A T189 Blog

Time to start

2008-04-29T08:55:31+01:00

Officially the course starts on May 1st, but today the Open University T189 website became available.

I had become concerned about the organisation and efficiency of the OU. Originally we were told that the course website would be available a week before the start of the course. Then we were told it would be available on Monday (although it didn't say which Monday). The course is also made up of three groups (red, green and blue). I was originally assigned to the green group, but a day later I found the OU had moved me into the red group!

The software is also rather counter-intuitive, both to set up and to use. It took me a while to figure out that there was a version available for the Mac. The OU should make this information easier to find.

I also seem to have problems playing the video tutorials. I sometimes only get the sound and not always the video.

I've got rather a lot to read through now, so I'll make a post later in the week to let you know what I find

Open University Software

2008-04-24T08:32:05+01:00

The course is about to start, so its time to get ready.

The Open University have sent me three discs through the post; Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0, DVD Video Tutorials and Online Applications/First Class.

Unfortunately the copy of Elements isn't much use to me, as it is PC only and I use an iMac. I already have Photoshop CS2 installed on my computer, but I've downloaded the free trial of Elements 6 for the Mac. If it looks like I'll need to use Elements, then I'll purchase the license.

The First Class software is also PC only. I've logged on to the student website at the OU and there is a way to connect onto the First Class forums through a web interface. However even though I managed to make a post onto the test forum, I couldn't get a post to appear in the T189 forum.

I then found a page on the Open University student website that included a download for a mac version of First Class. I eventually figured out how to connect up and make a post, but the software is some of the least intuitive that I've come across in years.

I haven't had a look at the video tutorials yet. Hopefully I'll be able to go through them at the weekend.

Welcome

2008-04-20T21:22:04+01:00

T189 is a course run by the open university. The full title is T189 Digital Photography: Creating and Sharing Better Images. The course is run twice a year, in May and October.

The Open University describe the course as follows:

The course is designed to be studied over a ten-week period, with approximately ten hours of study each week. There are two pieces of work that must be submitted during the course, however, to get the most out of the course we advise that you also take part in the weekly photo assignments (not assessed), and if you miss a week, that you are able to find time to catch up (for example, spend 20 hours the following week).

The course is a creative mix of practice, learning, sharing and reflection:

Practice: each week you do a practical photographic activity that broadens and strengthens your photographic experience. Together these activities form the basis of your portfolio that you’ll draw upon for your end-of-course assessment.
Learning: each week you learn about different aspects of photographic techniques, as well as relevant aspects of the technology behind digital photography.
Sharing and reflection: each week you share your work within the T189 online community of photographers. You’ll steadily develop your ability to reflect upon your own and others’ work, and to write about your increasing visual awareness.

The course will:

teach you the key principles of capturing digital images and manipulating these with Photoshop Elements (version 5, for PC)
equip you with basic skills to navigate technological developments in digital photography
teach you how to critically evaluate your own and others’ work in the spirit of continuous technical and artistic improvement
encourage you to experiment with the principles of digital photography and imaging as part of a supportive online community
help you to develop a portfolio to be proud of.

Software

The image editing software is Adobe Photoshop Elements (version 5 for PC), which will be provided (and is yours to keep after the course has finished), and by the end of the course you’ll have a good grasp of it. (There is no requirement to use this particular software if you already use an alternative photo-editing package).

You will learn

The course will introduce the full range of basic aspects of digital photography including:

‘ways of seeing’ and the elements of composition
the basic principles of capturing light information digitally (e.g. sensors, memory, file types)
the digital workflow (capture, organise, edit and share)
how to control exposure
how to control focus and Depth of Field
digital colour management – an introduction
how to print and project your images
how to technically and creatively improve your own or others’ images using Photoshop Elements.

I will be starting the course in May 2008 and using this blog to record my progress and problems. Hopefully it will also act as a resource for other people considering studying the course.