14.Dec.2010 The most important things I learned in Photography 102
I can not believe that my 14 week course is ending this week, it seems like the first day of class was only yesterday. I had hoped to learn more about techniques for shooting photos, but what I walked away with instead is a deeper knowledge and appreciation for the art of photography and some really useful tips. The first weeks of the class were about the science behind how cameras work. The next few weeks of class were spent in the dark room developing film and making prints. The final weeks were spent in the computer lab processing our digital images, making prints and dry mounting some of those prints.
The instructor had strict rules for us to follow when we were shooting digital. The ISO must be always set to the lowest available, for me that is ISO 200 on my camera, the subject must be in focus (this was a no brainier) and all photographs for assignment must be full frame, meaning no cropping was aloud. Keeping my ISO low was no problem for me, I am used to taking low light photos with my camera on a tripod. What would be my biggest challenge was the full frame requirement. I had to be 100% aware of what was in my frame before I hit the shutter release button. As much as I hated not being able to crop or straighten my photos; I appreciate that it taught me to look at my composition as a whole rather than just focusing on the subject.
When it came to processing our digital photos with Photoshop, we were taught basic sharpening and how to dodge and burn in a non destructive manor. The instructor didn’t want us to use Photoshop for anything more than sharpening, dodging and burning. All other edits using Photoshop were strictly prohibited. I was relieved while putting together my final project (the printing and dry mounting of 5 photographs) when the instructor’s assistant told me that I could get away with using the spot removal tool in Adobe Camera Raw to remove a small amount of a structure that ended up in the lower left corner of one of my prints.
Tomorrow I turn in my final project for critique. I forced myself to follow the strict rules the entire time (with the exception of a very minor edit using Adobe Camera Raw). I am looking forward to using what I have learned in my photography. My only complaint about the class is that the strict rules seemed to sap the fun out of my photography. Now that I can use my camera again without the strict rules I am enjoying photography even more now then ever. In January I start my next photography class, Photography 106: Digital Processing and I am really looking forward to it.
