Day in the Life of a Photography Student

 
No two days are ever the same as a photography student. We have a lot of self-motivated study time in comparison to other courses here at Falmouth, but this doesn’t mean that we don’t do any work! Mondays are the one day where we have to be here at nine thirty am for meetings and lectures and seminars and this normally lasts the whole day, obviously there is plenty of time between them all for tea breaks! But every other day is different.
 
As said we have a lot of self-motivated study time so for example one day may be taken up doing a shoot. I’m studio based on the whole so I’ll spend the morning setting up for the shoot, and the shoot itself will probably last the whole afternoon.
 
Setting up entails making sure I have all my kit; camera, film, light meters, tripods, lights, costumes, makeup and of course models. Then it’s a matter of putting it all together as I’ve already planned out in my workbooks. Once I’ve got everything in place I’m ready to start shooting, this is the bit I love and although I’ve set everything up and have an idea of what I want it normally changes once I start shooting. I’ll change the lighting every couple of frames and move around the studio taking shots from different angles, costume changes will take place every 16 or so shots or maybe once every roll of film. Just like no two days are the same, no two shoots are either. I’ll have a really good one on one day; the next time I do one it may be a disaster. This is where you learn how to trouble-shoot and problem solve very quickly as you only have the studio for a limited time and every minute counts.
 
Once I’ve done the shoot and packed everything away, it's processing time. I have to do it immediately as I get very impatient and I have been known to start developing films as soon as I’ve finished them and whilst I’m shooting another! Once they are processed, I’ll do contact prints of them all and then take them away to have a look at them.
 
On a day like this, I’m normally in at about nine thirty and don’t leave until eight in the evening. It’s a long day, but it’s worth it. It’s all about the planning for shoots and I will probably have spent a good week planning for just one day of shooting.
 
Obviously once I’ve processed the film I’ll spend the rest of the week seeing what I can use from the shoot, printing and starting to plan the next one if necessary.
 
I’m always busy, but nearly every aspect of the work I do as a photography student is enjoyable.