Photography Classes - The Weekly 10

I have been a bit quiet as I had another university course installment over the weekend and I have now attended two of my ten photography classes. Now while I have learnt all sort of things in all my classes, one of the two things that came as the biggest surprise is that I cannot fit all of my homework on a 128MB USB memory stick.

Three Bags Full, last day of their sale. 2nd image is out of focus but I like the moment
captured between the knitter waiting to pay and a member of staff, assisting with a query.

I know. Actually, I was astonished to find that there were some people in the room who had 4 Gigabyte ones - really? When did that happen?! I have been using my 128 MB USB sticks happily for years.

At that point, I really felt my digital age. I was quite struck by the way that my two memory sticks (diligently knotted together with a leftover length of purple Rowan Calmer yarn) stood out on the classroom table - they looked - for all the world - like big, clunky, archaic, steam powered pieces of machinery alongside their younger, dinkier, flashier, brainer, more colourful, sylph-like cousins.

Snippets of visual research for a future knitting project.
Clearly, my memory sticks hark back to these times, in comparision with the ones in use by the rest of my class!

The other thing? I discovered that it is hard to grow out of stage fright. Part of my homework is to submit 10 images on a weekly basis for the teacher/class to critique. I thought (stupidly and cockily enough) that this homework would be a synch, as I've carried a camera around with me for almost two years to feed this blog. "Ha! I thought. Simple! I have no fear of people seeing my work at all!"

A late afternoon walk around Steveston with the Fella.

Gulp - it's not true. Remember when you were little and your parents used to have friends around for dinner and then, out of the blue, say something to the gathered company like,

"Ok, now [insert your own name here] will [insert something of your choice that you can do perfectly well unobserved e.g. recite a poem, sing a song, play an instrument, do a dance, park your car in a space that only has 2 inches to spare at either end, without clipping neighbouring vehicles or scraping your alloys]."

Remember that 'rabbit-caught-in-headlights' feeling? Starting off that activity nervously, just sick with the certain knowledge that you are bound to stuff it up in front of an audience?!

Well, before my class this week, I was really struggling to scrape 10 images together that I thought would stand up to any sort of critique. (I am still not sure that they stand up.)

A meal off the diet plan at a local neighbourhood restaurant!

However, it seems that being a digital dinosaur worked in my favour this week as my two USBs were not picked out of the pile of homework memory sticks to be viewed by the whole class. I watched my teacher's hand hesitate momentarily over my two coal fired friends and then move onto others that looked like they had been made this century.

Yet, that is just not the correct attitude is it?! I can hardly go to each class trembling in my boots that my pictures might be picked out for the class to critique. So I thought that it would be best to get over myself already and show them to you instead.

A closeup of flowers that the Fella bought me home from Granville Island.
Aww - he is so lovely.

So, as per this post, I will do my best to share my homework images with you on a weekly basis* and if you have any feedback, please let me know. Either in the comments here, by leaving a photo comment on Flickr or via a message on Ravelry!

*Note: unless they relate to gifts/projects in progress that I cannot share yet...