Assignment (Unit 101-105) - WWII Shoot - Day 2 Evaluation




f/22 1/25sec ISO-400

Looking back on my WWII adventure I feel many things.  Firstly, I feel glad that I chose such an engaging subject matter.  I'm impressed with the fact that I managed to acquire all the things I needed to complete the task.  I can't say thank you enough to Adam Wilson, Kegan Burrows and especially Dave Land  because without their help I would never have got this project off the ground.  I'm also pleased to see my Christmas bonus from work has gone a little way towards repairing the large hole in my bank account.

Day One came and went in a blur of excitement.  I did what I thought was best and came away with some interesting (but not technically great) shots but I was safe in the knowledge that I could do better. 

Day Two however proved that I can't actually do better.  It was a more of the same kind of job.  Either I don't have the experience or technical know how to be able to compensate for any occasions.  I was tempted just to flick the camera onto Auto so I would at least have something amazing to show off.  I would have only been cheating myself though.

I know that this is a beginners course and that we are all in the same boat but I don't ever expect to be average at something.  This may sound big headed but I go into everything with the aim to be brilliant at it.  Whether it's football, music or even shelf stacking I always pride myself at being damn good at it.  I guess it's a character flaw of mine.

Now it's not that I believe that the pictures I took are bad.  I think I managed to create a few decent compositions but it's just the sharpness that lets them down.  I imagined them blown up to maybe an A3 size and I'm worried that if I went down that avenue the pictures would look relatively poor.  However, after comparing the images to those of my research subjects I do think that the images look like they actually are 1940's war photos and some of the softness of the images add to the feel of the picture..

So on reflection, if I was actually taking photo's in WWII then I'd be quite happy with some of the images. Of course I'd probably be scrutinised for letting that poor American soldier get jumped by that dirty German.  It would have been wrong for me to interfere.  He might have killed me too.


f/5.6 1/40sec ISO-800

I may have one more go at capturing the shot's I want.  A Day 3 looks likely.  I feel like I need to have a good chat with Marie on Wednesday and see what pointers she can give me.