Reflections on a Semester

What did you learn about photography that you did not know before?

I learned that photography doesn't have to mean taking pictures of one specific subject. The subject of my photography can be whatever I dream up, and whatever interests me. I learned that in photography, a photo doesn't have to look a certain way to be "good". I can take risks and end up having a great photo. Just because something isn't photographed the way everyone else does it doesn't mean that it was done wrong; it makes the photograph special. I learned that photography is all about perspective, and it really depends on how the photographer views the world. This will dictate what kind of photos a person takes. It's all about learning to look at the world in a new sort of way, and executing new ideas. I learned that film photography is different than digital photography. That may sound silly, but I didn't know the components of film photography. Things like aperture and shutter speed were not familiar to me. I learned the components of photos and editing things to enhance them.

What did you learn about yourself this semester?

I learned that coming into this class, I was not a risk taker when it came to photography. I thought that taking pictures of dogs or people was the safe way to do photography and I guess I never really thought of taking pictures in different ways. I also thought coming into this class that I had a good sense of detail, but I realized that was really minimal. I'd never really considered things like shadows and light, and placement. This class made me slow down and actually take things into consideration. Also I learned that it's okay to do things differently. It's okay to do things that might be considered weird or uncommon for the sake of photography. Along with that I learned that I need to be less stressed about this class, and wonder what I'm going to do, and instead just try new things that I don't normally do. Most of all, I learned patience from having to redo things when I didn't get them right the first time. I learned that sometimes I have to slow down in order to achieve quality.

What do you wish we had done that we did not?

I do wish that I would have had the ability to experiment with different camera lenses and settings. I know that requires everyone to have those lenses, but I would have liked to see the different ways to make a photo look with the different lenses and techniques. Other than that, I have no complaint because I learned more about photography processes than I thought I would.

What was your struggle?

My struggle in this class takes me back to the beginning of the year, back when we worked on printing negatives in the darkroom. Every day I would be so worried that I would never have enough time to finish my projects, and so I felt like I had to rush. Also, I felt like the process came naturally to everyone else except me. I was always so concerned with doing everything exactly right, and then when my pictures turned out black, I got frustrated. It took a while for me to actually get some of the first projects right, such as Pin-hole and Photograms, but I eventually learned it and am still learning. I also found it hard to find subject matter that I really wanted to photograph. I was able to go to Portland a few times (or just anywhere out of the way) for photographs, but not as often as I would have liked to just go and explore and get the photos I really wanted at times, so I had to stretch my imagination with what I had to work with.

What did you conquer?

I conquered thinking that I would not be able to complete my projects in the darkroom because I did eventually. Although it's not my favorite part of this class, I can say that I went through the experience and learned from it. I also conquered some of the other projects I had trouble with, such as the Self-clone panoramas. Stitching the photos together in photoshop was a difficult process, but I did it. Overall, I just conquered this class. A month into it, I thought it would be too hard to complete, but I stuck with it and learned photography processes I will apply to my life later on.