20th October 2016                                End of term

# data[].attributes.subject
20th October 2016                                End of term

# data[].attributes.body
This term has been focuses on aspects of photography. This included pinhole photography, digital photography, camera-less photography and other things that are based around these such as developing photos in a dark room and photoshop.
This term, I have most enjoyed the old fashioned photography. It was truly amazing looking back into the past, witnessing and using what led to what cameras we have today. I thought it was quite interesting how just light could 'burn' whatever is in its way, onto some light sensitive paper. I was most interested in the development of photos as i was intrigued into how some solutions could bring out the image that had been put onto the paper.
In the more modern time photography, I enjoy learning about setting of a camera and how to use it. I think i was a it to interested in it as I started going out of my way to practise these new learns outside of school times. I found that i was very interested in photoshop and could see myself doing this in the future.
Looking into next term, I am happy to hear we are starting to film. This is a passion that i have been pursuing for some of my life. I am thrilled to be making a documentary or advert. I am also looking forward to editing the videos as this is a potential job i would like to do; following in family member footsteps. I would be more than happy to spend a lot of my free time doing this project this next term.

# data[].attributes.headline
6th October 2016                                  Mind map #1

# data[].attributes.subject
6th October 2016                                  Mind map #1

# data[].attributes.body
Today I made my first mind map for the media course. It was about formal elements. I presented this by branching out to each formal element. I used an octopus for my mind map as there were eight formal elements to talk about and an octopus conveniently as eight tentacles. I personally think that my mind map is a little bit messy but i am sure i will learn from this in the future for other mind maps.

# data[].attributes.headline
13th October 2016                                Mind map #2

# data[].attributes.subject
13th October 2016                                Mind map #2

# data[].attributes.body
Todays lesson was about making mind maps. I made a mind map focussing on my final shoot. This helped me think about how I am going to do my photo shoot, where i am going to do my photoshoot and it also helps me think about how I am going to write up my proposal.
Prior to my first mind map, I included formal elements and how I am going to use them to my advantage. I presented this by using branches and explaining how and why I am going to using them.

# data[].attributes.headline
18th October 2016                                Final Assessment

# data[].attributes.subject
18th October 2016                                Final Assessment

# data[].attributes.body
In my final assessment i had to take a lot of photos and narrow it down to 2 to be marked. I really like this task as it allows you to introduce your own personal touch. I also think that this allows you to develop your own time management and responsibility skills.
I completed my task by writing up about a lot of different techniques that i used and a bunch of photos that i had taken. This is mostly on padlet. My two photos are of bikes as i thought that was a good way to implement a little something about me. I found that a lot of photographers did this to add personality to the photo. I also had to use a lot of camera skills and adjust the settings. I did this by looking online and writing down how to use the camera.
In this task, I have definitely learnt some new skills. These are mostly camera settings, but also some techniques, positions you have to get in to take photos, and as i said before, time management.
These skills that I learn't helped me overcome any barriers. One barrier that i had to overcome was the camera to aperture ratio. This was hard to do as i couldn't get the right exposure. I managed to get it in the end by simply playing around with the camera and watching some tutorials.
I feel that I need to improve on certain areas, such as what i said above, exposure. I found that my photos were too dark or too light. I knew that the ISO had something to do with it as i remember Delta said that she would use a high setting for a night time shot. I tried doing that, but aperture and shutter speeds came into it. I think I need some more practise or help with that.

# data[].attributes.headline
7th October 2016                                  Photoshop extended

# data[].attributes.subject
7th October 2016                                  Photoshop extended

# data[].attributes.body
Photoshop has interested me a lot.
The first lesson we had, we were only taught the basics; how to zoom, drag, move objects and create layers. This really helped and got me hooked. For these tools, we were set a task to complete a worksheet about the tools we had learn't to use and paste a visual representation of what it does.
By learning these basics, i wanted to learn more. I decided to go home and learn about photoshop a bit more. I watched videos and read blogs about how to do certain things. I feel a lot  more confident but i would still like to excel more.
My first task i set myself at home was to photoshop a photo that i took in town for the media course. It was of my friend, but the problem was, there was a person in the foreground that i didn't want to be there. I stated with selecting my friend and copying as a layer. I then cropped half of the image to delete that person. I then moved my friend and was able to place him else where in the photo. I blurred the eyes to place it nicely and look un edited, changed the colour adjustments and enhanced his eyes and some scenery. The outcome was decent in my opinion. Below is the before and after.

# data[].attributes.headline
6th October 2016                                  Photoshop

# data[].attributes.subject
6th October 2016                                  Photoshop

# data[].attributes.body
Today, I learn't some new skills in Photoshop. I already knew some basics of the program in which put me ahead. I knew this because i played around with it at home once.
I did learn some new skills today including the lasso tool and how to access the history tab. I practised these, and previous skills on a photo of a college, Louisa. I started by opening the photo into Photoshop and then started to work with the stamp and blur tool to perfect the skin tone, ect. I also changed the colours of the photo to make it darker.
In terms of barriers and problems i ran into, I had no troubles. I did help some people around me with some features of Photoshop such as the oval tool and making a whole layer blurry.
Overtime, I would like to improve on some aspects of Photoshop that aren't important, but FUN! This would be putting people onto animals or something alike that. I think so far that the lasso tool would be the way to go with those kind of tasks.
Attached to this the photo of Louisa that I edited at college.

# data[].attributes.headline
3rd October 2016                                 The Darkroom

# data[].attributes.subject
3rd October 2016                                 The Darkroom

# data[].attributes.body
The darkroom was today's subject. I was taught how to control the environment of the room by light-proofing the doors and not turning the lights on whilst the photographic paper is being set up. This had proven to be hard on the eyes at first, but i managed to adjust to the darkness quite quickly.
First of all, we practised as a class how to position objects on the paper and what kind of object let through what amount of light. For example, a solid material such as a mobile phone let though no light and the end result was just pure white, whereas a leaf let though a limited amount of light showing of features of the leaf.
After practising, we were aloud to pick out some objects such as leaves and string. We then positioned the objects on the photographic paper of various sizes. Once positioned and everyone was ready, the lights were turned of resulting in darkness and just some red light coming from the filters. To capture the objects, I had to remove the red filter and let the pure white light allow access to the paper. After 10 seconds ( the perfect time we found out) i removed the objects from the paper and went over to the trays of solution. First of all, you put your paper into the developer solution in which
brigs out the image in which is, at first, naked to the human eye. It is then bathed in the stop solution which is basically vinegar. This ends the process. The last solution is called fix. The fix solution is used to 'fix' the image as it is. After this process, the paper in ran through water or bathed in the water tray and then the lights are turned back on and the paper is put through a dryer. This drys the paper and removes all of the excess water. It also applies heat to the paper fixing the image a little more. Below are some of my photos in the darkroom. I am pleased with them and they seemed to com out at a nice exposure; not too dark, not too light. I am most pleased with the rose and chain. I like the contrast of nature and wildlife. It is a nice mixture in my eyes.

# data[].attributes.headline
26th September 2016                              Photography at the town

# data[].attributes.subject
26th September 2016                              Photography at the town

# data[].attributes.body
Today, we continued to learn about camera settings. We were put in groups of 4 and were sent out to take photos of objects around the town and campus. The photos i took included frozen shots, blurred shots and portraits.
I tried my best to include depth colour and technique into my shots. I managed to do this by getting a disheartening point in my photos created by walls. For the images i took that this didn't apply for, I tried to blur the background and bring the foreground forward and noticeable. I did this by bright colours or as i said, blurring the background.
The end results were very interesting and i am proud of what i managed to take. Below is a photo of my favourite shot.

# data[].attributes.headline
22nd September 2016                         After School

# data[].attributes.subject
22nd September 2016                         After School

# data[].attributes.body
After school on the 22nd, myself and a peer in my class went to a local bridge over a motorway to test what we had learnt that day. The skill we were testing was the adjustment of shutter speeds.
From the prior lesson, I had thought of the idea to go to a busy road at night. This way we could lower the shutter speed and capture the lights of cars whilst they were driving past. The outcome was amazing as you can see below.
I was really proud of ourselves and am pleased that Delta had shown us this in class. Not only did we have to change the shutter speed, but also the ISO and the Aperture. We changed the ISO due to the night time scene. I remembered that Delta had said, at night, she would use a higher ISO setting due to the darkness. We also changed the Aperture to allow the cameras intake of light much higher. As you can see in our photo, the sky looks really bright, as if it was mid day, where as it was really dark in reality.
Below is are some of the photos we took.

# data[].attributes.headline
22nd September 2016                         What I Have Learnt Today

# data[].attributes.subject
22nd September 2016                         What I Have Learnt Today

# data[].attributes.body
Photography was the topic today. I learnt about aperture, speed and iso.

Aperture:
Aperture is the amount of light that is implemented into the camera. If the aperture is too high it will be over exposed and if it is too low it would be under exposed.

D.O.F:
Dof is the setting on a camera that is the amount the lens is open. The larger the opening, the smaller the f setting. F/1.4 would be for micro-shots and f/16 would be a focused photo.

ISO:
ISO is short for the International Standards Organisation. It measures the sensitivity of the image. If it is higher, the picture will be more grainy and if it is low, the image would be less grainy. Delta said that if she was to take a picture at night, the grainier setting would prove most helpful

Shutter Speed:
Shutter speed will help the quality of the photo relating to what it is of and the situation you are in. For example, whilst taking photos of sports, you are more likely to use a fast shutter speed so the photo is taken faster and the quality is higher. When using a slower shutter, you would need a tripod. this is due to your hand moving or shaking. This would be used to take photos of car lights on a motor way without the car being in it or creating art with torches.

We practised these skills online on a website called CameraSim and it let us mess around with the camera settings without a camera inside of me.

Delta gave us a powerpoint that really helped with tips, tricks and meanings of some terms. The videos that have been l9inked into the powerpoint were very helpful also as they gave us real life situations and examples of how to use these features of a camera properly.

We signed up for multiple websites today to enhance and make marking and saving our work easily. These websites were Padlet and Showbie.