byryankerr-blog

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Feedback on the course

I wouldn't say I have had a tremendous amount of feedback on the course but I do know of some things I have been told I could do/work on to better my work. 

What comes to my head first is that I need to put more effort into my research as my final photo’s are well executed I would say and my grades have also proven but I seem to get told quite a bit that my research lacks depth so I need to work harder on that. This means things like researching more photographers and getting more facts and dates etc. I’ve also been told I need to organise my time more effectively as I had fallen of a bit with the work. Although, this wasn’t just due to me simply not doing work for the sake of it as I had other stuff going on in my private life, I sat down with Alan and Zoe and we got around the issue. 

All I need to do from now on is try my best and not let other things distract me so easy as I can’t afford to keep letting that happen on such a busy course which I am grateful for. 

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Academic Study Skills

The aim of academic study skills is of course to improve students academic skills and give them the best start to their futures in the working world. 

I feel like a blog is a good idea as it allows us to keep track of everything and we can look back. I also think it is a great way to not forget things we have done on the course as there is a lot going on, I would say. Without the blog, note taking and things like that, I feel it is very easy to get lost and fall behind, as I have already done. I feel like I am more or less back on track now though.

Another part of this module was also e-learning activities. I chose ‘Presentation Skills’, ‘Effectiveness Of Feedback’ and ‘Note Taking’. I’d say that talking about my feedback was a good option as it allowed me to reflect and realise what I need to do in order to be the best version of me I can be on this course, in terms of the work. 

Overall, this part of the e-learning was the most helpful in my opinion. It made me realise what I need to focus on to help get me through this course whilst doing everything to my highest standard. I will continue to try my best. I’d say I have been lacking on the course over the last few modules. I want to improve this. 

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Personal Development

The aim of this module is to give students more skills, so that they can achieve more. For this module, we have to keep track of our progress on our blog and we also have had to complete e-learning activites. The three I chose were,’Time management’, ‘Managing Stress’ and ‘Motivation’.

I had to write 300 - 500 words on each activity. Doing so, actually helped me understand things a bit more when it came to my skills. Especially, with the areas I lack in. The most helpful activity, I'd say was the time management one. This is because, for me personally, I struggle with this the most. I always happen to spend more time on things which I just want to do but then the things I need to do, don't get done until later on.

After it all, I feel the packages helped me and I feel, I maybe would return to them in the future because of this.

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Academic Writing

James Perry, who works at Newcastle College and specialises in Academic writing, came to talk to us. He came along with his assistant. James helps students improve their writing in essays and so on, so that they are more capable of getting higher grades. 

In the session, he spoke to us about different techniques we can use and he also educated us on some websites we could access, which would really benefit us during our time on this course, I feel like it was all really helpful. I made sure I took notes of these websites, as I feel my academic writing could do with a lot of improvement 

We received a booklet in the session. It had different steps in for writing an essay. We did an activity from the booklet where we looked at a topic and spoke about how we would attempt to write about it as part of an essay. I feel I will most likely have to see James for further help with my academic writing in the future, as he clearly knows a lot about it. 

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Last Tuesday on the 7th November, my class went along to an exhibition in Blandford Square. It was called “Material Matters”. The exhibition had a wide variety of formats included, such as photography, graphics design, product design and more.

The exhibition featured materials which we encounter every day and the aim was to inspire and captivate. I believe it was also displayed to make us question the way we see art and do we expect it to be shown in a certain way or are we more than happy to experience the abnormal.

The graphic design work which has been framed and presented on white boxes was created by Sally Moore. She is a freelance graphic designer and these works ‘Dear Newcastle’ and ‘Dear Gateshead’ are also featured in the Baltic Contemporary art shop. Although she has did a great job at doing what she does, I am not really a fan of the work she has put forward in this exhibition. I am all for simplicity and clean looking work but I personally don't take any interest in this specific kind of art. I also don't really understand the message she is trying to convey.

The work underneath the last one was by an ex Newcastle College student named Mark Taylor, who graduated in 2004 and started working commercially in 2006 mostly in advertising and editorial sectors. I think that these photos shot by Mark, show that material really matters as without those specific materials on the models, it would not have the look he was trying to achieve. I think this is very bold and as a whole makes the photos more genuine overall. I also really like the lighting on these two photos. I think it is very important for this that he has got basically everything well lit including the clothing as they play a crucial role. 

The last piece of work is my favourite from the exhibition. It was shot by Michael Baister, who was an HND Photography graduate in 1995. He has gone on to shoot for Northumbria Water and the Hatton Gallery. This is my favourite piece because although there is a lot going on and usually I would see this as a negative, the way your eyes move round the image from one thing to another feels very natural and like it all flows well. I also am a big fan of how striking and colourful the photo is. I think it has been done really well. 

As a whole, I think the exhibition was a great success and each artist got the point across that ‘Material Matters’ in their own unique way. Art is meant to make you think and reconsider your original opinions/beliefs you had before and that’s exactly what this exhibition has done for me. 

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My 3 best photos so far

The first photo was took one night when I was skating with two of my friends and we stopped at a spot and I decided to shoot some portraits of them. I really liked what they were wearing too and thought the colours really popped. I also thought the colour of the bottom of my friends deck looked really cool with the turquoise and then the orange wheels which added contrast and stood out so that is why I had him hold it that specific way.

The photo in the middle was shot on a bright summers day. I wanted to get a low angle of my friend doing a kickflip out of the bank. A reason for this was to capture as much of the sky as I could because of how nice it looked that day. My friend who is sitting down wasn’t staged. He was literally just sitting there watching me shoot the trick. I think him sitting on that side of the frame whilst my friend skating is on the opposite side adds more to the overall photo.

The final photo was taken on my last day at my previous College and we had some hours to spare until our final exhibition, so me and my friend went down to the Seaside and shot some photos there. This was actually a candid shot I took whilst my friend was tucking his top into his trousers. I really like how natural it looks. I decided to shoot it in black and white and add a specific filter to give it a kind of old film effect.