Final Reflection
When I decided to take the leap into learning the technical aspects of capturing a photograph, I did so tentatively. I have always been a fan of compact cameras and the iPhone revolutionized photography in a new and curious way. A few years ago, my oldest son took up photography and became very proficient at the art. At the same time, he needed to teach me the technical aspects of operating his camera and long lens so that I could document his surfing adventures. During this time, I also became the on-set photographer for his new love - film making. We have traveled together to some pretty exotic locations and this time shared with him is very precious to me. I never ever took the camera off of automatic. Sometimes I would get adventurous and turn the dial on top to the 'running man' icon or the 'flower' icon.
Eleanor, my dear friend and fellow Harvard Extension School classmate, and I were looking at the catalog for fall classes and that is when I learned that she also had a secret desire to learn how to take great pictures. That marked the beginning of what has been an incredible journey. Eleanor and I have become better friends and we rely heavily on each other to give support, feedback, and criticism during this process. There have been many days where we have had emergency 'zoom-share my screen' sessions or one of us has raced over to the other's house to come to the aid of the other.
From that first day, for the first walkabout, I have been captivated and intimidated on a daily basis learning this craft. It is one of the most humbling practices I have ever attempted and one of the most gratifying. I struggled initially with focus and exposure. I learned that I love dark moody photographs, but that I tended to overdo that a little too much. I learned that I still need to learn to see color and other aspects of refining a photo in Lightroom. Hopefully, this is a skill that comes with time and experience. I am getting better at exposure, I know that when I look at the photograph in the back of my camera, the image I see is lighter than what it will be once I download it. I have learned that I love still life photography and I feel like I am pretty good at it. I really want to be better at street photography and documentary photography but after the last assignment, I realized I have a lot to learn. I have spent countless evenings searching the internet for new artists and hope to learn from discovering them, and isolate what it is that moves me about their art.
I spent the majority of my professional career around photography. At times, I would hang around the photographers or their assistants, trying to learn about their techniques. One of the most fascinating and intimidating aspects of photography was the difficulty of lighting. I started to work on lighting scenes last summer in a filmmaking class and now I spend a lot of time working with the studio set up for indoor lighting.
I am really looking forward to this next semester, although, after the last few weeks, I have to admit that I am really intimidated. I have had the most amazing time in this class and I feel so grateful to Leonie, Sohpie, and Nafis. It was their endless patience, support, and encouragement that kept me going!
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