Degree? Done!

I realise that at the start of the year I said I would blog more. I meant it. But I’ve since found I often have nothing interesting to blog about, as this post will demonstrate very nicely.

So what’s been going on?

Well, I have finished my undergraduate career, and it feels good. Waiting on results now, whilst busying myself with work, looking for more suitable employment and applying for a Masters degree beginning in September. I have decided to stay at Derby, I really do like the University and the lecturers in my school, it definitely meets my needs for an MA, then hopefully I can spread my wings a bit when it gets to thinking about a PhD. It is actually an MA in Humanities, which obviously covers a broad range of diciplines, so it will give me a chance to further push myself without specific subject relevant guidance in lectures. Learning to learn from my own research is something I am working on and definitely need to get better at. I am currently deciding whether my thesis proposal is going to be based on either (in very basic terms) Third Cinema or East Asian cinema. Research has already begun.

A project I have been working on all year with Dr. Jason Lee at Derby University is also coming to an end. He is a member of the Flying Start project based at Liverpool Hope University, and he has written a booklet giving writing advice for students in the transition period of going from further to higher education, aimed primarily at students going into Creative Writing degrees. We think a short booklet is what prospective degree students need for tips on how they can improve their writing skills and what will be expected of them at University. I’ve been helping him research this and put it together, it’s been enjoyable, and this week we are presenting our work at the Flying Start conference in Liverpool.

What about photos?

On to my hobbies. I have become a hypocrite and bought myself a (relatively) cheap & simple strobist set up. I always said off camera flash wouldn’t be for me, but so far I’m finding it enjoyable; it is another thing to learn and experiment with. Luckily, Rick gave me one of his Sigma 430 flashes and lots of advice, so I just had to buy myself a stand, bracket, trigger and umbrella. I have done a few strobist shots and I have more in the pipeline. So far I’ve took these:

My first strobist attempt with the help of Rick!

A shoot with my friend Sam!

A low key self portrait after following Rick's blog tutorial.

If you are looking to have a go at off camera flash yourself, check out Rick’s startup kit blog post and his tutorial explaining how he shoots a low key portrait, it is very informative. Also keep an eye out for further posts from his how I shoot series.

So that is an update on my comfortably hectic lifestyle. Hopefully soon I will have something more interesting for you to read, there is talk of another coffee tour in London… so expect even more coffee shop reviews & photos from me soon.