Greater awareness of workflow. Much of what I did in DPP I learned how to do in TAOP. The difference was in making assumptions explicit and working through justifications for how the work is accomplished.
Greater confidence. Feelings of adequacy vary from project to project, or even day to day, but having now completed 10 assignments and 50 exercises across two courses, I feel I have more confidence in the ability to produce good, if not brilliant, photographs.
More experience. On DPP I began using Photoshop, as well as Illustrator and In Design. I’ve also explored Silver Efex Pro. I have put a bit of time into printing and now have a working relationship with three area printers.
Lighter wallet. The course required a substantial financial investment. I spent nearly £700 on software and training, £200 on prints and shipping, and £100 on books.
Looking back at the assignments, the first was wasted opportunity. I felt I was being asked to do busy work, to document a workflow, a task completed previously in TAOP. I did what had to be done, but my heart wasn’t in it.
Assignment 2 was an interesting challenge, and I made it even more so with a plan to explore verticality through a series of images of lightpoles. The tutor wasn’t interested and suggested I just get on with the work. It was useful advice and helped me not get lost in issues unrelated to the course.
Although I wasn’t much interested in shooting monochrome, Assignment Three was one of my favorites. By coincidence I found a somewhat neglected Christian cemetery and was blessed, on two shooting days, with atmospheric grey skies and rain (something of a rarity in Dubai). The images from this shoot are some of my personal favorites from either TAOP or DPP.
I was apprehensive about Assignment 4 because of my lack of Ps experience, but I did the right thing in jumping in, learning as much as I could through books, online video tutorials, and two classroom-based trainings, one 12 hours, the second 36. I pitched the assignment to my skill level and produced a conspicuous image, though I can understand why the tutor wishes I had taken more of a chance.
By the time I got around to Assignment 5 I was happy to be out again with camera and not spending so much time on the computer. I created a strong collection of images and developed a separate workflow based entirely on Ps (as opposed to my earlier workflow in Lightroom). I also did my first experiments with sequencing and mixing sound and image in a slideshow.
Tutor feedback on DPP was helpful but seemed conflicted. On the one hand I was encouraged to keep it simple, and on the other I was reprimanded for not taking chances. I presented a rather elaborate plan for Assignment 2 but was advised to scale back and do something simpler. On the next two assignments I was criticized for not going far enough. The tutor suggested I should have been using Photoshop in Assignment Three, even though there is no such requirement in the course outline or in the assignment brief. The tutor also said he had a serious concern regarding the difference in digital and print output - but that at this level I might not be able to even appreciate the difference (let alone do anything about it). On Assignment 4 the tutor was again disappointed that I didn’t do more, even though this was a first attempt to create a Photoshop image. And not a bad one, I thought.
Course content seemed somewhat repetitive, dated, and insufficient. Many exercises were similar to those in TAOP, the course seems to have been written years ago and does not reflect recent technology developments, there were not nearly enough exercises exploring digital techniques, and the course seemed to end just as it was getting interesting. I understand DPP has since I enrolled been discontinued.
Books read
- Adam, Hans Christian ed. Paris: Eugene Atget. Taschen, Koln, 2008 edition
- Aperture Masters of Photography: Berenice Abbott, 1997
- Atget Paris. Gingko Press, Corte Madera, CA, 1992
- Badger, Gary. Atget 55. London: Phadon Press, 2001
- Books on Books 1: Eugene Atget: Photographe de Paris (1930), Errata Editions, NY, 2008
- Caruana & Fox. Behind the Image: Research in Photography, 2012.
- Eggleston, William. Ancient and Modern, Random House, 1992.
- Howarth and McLaren, Street Photography Now, Thames and Hudson, 2010
- Janah, Sunil. Photographing India, Oxford University Press, 2013.
- Magri, Women of the UAE, Cova Group, 2012
- Pakenham, Thomas. Meetings with remarkable trees. 1st ed. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson Illustrated, 2003.
- Parker, Edward. Photographing trees. Richmond, Surrey, England: Kew Pub., 2012.
- Reynaud, Francoise. The tree in photographs. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2010.
- Szarkowski, John. Atget. NY: The Museum of Modern Art, 2000
- Wells, Liz. Photography: A Critical Introduction, 4th ed, 2009.
Videos watched
- An Expert Guide to Street Photography, with Zack Arias, 2013
- BBC: Vivian Maier: Who Took Nanny's Pictures?, 2013
- By the Ways: A Journey with William Eggleston, 2007
- Eugene & Berenice; Michael House, director, 2008
- Master Photographers: André Kertész , BBC, 1983
- Master Photographers: Ansel Adams, BBC, 1983
- Photographers of Australia: Dupain, Sievers, Moore, 1992
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