I am a Graduate... kind of

So my parents and I went and met with George on Friday, and I feel like I graduated now. Not that I actually did, but because George explained the decision and it makes sense. Everything just sort of came together. And it's a reasoning I cannot argue with.

So this is why I didn't graduate: Four of the six images I re-shot were of phase two quality, and not phase four. While I did have the help of my instructors, they can only offer advice on lighting. The way the shot is set up, and how I shoot it/expose it are entirely up to me. And so is the subject matter. The other item is that they picked my weakest group of images to re-shoot, meaning that not all of the images I already had were of top quality. And so, thanks to an over-abundance of stress I am still learning to work under, I was unable to technically graduate from Hallmark.

I still feel like a graduate though, because I took the extra step to go see George, and I'm immensely glad that I did. It cleared up my questions, and made both my parents and I feel a lot better. And while we were there, George and I put together a mini portfolio of my best images that I can get work with. He'd like for me to get some better group images as well to demonstrate that to my fullest ability too, so I'm going to get on that as soon as I can.

Out of everything I shot though, there were fourteen images that made it into that smaller body of best work, and it surprised George. He told us he was worried that he and I'd be working together over the summer and that he wouldn't find much to go on in my portfolio. So I'm glad that I proved him wrong. I like proving people wrong in instances like those.

I would love to show you all the final portfolio that failed re-review, and to show you the mini one, but sadly I still have to get everything off my portable hard drive. Which, I need a Mac to do, and I can't get my hands on one until Thursday when I see my aunt. So that will have to wait.

And I also learned a very valuable lesson: It's going to take experience for me to learn to properly work under stress. So you better believe I'll be working at it!

But yes, I feel like I graduated now. I will be posting my final thoughts soon.

And in the mean time, please see my new blog to follow my life after Hallmark, since I tend to have some interesting adventures!