Here's the play-by-play:
You are instructed to go into the auditorium and sit in a specific chair to wait for your individual time. Then one of the instructors comes out to "escort" you to the viewing room. You are told where to sit, and greeted by the faces of 4 people - the head guy in portrait (Rich), the head guy in commercial (Dick), one of the design instructors (Joan) and the woman in charge of all academic areas (Lisa). They are both looking at their computers and looking at the images displayed in a lightbox in front of them. First Lisa talks about the career business plan, noting different pieces that are good and areas that could use improvement. She also reviews what I hope to do and where I hope to be doing it - both to confirm with me and to inform the other instructors of my plans.
Then Rich looks at the portrait work and critiques on the things that need improvement. Dick does the same for the commercial work. Joan then goes over the ad, brochure and product shots, and finally it's wrapped up by an overall summary of the work that has been turned in.
Since I had shown my work to Rich and Dick, they didn't have much to say, since the advice they gave was listened to and the things changed that they recommended. They gave me some suggestions, which will be below.
At the end, a grade sheet is printed with both the grade for your career business plan (worth a fake $50,000) and then the pictures themselves (also worth a fake $50,000).
And.....drum roll please....
I got $50,000 on both, for a whopping $100,000...a perfect score! Now if only they were real dollars!
Here's a pic of the grading sheet for my pictures.
Then your pictures are snatched up, your photos handed back to you, your career business plan handed back, and again Rich escorts you back to your "exit".
I was so pleased with the work I did. In all honesty, they did give me some advice...they say I am good with the technical and getting the assignments done, but they want to see more creativity and more of ME in my pictures. I GET it.....because I've felt that way for the past few months. I feel like I am stuck with the expected, and not taking the pictures that really please me. I am so concerned with making sure my lighting is right, that I took a picture of the white balance and color checker, and that the eyes are in focus. It's been draining simply remembering all that...and then being happy with the shot is obviously key.
So I am hopeful that I can take some pictures that really reflect me....and I don't quite know how to do that...I just wish I were feeling free to just take pictures. I know it almost sounds silly, but I feel like I've been stuck taking the procedures for face value and not putting my heart into them - not getting the emotions of those whom I am photographing.
Now I need to get my rear in gear and get these personal submissions going. I have 2 of the 8 pictures completely done. They just need to be printed. I am getting together with a couple on Friday morning and staging a mock wedding. Well, wedding portraits. I am excited for that. I hope they turn out great.
After I left school, I went to the grocery store and got a few things....got some chicken to make my yummy Spiede sauce chicken tonight, plus some ingredients to make a trail mix - so excited - and also some asian apples, bananas, and apricots. Ooh, I am so excited to eat all my yummy food.
BUT then, to my surprise, I had not one, but TWO pieces of mail waiting for me ....a letter and a small package.
The letter....
...was from one of my best friends. After having such a wonderful day, the words of the card became that much more meaningful. She wrote and said, "....Hoping you are having a really great day today." Well yes, my friend, I AM!!!
THEN...the package contained a letter with some pictures of some dear friends and me....plus some earl grey tea (my FAV) and some seasoned oyster crackers. It is a recipe that my mom's godmother used to make...and now my friend Liz makes them and periodically sends them to me.
Thanks, Liz, for being a constant cheerleader of my efforts at school. You are a blessing.
So it's been a wonderful day! Tomorrow I have a Digital Imaging class and Event Photography class in the morning, then 4 hours of Business Communications in the afternoon. We are presenting on photographers who are having a significance in photography. My group chose to research Brad Guice, whose work you MUST check out, if you haven't already seen it. We presented last week and the presentation went very well. So now we can sit back and relax, and not be anxious that maybe our group will go, or maybe we won't.
Thanks to all of you who have been encouraging me in this journey called Hallmark. You EACH have made an impact on my life.
I appreciate you.
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