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what is AS photography like in general..coursework/exams wise ?

can anybody give me an insight into the course :biggrin:

i know its time consuming but is it fun and will i get to show my creativity through it ?

how hard are you finding it on a scale of 1-5 5 being the hardest :colone:

seeyou later suckerssssssss...
Reply 1
Don't do it at AS but from speaking to friends it seems to be quite a relaxed course and they all enjoy it a lot.
anybody with any insight into the actual course eg what do the exams involve etc
thankyou robbie c
anyone out there :biggrin:
still would love some answers people :smile: xoxoxo
Reply 5
Well I am doing AS (fine art) photography at the moment and loving it. Its one of those subjects where there is a lot of coursework and it can end up consuming your life.
However if you have dedication and passion then definitively go for it, the course is really rewarding and fun (well in my opinion anyway).

Hope this helped, and if you have anymore questions just ask :smile:
Reply 6
I'm doing AS photography this year, to fill up options....better than I thought, and I had no previous Art background....

Im with OCR for AS, and it can be fairly relaxed, as most people assume photography is easy. And that's true to a certain extent, but it can get a little repetitve, and you need to have unique ideas about most stuff to be successful. Really enjoyable if you have photography as a hobby already....

But if you do start it, you need to be keen and motivated throughout, and be able to stay on top of a heavy workload.....on a good week, I may be doing 5-10 extra hours outside lesson to get things done....but it has been really worth it, and its all coursework based, so technically, you can control the exact grade you want...And final pieces and stuff are in for May, latest, which is just before exams, and gives plenty of time to focus on the other subjects once photography is over...... Just as long as you can stay on top and constantly work hard...

Would recommend it though! :smile:
Original post by habbasi
I'm doing AS photography this year, to fill up options....better than I thought, and I had no previous Art background....

Im with OCR for AS, and it can be fairly relaxed, as most people assume photography is easy. And that's true to a certain extent, but it can get a little repetitve, and you need to have unique ideas about most stuff to be successful. Really enjoyable if you have photography as a hobby already....

But if you do start it, you need to be keen and motivated throughout, and be able to stay on top of a heavy workload.....on a good week, I may be doing 5-10 extra hours outside lesson to get things done....but it has been really worth it, and its all coursework based, so technically, you can control the exact grade you want...And final pieces and stuff are in for May, latest, which is just before exams, and gives plenty of time to focus on the other subjects once photography is over...... Just as long as you can stay on top and constantly work hard...

Would recommend it though! :smile:


ooo i already have so many ideas hahaa and i can say they are pretty unqiue :smile:
im going to be doing english lit,biology,chemistry and geography too but cant wait !!
im doing everything i lovee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep

changed maths to english lit and now im actually exited for next year
thanks for the post needed some sort of insight xxxxx
Reply 8
Speaking as an A2 photography student I'd say including photography as a fifth AS is gonna totally mess up your workload. I know I'm just totally photography obsessed and abnormal in the amount of work I do in it (I've been adopted into the photography staff because of how much time I spend there :redface:), but you need to be doing at least four additional hours per week per subject. Realistically, to get a decent grade in photography you need to be doing five or six hours (I average between 12-15 per week, but I'm aiming for an A* and I'm starting my degree in September). So you'll end up with 22 hours or so of independent study, which I wouldn't wish on anyone! So really consider if you can cope with that much work, and if you'll have the energy/motivation to continue doing that for a year.

In terms of course structure, I'm on OCR. So coursework runs from September to the end of January, Unit 1 is generally a project set by your teacher and depending on your course you'll learn either traditional, digital or a mixture of both before starting the main bit of the coursework. (I was the last year to do pure traditional at AS). Coursework is worth 60% of your final grade, and a decent size of that comes from critical studies and artist research - there's actually a lot of writing in photography, not all swanning about with a camera. :smile:

The exam unit runs from 1st February (that's when you're supposed to get the paper) and is the other 40% of your grade, like GCSE art you choose from a list of prompts/questions - some are more analytical or essay like, some are just single words. In May you'll have a five hour exam during which you print the final pieces and finish off sketchbook work etc, and then you're done. Photography tends to finish earlier than everything else, so you end up with a load of extra frees :smile:

You need original ideas, a new way of looking at things. Don't just regurgitate what other people do, look at their work and build on that, do something similar but let the work evolve. Try everything, don't throw any pictures out. Keep them all, but them in your sketchbook. Even if they're awful. You must do crap things before you can do good things.

I could probably answer most questions you might have, so feel free to ask :smile:
Original post by twinlensreflex
Speaking as an A2 photography student I'd say including photography as a fifth AS is gonna totally mess up your workload. I know I'm just totally photography obsessed and abnormal in the amount of work I do in it (I've been adopted into the photography staff because of how much time I spend there :redface:), but you need to be doing at least four additional hours per week per subject. Realistically, to get a decent grade in photography you need to be doing five or six hours (I average between 12-15 per week, but I'm aiming for an A* and I'm starting my degree in September). So you'll end up with 22 hours or so of independent study, which I wouldn't wish on anyone! So really consider if you can cope with that much work, and if you'll have the energy/motivation to continue doing that for a year.

In terms of course structure, I'm on OCR. So coursework runs from September to the end of January, Unit 1 is generally a project set by your teacher and depending on your course you'll learn either traditional, digital or a mixture of both before starting the main bit of the coursework. (I was the last year to do pure traditional at AS). Coursework is worth 60% of your final grade, and a decent size of that comes from critical studies and artist research - there's actually a lot of writing in photography, not all swanning about with a camera. :smile:

The exam unit runs from 1st February (that's when you're supposed to get the paper) and is the other 40% of your grade, like GCSE art you choose from a list of prompts/questions - some are more analytical or essay like, some are just single words. In May you'll have a five hour exam during which you print the final pieces and finish off sketchbook work etc, and then you're done. Photography tends to finish earlier than everything else, so you end up with a load of extra frees :smile:

You need original ideas, a new way of looking at things. Don't just regurgitate what other people do, look at their work and build on that, do something similar but let the work evolve. Try everything, don't throw any pictures out. Keep them all, but them in your sketchbook. Even if they're awful. You must do crap things before you can do good things.

I could probably answer most questions you might have, so feel free to ask :smile:


the workload will be fine for me(fingers crossed) i am really motivated haha ,,seriously cant wait:colone: how geeky am i.. do you get to be very creative or are your teachers controlling? i have 2 a2 sheets full of ideas :biggrin: ..just ideas that i camup with due to my mental health issues haha i dont spend my life onit..p.s you taking any of the following:bio,chem,geog,english lit...if you are could you shed some light on them ..please and thankyou! xoxo
Reply 10
Original post by ladybug.hugsxoxo
the workload will be fine for me(fingers crossed) i am really motivated haha ,,seriously cant wait:colone: how geeky am i.. do you get to be very creative or are your teachers controlling? i have 2 a2 sheets full of ideas :biggrin: ..just ideas that i camup with due to my mental health issues haha i dont spend my life onit..p.s you taking any of the following:bio,chem,geog,english lit...if you are could you shed some light on them ..please and thankyou! xoxo


Geeks are cool :cool:

Ehm, I think I probably have the best teachers for photography (don't tell them I said that, it'll go to their heads! :P), and because they know I get the work done I'm left to my own devices. Obviously there's a limit to what you can feasibly do, but that's probably the only way your teacher will control what you do - depending on equipment etc. I was gonna add health/safety onto that then realised art departments tend to ignore that xD For the first few weeks your teacher will probably direct you a bit more, in terms of what they want to see from you and what you should be doing, but after that you're pretty much free to go do whatever.

*high fives* Most of my work is based on my mental illness shizzle :cool: Mostly anxiety related, but I'm building up to a bigger project on childhood trauma (like, in a few years). Quite a few people seem interested in using MH stuff for photography, but most of them don't have the direct experience of what it means to be mentally ill. So my advice (to be taken with a huge pinch of salt) would be to include as much personal experience as you're comfortable with; base the work off you, because you are the source. Creating something that represents who you are, what you believe in, what you've experienced, is incredibly rewarding and therapeutic (I think my art therapist appointments are paying off xD).

Nup, I don't do any of those. Although people always seem to bitch about English coursework. Last year I did AS Photography/Economics/Russian History/French and this year I'm doing A2 Photography/Economics/British & German History and AS Critical thinking (compulsory - save yourself and don't do it -_-). Ehm, I'm gonna stop rambling now. :smile:
Original post by twinlensreflex
Geeks are cool :cool:

Ehm, I think I probably have the best teachers for photography (don't tell them I said that, it'll go to their heads! :P), and because they know I get the work done I'm left to my own devices. Obviously there's a limit to what you can feasibly do, but that's probably the only way your teacher will control what you do - depending on equipment etc. I was gonna add health/safety onto that then realised art departments tend to ignore that xD For the first few weeks your teacher will probably direct you a bit more, in terms of what they want to see from you and what you should be doing, but after that you're pretty much free to go do whatever.

*high fives* Most of my work is based on my mental illness shizzle :cool: Mostly anxiety related, but I'm building up to a bigger project on childhood trauma (like, in a few years). Quite a few people seem interested in using MH stuff for photography, but most of them don't have the direct experience of what it means to be mentally ill. So my advice (to be taken with a huge pinch of salt) would be to include as much personal experience as you're comfortable with; base the work off you, because you are the source. Creating something that represents who you are, what you believe in, what you've experienced, is incredibly rewarding and therapeutic (I think my art therapist appointments are paying off xD).

Nup, I don't do any of those. Although people always seem to bitch about English coursework. Last year I did AS Photography/Economics/Russian History/French and this year I'm doing A2 Photography/Economics/British & German History and AS Critical thinking (compulsory - save yourself and don't do it -_-). Ehm, I'm gonna stop rambling now. :smile:


i did critical thinking in year 11 and got a C which was equal to double A's most of our class got a C so it was good enough for me considering my condition + i was hardly ever in -.- so go mee awww well done i,hope my teachers are as good as yours lol..i swapped maths to english lit..maths is THE bitch of education.
thanks for your help mate :smile: xoxo

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