A level photography

Anyone currently doing it?
Im taking it next year as an "extra" subject, as i will have finished my 3 A levels this year. How much work is there to do when you do AS and A2 in a year? I know that its mainly coursework, but is it fairly manageable as a full A level in a year if it is your only subject?
Ive done art before and got an A at GCSE, but i felt photogrpahy would be a lot more fun!
Also, any advice on digital SLRs? i have a canon D450 atm, any advice?
Thanks guys

:tsr2:

Reply 1

cubes

Are you taking the A-Level full time? I took an A-Level in my gap year as well, but I only did it once a week at a night class; the amount of extra work I had to do was slaughter - that was an all exam subject exam though.

As far as SLR's go my set up is:

Nikon D80
50mm lens
18 -135mm zoom lens
Filters - UV (always on), Polarizing, Diffuser.
Jessops TP323 Tripod.
Memory: 1GB SD, 2GB SD
2 Li Battery Packs

The 18 - 135 lens package is the most common I’ve seen for the D80 and it's very versatile - good wide angle and good in all but very low light (unless you have the luxury of a tripod available). I bought the 50mm lens to have better low light performance as music photography is a hobby of mine (and flash is a strict no-no for that).
Is this your current camera http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_sd450.asp?
If so I would go for an SLR if possible simply for the better ranges of Aperture and shutter speed.
Also if you are considering forking out for an SLR don't cheat on the accessories - you'll need at least a 1gb memory card, and go for a decent tripod. My Jessop's tripod tilts when I have my zoom lens, which gives me a terrible angle in some photos (I bought it for my old FujipixS9500) and I'm going to get a new tripod ASAP.
Bridge SLR's are worth considering - my old Fuji got me some brilliant photos, but as far as I’m aware they're all fixed lens, so it's less of an investment once you want to move on with your photography.

I'd recommend some reading as well to help you get to grips - especially if you're new to SLR photography:

Langford's - Basic Photography
is probably my favourite introductory text, and might even be on your A level syllabus.
The Complete Book of Digital Photography has a lot of information about editing software and background information on how digital photography works if you're the sort of person who likes to know the reason behind things. I would say the Langford book is much more useful as a textbook though.

Do you have access to a decent editing package (e.g. Adobe Photoshop?) it's pretty essential, especially if you're interested in shooting in RAW (which gives you much greater control over the image - its something akin to a digital version of darkroom development).

One of the most helpful things in my Foundation Studies course was looking at contemporary photographers - look out for any anthologies of contemporary photography like Art Photography Now, The Photo Book & Vitamin Ph, from this look into any artists/photographic genres that catch your eye.

Above all: take lots and lots of pictures - you will only learn by making mistakes.

Reply 2

amylase55

i wish i had taken art gcse now. anyway i do photography a level. its very interesting/enjoyable but a lot of work. I wish people/unis wouldn't look down on it so much ! its not an easy subject.

A level photography

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