Work Experience

As part of our Re-Photpgraphy module, I was able to take part in a day of work experience at the Salford Museum and Art Gallery. We had the Bluestairs Gallery to hang our work in from the 3rd May to 29th June. As a group of 5, together we collected the work from the university building, we all had to get our images printed into foam board and satin finish with specific measurements. We took them down to the gallery, and with help from David from the gallery we were able to hang them all. 

Firstly we unwrapped all the images and placed them on the floor to asses the amount and the types of images we had. We had two walls leading up the stairs, so we decided to split the images up into 2 groups. We chose to put the images together that had a complete image over laid in one group, and the other would be images that had a mixture of an old and new image in one. Some others did not fit into these groups, so we chose to put them in a group that suited best.

We measured the space, and decided to put the images 15cm apart from each other, with a 28cm space underneath the images. The images would be horizontal, even though the board is on a diagonal. We added 4 small pieces of velcro to the back of the pictures to enable them to stick to the wall.

We spilt up into two groups when we had established the best way to do this. We used pencil marks to make sure we had them all correct. We used tape measures and sprit levels to makes them 100% straight and correctly placed. I found this to be difficult at first, with the board being diagonal, it would put you off and sometimes the images didn't look straight. But in the end they all looked great together.  

We felt the images we had put together all worked well, and decide the order of them being placed on the wall in a certain place. This side of the wall was the group of images with a full image placed over the top on the new one. We chose this order from the more severe image over laid, to the most opaque over laid image. This showed a gradient in the images, and looked really good together. 

For the other side, we chose to order them together with what the shot is, where the image is set and the colours in the image. We added the name plates 1 1/2 inches from the bottom of the images. We felt this was a good space, and all the name plates were easy to read. 

These images show the two ends of the wall, these images didn't fit perfectly with the images going down he stairs, but we felt putting them together worked well in this way. The last two images in the bottom picture aren't the same size as the others, but we felt putting them here they looked good.

We did have to make some decisions about some of the images. One image was badly mounted with a ver noticeable crease down the centre of the picture, and the edges were not cleanly cut. We felt as a group that if we put this picture in the gallery it would stick out, and would bring down the quality of the over all exhibition. This made us think about our professional practice, and if it was our own image, would we be happy to have it on the walls. It wasn't an easy discussion, but in the end I feel we made the right one. 

I very much enjoyed putting this together, and seeing the work that goes into creating an exhibition. Even thought we only spent the day in the gallery, I can understand all the processes that need to be taken to put something like this together. I would like to do something like this again in the future. 

Personal Branding

Personal Branding:

- Is the process of developing a 'mark' that is created around your personal name or career.
- You use this mark t express and communicate your skills, personality and values.  
- Personal Branding is a powerful tool, which enables you to:- Analyse your impact in depth.

- Allow you to enhance the impression that you make when meeting others for the first time.

- In a situation where you have one chance to quickly impress a potential employer, such as an

interview, presentation or networking event, it is obviously important to ensure that you create the

best first impression possible.

Your Brand Identity:

›Requires you to really have a good understanding of:
Values - Your personality; attributes etc
Talents - Your skills and competencies
›USP – your unique feature, quality
›Unique combination – of experience, knowledge etc
›Purpose – what really motivates you

Talents 

›Talents – what have been your proudest moments?
What skills/attributes did you use in the above?
›If someone had to live your life for 6 months – how would you describe what kind of person would
be needed?
 

Summary of Archetypes

1.The Care giver: Helps and protects from harm
2.The Creator: Compelled to create and innovate
3.The Explorer: Explores and discovers
4.The Hero: Acts courageously to put things right
5.The Innocent: Seeks purity, goodness and happines
6.The Jester: Has a good time but may convey a serious message
7.The Lover: Finds and gives love and sensual pleasure
8.The Magician: Transforms situations
9.The Ordinary Guy/Girl: OK as he or she is. Connects with others
10.The Ruler: Takes control. Creates order out of chaos
11.The Outlaw: Rebels and breaks the rules
12.The Sage: Helps people understand their world

Studio Work

For the studio work I needed to do to achieve me aims on my PDP, a group of people from the course booked out the studio for an afternoon. We wanted to experiment with the different lights, colour gels and back drops. We were able to use a number of colour gels, to experiment with the atmosphere of an image. We all took turn in changing the lights, to what we wanted, and took photographs of the time we were in there. While we had the studio booked, I made it a priority to learn how to set everything up ready for a shoot. I learnt from other people in the group, and worked well as a team. I was able to places the lights on the stands, set up the colour gels ect. I now feel I am confident enough to do this myself, whenever I may need the studio for a shoot. I feel we all learnt something from each other this day. These images are some of the set ups we used, we wanted to use as many different colours and lighting positions to get a feel of what works well. By firstly learning the basics, it was easy to move on and experiment more. I want to use the studio a lot more in the future, and now I feel I can do with confidence. 

CVs & Cover Letters

Writing A CV

The Basics 

• Know yourself 
• Know your target 
• Create a tailored CV with great content and presentation

Do’s

• Always target your CV to each job. Check the specifics of what a CV looks like for your sector
• Match the skills you have to the skills the employer is looking for
• Make it easy to read: an attractive layout will grab an employers attention
• Pay attention to grammar and spelling: your CV may not get through to the next stage if there is mistakes
• Give specific examples to illustrate your skills. Remember who, what, where and when. 
• Get someone to check over your CV

Don’t s

• Don’t lie
• Be honest and objective, you will be questioned about your CV in detail during the interview
• Don’t use the same CV for all your applications, target different audiences with your CV, such as creative or formal. 
• Don’t write your curriculum vitae at the top of your CV
• Don’t write long descriptive sentences, keep them concise and to the point.
• Don’t be downbeat. Avoid negative words, false modesty or inappropriate email addresses 
• Don’t include a photograph unless you are actively applying for a job in the modelling or acting professional.

Standard Headings

• Personal details – brief and relevant
• Profile/career objective
• Education
• Relevant work experience
• Other work experience
• Skills
• Achievements or Positions of Responsibility
• Interests/Hobbies
• Referees 

Cover Letters

• Your current situation
• Why this job?
• Why this organisation?
• What you can offer that matches the job? Knowledge/Skills/Experience 

Things to Remember 

• Never underestimate the importance of the application form - the employer doesn’t know you!
• Ensure you have included all relevant information
• Explain any chronological gaps
• Be honest and avoid giving false information
• Keep it neat and tidy and double-check your spelling and grammar

Presentation Skills

Different Types of Presentations: 

• Lectures 
• Work Pitches
• Group
• Individual
• Proffesional
• Informal

Style of Presentation

• Relaxed
• Open to Discussion
• Informal 
• Text/Image Based

Academic

• Group 
• Individual
• Research 
• Project/Assignment
• Interview

Professional 

• Pitch of Work/Idea  
• Presenting a Portfolio 

Presentation Variations 

• Content 
• Length
• Format
• Purpose

Checks

• Assignment
• The Brief details
• Key Points
• Referencing 
• Powerpoint
• Having a Hard Copy of Presentation

The Audience

• Who is the audience? 
• What do they already know?
• What do they need to know?
• Now can you design a presentation to appeal to them?

Using Powerpoint

• Include a title slide
• Not too many words on a slides
• Keeps slides in logical order
• Be careful of colours which clash
• Be careful of videos and animations, make sure they all work

Using Images

• Consider the purpose
• Physical portfolio/Presentation
• Visual impact
• Ensure high quality images are used
• The message you want to convey

Using Technology 

• Practice before you present 
• Practice changing slides
• Have a plan B incase there is a problem

Structure

1) Tell audience what your going to be talking about
2) Main content
3) Conclude the presentation

The Presentation

Title Slide

• Introduce yourself/ The group
• Briefly explain the topic
• Give outline of content 
• Let the audience know when they can ask questions

Introduction

• Hook in the audience 
• Give background information 
• This is 10%-15% of the whole presentation

Main Body

• Use your research 
• Include citations 
• Organise info
• Explain
• Explain graphics/images
• Sell your work
• Key points
• What makes your work special/unique

Conclusion 

• Restate your argument 
• Use phrases such as 'in conclusion' and 'to sum up'
• The final message
• This is 10%-15% of the whole presentation

Dealing With Questions

• Invite questions
• Anticipate questions and prepare your answers
• Keep answers relevant 

Presenting Tips 

• Face the audience 
• Keep good eye contact
• Make sure the screen is clear
• Speak slowly and clearly 
• Know what you are talking about
• Stand in a good place
• Use prompt cards / notes 
• Vary your tone of voice
• Take pauses

Dealing with nerves. 

• Practice
• Be confident / self talk 
• Take deep breaths 
• Have water with you 
• Speak slowly

The Elevator Pitch

• Brief speech
• Pitch your ideas
• Gives interest in your work / yourself
• Introduce yourself
• Sell a new idea
• Establish your credibility
• Multipul versions 
• No more than 30secs -1 minute talk

Consider… 

• Your own credibility 
• Introduce your idea 
• Show your self off
• Be prepared
• Capture on video for websites/blogs
• Identify your goal 
• Explain what you do/aims  
• Practice your pitch 
• Engage the audience 

Personal Development Plan

For my own PDP, I wanted to set aims I knew would help me in the future. Firstly I wanted to build up my confidence in the studio. Before this I would not have been able to successfully set up the studio with lights, gels and back drops. I would not have got the lighting correct, or used the equipment to its full advantage. While carrying out the shoot, I was able to learn from other in my group about how to set things up, what was best to use and so on. After this, I feel if I needed to use the studio, I could so this alone successfully. 

I chose task two because I wanted to look more into other aspects of the photography world. So I was able to achieve this objective by helping to hang and organise the Re-Photography exhibition in the Blue Stairs gallery at the Salford Museum and Art Gallery. With 4 other people from the course, we were able to hang the 30 images that had be mounted on the walls, measured and mounted to the walls correctly. I feel we did a very good job, and Amy the curator felt the same. 

For tasks 3 and 4, I wanted to get an better idea of the style and photographers I like, as well as getting my images online for people to see. I added to my Flickr account so that I was able to see all my images together, and then decided in the future what kind of online platform I want to add my images to. Ive also made sure that I look for photographers I like, looking at work that inspirers me and I find most interesting. I found a lot of artists that are more high fashion/editorial which I really enjoy. I want to carry on broadening my knowledge on other artists throughout the years. 

Briefing

Our Module Intended Learning Outcome & Module Aims

This is our brief for Professional Frameworks 2. These module aims asks for us to build up on skills we may have already and learn how to develop our professional practice. We will look at how to get our work seen in the professional world, as well as writing CV's and cover letters. How to pitch and idea and work to our own aims in a Personal Development Plan.