Taking Photography Class

[raven15]

So... I signed up for photography for my last semester (at the end of three degrees, two of them in engineering). Figured it'd be fun, and maybe I could learn to take better pictures without hurting my head in another engineering class.

We are starting with film, which I suppose is appropriate. I knew the technical aspects better than 90% of the class. When we were given a Pentax SLR and f/1.8 50mm lens to learn on I was showing the people around me "this one is the aperture ring, I've never seen one before but I know that's what it is, and this one up here is the focus" etc. The one thing that eluded me was how film worked, I couldn't get the door open!

Apparently, by pulling a few buttons and pushing a few levers (or vice versa) you can open the whole back of the camera and load this "film" inside. I saw a Woody Allen movie, where he goes into the future and escapes by dangling from the same substance, which was apparently called a "computer" in that case. Apparently it is useful in a camera too.

Of course, it was easier to manual focus on that than my E-410, I actually felt I might have a chance of pulling it off. Much nicer was a Nikon FM passed around that had all sorts of mechanical tricks up its sleeve.

Apparently the teacher strictly shoots medium format film cameras, and couldn't even change the ISO on a DSLR when a student asked how. However, I thought I heard I may be able to check one of those bad boys out, see if medium format makes me a better photographer :)

We are shooting in black and white the whole semester, and I get extra credit for making a pinhole camera. Fortunately, we get to use DSLR's for most of the class. I'll keep you posted on how it goes (assuming you are interested...)

[ghost]

keep us updated!

[Wesan]

I'm also interested to know, what you learn in a photography class!

And good luck! :)

[Turn]

make us proud!

DCResource forum power!

[James DeRuvo DHQ]

Two words. RULE OF THIRDS! LOL. I still use many of the techniques I learned in beginning photography. One of the best classes I took in college.


J. DeRuvo
Digital Camera HQ (http://www.digitalcamera-hq.com)

[raven15]

Thanks! It is fairly basic to start with, then gradually progresses to a portfolio at the end. It doesn't seem like it on a day to day basis, but these forums are great for learning things. I probably know more than anyone but the teacher at this point. Whether or not I am as creative as some of the would-be-artists remains to be seen, but technically I know everything I need. I am mostly hoping to learn composition, telling a story in one shot, etc. more than anything else.

It's funny, but I now realize that little classes like photography are very important in life and even in an ordinary job. They can be used on their own, but there are a million people out there with the same degree over and over again in any given topic (art, business, engineering). In my case, for instance, I would be able to show up on a construction project and take great photos to show our clients, put on career and trade fair booths, etc. It's not limited to photography, any of a million little random skills are what get people and companies ahead.

(I discovered this working on a concrete canoe team, of all things).

[Razr]

Thanks! It is fairly basic to start with, then gradually progresses to a portfolio at the end. It doesn't seem like it on a day to day basis, but these forums are great for learning things. I probably know more than anyone but the teacher at this point. Whether or not I am as creative as some of the would-be-artists remains to be seen, but technically I know everything I need. I am mostly hoping to learn composition, telling a story in one shot,

We career PJs had to "tell the story in one shot", though the photo editor had/has the final say. Your "storytelling" must also consist of a caption which tells the larger story. In other words, the five "W"s: who-what-why-when-where.

If you look at and dissect corporate websites or annual reports, you'll often note some have shiny images but no text. You must then read about the image on the accompanying page or worse still, only find the information on the previous or following page.

Good caption writing is a dying art deeply treasured by photo editors.
Even if the image is graphic enough so a casual viewer can visually relate what they are seeing:
(dead man in auto with telephone pole through his chest), the 5 "W"s put "flesh on the visual bones".
Anyone who sees your "dead man" image would ask themselves one of the 5 "W"s and your responsibility is to tell them: "fleash out" the image.

Assuming you are one day required to wear all the hats for a corporate report:
editor, copy writer, photo editor-etc., "telling the story" takes precise, descriptive captioning for each image.

[zmikers]

I probably know more than anyone but the teacher at this point.
AHHHHHHH, but the teacher didn't know how to change the ISO on a DSLR, did he?:p

[raven15]

So, its been a few weeks, here's an update.

The class has about 20 students, which is the most that could possibly be able to use the dark room at once, and even that is a stretch. There are something like eight sections, so around 140 students are taking the class total. They are by no means all photography majors. In mine, there seem to be 6-7 people on a spectrum from photography to photojournalism to journalism, with various minors in either, plus a general art major or two. There are a few business / marketing majors, two biologists, two nurses (nursing students! I gotta meet more ;)) a political scientist, and surprisingly two civil engineers (myself being one).

Our first assignment was to make a cardboard "frame" with a rectangle in hte middle and go around framing objects throughout the day. Everyone made the frames, but I seriously doubt anyone used them. Apparently the teacher made one as a student and loved it.

Film is finicky, if you don't load it right you get a 0% hit rate and not know until it is too late, which happened to me. After that I borrowed a friend's camera which automatically winds the film, which was much more reliable. I also discovered that film has noticeably less "dynamic range" than even my Oly E-410, which supposedly has DR less than most DSLR's. On the other hand, film allows more latitude in processing. In digital, bringing up shadows makes noise eventually. With film, there is virtually no limit to how light or how dark you make your print, because there are no detrimental side effects. The analog nature of it means you can eventually find details in even the lightest lights and darkest darks, the challenge is in balancing them (or at least, that is my perspective after two prints).

[raven15]

Update continued (no reason, but I felt better breaking the post into smaller chunks).

We are only supposed to spend three weeks with film before moving to digital. I am not sure that is a good arrangement, because digital is too cheap and easy. Even after only two weeks of experience, I feel you learn much more with film than digital. When every shot counts, you spend much more time checking that it will come out correctly than you ever would with a digital camera. And actual experience in a darkroom teaches more about exposure than any amount of time in photoshop. I am as much about the digital age as anyone, but I feel that there is a "photography-ness" to film that digital can never have, and the training of "photographers" should emphasize that. But, either way tonight was the last darkroom night and we are now on our own to buy paper and schedule time if we want it. It will be rough for me because we need two quality prints by next week, and since I am working and taking the verbal portion of my "get out of school exam" this week, I won't exactly have a lot of time during regular dark room hours like the younger kids.

Many of the kids in the class are struggling, producing pictures that are out of focus or prints that are severely under- or over-exposed. Many are incredibly bad even so, because they are just a horrible framing job. For some reason, most don't seem to notice until told by the teacher.
I can take a very high percentage of "keepers" with little preparation even in poor light situations. After my first roll of film came out blank, I shot the second in 45 minutes just before class, but about 6 of them would have been better than the best shot of half the class. I think this is because I have been practicing for eight months. Also, the other kids don't have the advantage of JTL saying their composition sucks, which tends to weigh on the mind when shooting. On the other hand, one kid has a photographic mind and a film camera that he has used clearly before. The two prints he will be making are a spectacular shot of hot air balloons and a picture of a flower that is fairly impressive for being just an ordinary shot of a flower. There is also a lady that has a very nice portrait of her young daughter. The balloons and the portrait are better than pretty much anything I have done; I have yet to make (ever) a shot that I would call "great," but I have a substantial number that I would call "good."

It turns out that high altitude does lead to very contrasty situations, and it was not just in my head. I took all my shots in the mid/late afternoon, and some of my blacks were very black and my whites were very white. As a result I had to use a filter reduce contrast in printing. I was also assigned to "burn" the sky of one, which apparently involves waving a piece of paper over the corner while it is being exposed. Sounds like something I will screw up a few times :confused: No one else has been told to do this, so I assume that I was the only one whose skills were great enough to make a shot where this would be worth the effort, yet not bright enough to shoot at a better time of day. Ok, I didn't have a choice , but I am definitely attracted to high contrast situations.

It is funny the debate between 3:2 and 4:3 aspect ratios, when medium format is apparently square, and we are making all our prints in class at 7:5. I was surprised at how easy it is to crop and enlarge with film.

[James DeRuvo DHQ]

Not to mention GRAIN! Artistically, film is much more robust and fun to work with. You can't dodge and burn a digital image ... well, you can't digitally, I suppose, using Photoshop, but it's not the same. And in black and white photography, high contrast can be amazing. Ansel Adams made a career with it.

As for the students struggling. Didn't the teacher share the Rule of Thirds with them?