Photography Class

"Each time you take a picture you are defining reality in your particular individual way"

David Brooks

 

"The decision-making processes we make when taking a photograph starts first with being able to see possibilities." 

R. Bearden

Picture I took for my class
The assignment was light and shadow

I am taking a photography class.  The class teaches composition in photography.  I love to take pictures wherever I go, and I think I have taken a lot of really good photos over the years, but I know I also take some not so good ones.  I can use improvement.  And this class teaches me to think about how I am looking at a scene when I take the picture.  I'm learning to look around more before taking the shot, to make sure there are no signs or traffic cones, electrical lines, or garbage cans, that are going to show up in the shot.  Those things can spoil the shot.  Also, I'm thinking more about where my subject is positioned in the shot.  There is the 1/3 rule, which means that the horizon of the picture should not be in the middle of the picture, it should be either in the top 1/3 or the bottom 1/3, and your subject should be to the side of the picture, also not in the middle.  There are of course exceptions to the rule, but generally speaking that makes a more interesting picture.

The teacher has also talked about deciding on choice of format, either horizontal or vertical.  Horizontal pictures are more relaxing.  The vertical pictures are more dynamic and show action.  She also wants us to be aware of something in the picture that would draw our eye away from our main subject.  Sometimes that is just something off to the side which attracts your attention.  It can be something simple like a row of flowers, a stream or a tree trunk.

A picture I took in Africa
My teacher said it was a good example of the 1/3 rule
because the main subject was in the bottom third
and I kept the horizon straight

Also important is keeping your horizon straight.  Otherwise you feel you are sliding out of the shot.  I have a problem with that sometimes, but I have discovered I can fix that by editing the pictures in a program I have, which allows you to push a button and straighten it.  Even when it just straightens it a little it makes such a difference.  But for the class she does not want us to do any editing of the picture, she wants us to get it right to begin with.

And she wants us to think about where we are when we take a picture.  You can change the whole perspective of a shot by changing where you are in relation to the subject.  You can get down low and look upward toward your shot, or sometimes it is better to climb up higher to get the shot looking down.  She says we should always be aware that we are making a choice by our position and the position of the camera.  She wants us to look at shadows and reflections and make choices about those when taking the shot.  It is a lot to think about, but I am finding that it works.

I took this class in the spring, just before going on our trip to Africa, but I was only able to take half the class because of the trip.  So I signed up again and started the class over.  The good thing is that we have a different teacher this time.  She is much better and there is a lot more discussion.  So I already feel I have learned more from her.  I think it will help me take better photos when we take our next trip.

para-glider

Each week she assigns us a subject, and we are suppose to take pictures of that and bring in 3 pictures. She shows the pictures on a large screen in class and critiques them.  In fact the whole class can critique the pictures, we learn from doing that.  And we discuss the rules and how they apply to that photo.  It can be enlightening.  This next week our assignment was transportation.  Any kind.  I decided I didn't want pictures of just cars, trains or airplanes, but unusual forms of transportation.  So we went looking.  Our first stop was the glider-port in La Jolla, which is about an hour north of us.  They do glider planes and para-gliding from there.  There were no gliders up that day, but I was able to get a picture of a para-glider.  

I had to have 3 samples of transportation, so I was also able to find horses with riders at the beach, and a really different type of bicycle, where he was not pedaling, but walking his feet on a special type of pedal to make the bike move.  So I think I found some interesting transportation, and was able to get good composition shots as well, which is the main goal. 

I'm enjoying the class and I think it will help me in the future.  Photography is kind of a hobby with me, I love taking pictures.  If you also enjoy taking pictures, there are many classes available.  I am taking this one through an adult education program provided by the city, and it is very inexpensive.  And of course now with digital, there is no cost for film, and you can take lots of pictures until you get just the right one.