I picked this location as a subject not only because they are five minutes walk from the classroom, but also that I see them being photographed everyday. I just looked on Flickr and there are 381 images that come up in a search. Many are a full shot of the gates, which I can understand if you are a Beatles tourist and wish to document your visit, but it does not make for particularly interesting images.
So I encouraged you to look at the gates from different angles and perspectives. Maybe we did not come away with any award winning shots, (maybe we did) but I hope that the exercise has made you think differently about how to approach a subject.
I had two objectives for anyone taking this course.
1. To help you move off auto settings.
2. To get the best from natural light.
I hope I've helped most of you to achieve these and if there were any more points you've learned then that's a bonus.
We only improve our photography if we try to push the boundaries beyond what we are familiar with. Many times I've noticed something that I thought was photograph worthy, walked over to the place and then discovered something completely different to photograph. I would encourage you to get up, get out and practice, but also study the work of other photographers and get critique.
There are plenty of places where you can study other peoples work, so I won't bother listing them. I have found a great place to gain critique and it is at ePhotozine. http://www.ephotozine.com/critique-gallery
You may feel more comfortable just looking at the photos in the critique gallery and seeing how tips and help is given. I think this is a great way to learn. When you've watched it for a while try uploading one of your own photos. As I said in the class the help is very constructive and very gentle.
I hope to keep adding to this blog to keep things ticking over and I also hope that we could meet up for some photo excursions.
