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.
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I have been in love with photography for some time and now I am falling in love with photography all over again. I am learning about traditional film photography developing and processing. Two weeks ago I used a 12 year old Minolta Maxxus HTsi I picked up on craigslist to shoot my first roll of 35mm black & white film for my class. Then learned how to develop that roll of film. Before I even made my first print, I acquired 3 more film SLRs, a Minolta SR-T 101, SR-T 201 & SR-T 202, from a dental specialist who has used camera’s in his practice since the 1970’s. I commented that I thought it was neat that he was using a DSLR to photograph my teeth and mentioned that I am a photography major, the next thing I knew, I had a beautiful camera in hand and 2 more on the way.
© Thomas White
Thursday, I learned how to make what my instructor calls an “archival quality print,” so now I have a print I made, from a roll of film I developed, of a photo I took. There is something magical about the whole process. Yes it takes a lot of time and patience, but the outcome, seeing the blank paper slowly reveal the image is worth the wait. I am so used to taking color photographs, I often rely on the pops of color to create interest in my photographs. I am learning that I need to be more conscious of light and shadows when using black & white film to create the more striking images. There was no question which photo was to be the first one I would print, it was the one that had the more dramatic lighting and shadows.
When I started learning about film photography, I thought it would be something I would try, appreciate and never do again. Boy, was I wrong. Now that I have 4 film SLR cameras, multiple lenses and the basic knowledge of film developing, I find myself researching negative scanners and cheap used darkroom equipment. I am looking forward to learning more and more about different film photography techniques, as well as techniques that apply to all forms of photography.
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I never thought the day would come when I would be developing my own film, or for that matter, the day that I would be using a film SLR camera. The photography class I am taking requires learning how to process black and white film in a dark room for the first two weeks of the class. I am so excited and even a little scared that I might mess up my film. Next week we will finish up the film part of the class by making prints from our negatives. I will post my results and my take on the experience at the end of next week.
I waited this long to take some photography classes because I didn’t want to learn the traditional film method, yet so far I have been having fun with the used SLR camera I picked up off craigslist. The shutter isn’t 100% reliable and it is strange to have to pay closer attention to what ISO film I am using. I tested two rolls of color film before starting on my black & white film, to make sure that the camera functions. The resulting photos from my test were strange to see from a digital photographers point of view. The colors were off and the grain made the photos look like they were 20 years old.
While my film SLR may not be as accurate as my digital, I still see many opportunities to use it for strictly artistic purposes. My least favorite thing about film is the waiting, I have been spoiled with immediate gratification for many years thanks to digital cameras. I do not see myself trading in my digital camera for a film camera full time any time in the foreseeable future.
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Last week I submitted a photograph to the website, “There, I Fixed It.” This site features epic kludges, jury rigs and redneck repairs and is part of the Cheezburger Network (home of ICanHasCheezburger and FailBlog). The photograph I submitted is of a tricycle with square wooden blocks for pedals, it was taken at the end of the street I live on and the version I submitted was a HDR photo. A friend convinced me to take the photo after the tricycle had been on the corner for a few days, for the sole purpose of submitting it to There, I fixed it.
© Thomas White
Less than a week after I submitted the photograph, it made the front page. I had hopped that they would include my Flickr page as the source, but that did not happen, though they did include my name as the person who submitted the image. As of this morning, my photo submission has 329 thumbs up and 69 thumbs down.
Knowing that they didn’t provide a link to my Flickr page, I doubt I will make any more submissions to their site. Though it did feel good to see my photograph and name on a website other than my own. I am going to contact the site to see if they will add a link to my site, if I am successful I will post an update here.
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© Thomas White
Sunday morning I had plans to go to Grand Haven to take pictures at the beach for fun. The day was almost called off because of the weather, it was overcast and stormy. We decided to brave it and head to the beach anyway, hoping that the rain would stop, and by the time we got to the lake shore, the rain did stop. I didn’t know how long I had before the rain would start again, so as soon as I got out of the car I started to do a quick survey of the area to plan my shots as quick as possible. The wind was blowing, the waves were angry and the pictures captured the gloomy looking weather and the results were powerful looking images.
© Thomas White
In contrast, Tuesday morning I awoke to an extremely foggy day, after the positive experience of my stormy beach photos, I was excited to attempt to get to the lake shore before the fog dissipated. I decided to drive to a beach I had not been too since I was a teen, PJ Hoffmaster State Park in Muskegon. Sadly the fog was almost completely gone when I got to the beach, all was not lost because when the fog cleared it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day.
Grand Haven’s beach is flat and smooth and has a pier with a lighthouse. PJ Hoffmaster State Park is lined with large sand dunes backed by a forest. The two beaches are dramatically different and the weather differences between the two days was also dramatic. Both visits created some nice shots, I feel the shots from the stormy beach visit are much more powerful compared to the sunny day.
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© Thomas White
The latest technique I am trying out is creating composite photos. I have learned that one of the most important things to remember when setting up the shot is to be conscious of shadows and reflections. Aside from that, it is also easier to composite images together if you do not have any overlap, since that takes more time and effort to cutout and touch up to create a believable composite.
I decided to create a scene of me playing my favorite game, Clue, against myself. I took quite a few shots of each position, each with a different pose and expression, the I selected the best shots and used Photoshop to mask the different sections to fit the photos together into a seamless compositions. I did have a little extra work involved in todays photo composition since I had overlapping areas to deal with and a stray feline. View the photos used to make this composite.
Compared to my other favorite Photoshop photography techniques such as panorama, high dynamic range and tilt-shift, composite photos do take a lot more planning and editing to make them believable. Extra work and planning aside, I think composite photos, if done right, can inspire a sense magic. The mind knows something is not quite real and the illusion makes it interesting to the eye. The only downside to photo compositions is if you get it wrong, there is a chance you may end up being featured on Photoshop Disasters.
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Spring of 2003 I picked up my first digital camera, it was an Olympus C-4000 Zoom. Not a bad little digital camera with automatic and manual settings. I loved this camera to death. The idea of digital photography compared to traditional film photography was really appealing to me, mostly for the fact that after the initial cost of the camera and memory, I didn’t have to continue spending lots of money to practice the craft. At the time, I was the Features Editor of the GRCC’s Collegiate Newspaper and wrote many stories which needed photographs. Prior to having my own camera, my options were to contact one of the student photographers and request a photo to be shot or wait for the only digital camera shared by the student newspaper staff to be free and hope it was during a time frame that fit the timing of my story.
My camera was a tool for school as well as pleasure. I though every picture I took back then was the best picture ever taken. Eager to learn more about my camera, I talked to the other photography students who worked on the student newspaper about enrolling in Intro to Photography only to be discouraged from the get go. I was filled with great sadness that day I was informed that the only photography instructor at the college, only taught film photography. The word on campus was, this instructor didn’t consider digital photography to be real photography and mentioning Photoshop would get you an earful about the sins against photography. So I kept on keeping on, doing my own thing without having a real understanding of the more technical aspects of photography including how to use the manual settings.
Of course my first digital camera did have its drawbacks. The main problem I had with it was the limited memory, max available per SmartMedia card was 128mb. Not to mention soon after picking up my Olympus, SmartMedia memory cards were discontinued. I used my camera regularly, I would shoot my friends and family during events like birthdays, weddings, and even just Sunday dinners for fun. I even made crazy collages of people, food, buildings and cars. That little camera took a few tumbles and kept on working. The only thing that stopped me from using my Olympus regularly was when my large 128mb memory card some how became corrupted. That left me with just my stock 16mb memory card. I used the camera a couple times after that, but it was a hassle to constantly have to download the images to continue taking pictures. Once I got my first camera cell phone in 2007, I forgot about my Olympus and it sat in its case collecting dust until earlier this year.
I was thrilled to discover the photography classes at GRCC now allow both digital and film cameras and require the use of Photoshop. I dusted off my old Olympus, put in freshly charged batteries and started my photography class. By the second day of class, I had an understanding of the basics; shutter, aperture and ISO. Prior to that I had played with the manual settings a few times but never really understood what I was doing. With the basics under my belt and my old digital camera in hand, a whole new world opened up in front of me. Up to that point, I considered my old camera to be worthless and outdated, but I was surprised to learn that it is not worthless, even though it is outdated, it is still a pretty good camera. It may be old and slow compared to newer cameras, but the pictures it produced were quite good considering. Add to that techniques such as panning, bracketing and metering and all of a sudden the thought of buying an over priced outdated memory card for my camera off eBay to help me get through this class, didn’t seem so outlandish anymore.
Photography has reached a new place in my heart, I am in love with creating images. A few weeks into my photography class, I was exploring Photoshop techniques outside of class for making panoramas and tilt-shift photographs. I was hoping my love of photography would get me out and away from the computer, since I am a bit of a computer geek and spend too much time in front of a computer, but Photoshop keeps on drawing me back to it. I enjoy photography so much that I decided to switch my major. I had planned on starting my Bachelor of Arts at Grand Valley State University majoring in advertising, I am still studying advertising, but that is now my minor and I am majoring in photography.
I recently upgraded my camera since my next photography class requires a SLR with multiple lens. After months of research online I went to a couple stores to get my hands on different models of digital SLR’s. I ended up retiring my old slow Olympus for a new Nikon D90. I have absolutely no regrets about my decision, the D90 is everything I have ever wanted in a camera and more. I took some good photos with my trusty old Olympus, but compared to the quality of the photos my Nikon produces, the difference between the two is as different as night and day. I take more pictures now than ever, it is truly something I love to do and share with others. The only downside to having a new digital camera is I have been told that I am torturing cat by taking too many pictures of her but that is a story for a different blog post.
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Today, I launched the newest version of my online portfolio (link). Even though I still love the previous version of my portfolio (link), I decided it was time to make an updated, smart phone friendly (flash free) online portfolio, in addition I also included this blog, a twitter account (@geekofnature), and even have a google voice phone number: (616)6767-COW. While looking for inspiration for my design, I used an app on my Palm Pre to look at random color themes from the online collection at Adobe Kuler, once I found a few themes I liked, I started to play with them. In the end, this is the theme (link) that inspired this version of my website. This portfolio, will be an ever expanding collection of my latest works (hence the name).
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My name is Thomas White, I am a student and the assistant to the owner of a local advertising agency. I have been working in advertising for over half a decade and I love having the opportunity to explore my passion for design and photography. This blog is my place to share what inspires me along with what I think might inspire others.
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