On Assignment

My first week spent working with Emil and the other photographers has been quite intense!  It is a mix of lessons and sessions spent out in the field practicing what we have learnt. 

Each day we are given an assignment that requires us to present 5 photos to a group of 25 people that includes volunteers from the other programs.  The group votes on the photos they like and the photo of the day is chosen from what Emil refers to as the ‘Peanut Gallery’.  After all it is the general public who will ultimately decide on the fate of your art.

On Day 1 we are taken to a really boring field, a hoola hoop is thrown and we are asked to present 4 photographs from within the hoop and one from outside the hoop.  This was the photograph I shot from outside the hoop. We had an early morning rise on Day 2 and spent the morning photographing at iSimangaliso Park. Our assignment for that afternoon was to capture a portrait.  I love shooting portraits because it allows me to interact with my subject, something I truly enjoy.  I find that people often open up to me and allow me in to their world, which is useful when taking a portrait.  I wander into town because the locals are such wonderful subjects.  Many in the group loved my portrait which came in as the runner up that evening.  (I submitted the middle shot).   Day 3 was when I felt the most inspired. We wake up early morning to shoot another sunrise at the beach.  All of my photos were well liked by the group and Emil and this one came in as the photo of the day!

Some of the other photos I took that day include the following:  

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spent the morning of Day 5 at the Crocodile Centre.  We will visit this centre each week as part of our volunteer assignments and donate our photos to the centre.  Our assignment was to take 5 pictures that were connected by a theme and then present them to the group.  I chose the theme of education in conservation and did a presentation that linked the visiting school kids with the centre.  Yes, we got pretty close to the crocs!

The week comes to an end and we are exhausted but exhilarated!  We celebrate with a typical South African brie (BBQ) and down a few drinks, glad that somehow we all got our assignments in on time and survived the week with our photography skills a little better than when we started!  

 Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.  ~Buddha