Hi! I'm Ella

I am an 18 year old Photography student, currently studying the UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma in Creative Practice, specialising in Photography.

Last Year, I completed the Level 3 Diploma in Creative Practice, where I was given the opportunity to experience 4 different subject areas in the Art and Design sector: Fashion and Textiles, Photography, Fine Art and Graphic Design. 

These topic areas allowed me to develop my skills further and use media which was unfamiliar to me. My favourite media’s were lino printing, working digitally using various Adobe Software and vinyl cutting - some of these skills were a little out of my comfort zone, and not media that I would normally reach for. However, I now feel a lot more confident if I am tasked with producing pieces using these materials.

At the end of the four 5 week rotations, I had to chose an area I would like to specialise in. At the time, I was torn between Fine Art and Photography and ended up picking Fine Art, as this was in my comfort zone and I was most familiar with.

During the Fine Art Specialism, I was tasked with completing the ‘Environment’ project, my main influence for my final piece was my golden retriever puppy, Spencer. I feel that this project really allowed me to think outside of the box and develop a final piece of which I am very proud. The artists which had the most influence on my work were Claude Monet and Virginia Chihota, because of their uses of colour and texture. 

My final piece for this project was ‘Let Sleeping Dogs Lie’ - an acrylic on canvas painting of Spencer, incorporating embroidery.

At the end of the summer holidays, I came to a realisation that my heart was no longer with Fine Art, and I wanted to pursue photography, as I had been photographing my summer journey. Thankfully, I was able to switch from Fine Art to Photography for the second year, and I have been loving the course ever since. 

Since starting the Photography course, I have been able to experience a few different cameras: my mum’s Nikon D3100 and borrowing a Canon 2000D from College. After using the 2000D I fell in love with the Canon DSLR system, and have just bought myself my very first camera - a Canon EOS 90D.

Since writing this, I have been fortunate enough to experience shooting on a Canon 1DX-iii and have just purchased my first mirrorless camera, a Canon RP!

Going forward, I would like to enrol on a degree course, to pursue a career in Photography.