take a photography course

...that if the class ended after one week, I would be COMPLETELY satisfied with it’s value. First of all, there are 6 students of varying experience – so a very personal experience. Secondly, the teacher is a renowned professional photographer (Peter Schutte, from the Netherlands). He told stories of working with great American photographers such as Ansel Adams and Edward Weston. That blew my mind. He asked us questions that got us out of our comfort zone. We plan on taking field trips all over Portland and the Columbia Gorge. We went through photography books and discussed what we enjoyed.

Notes from the class:

Edward Weston
Paul Strand
Alfred Stieglitz
Ray Atksinson
W. Eugene Smith

Enjoy yourself.
Take fewer, more meaningful pictures.
If time and money were no concern, what would you photograph?
What do you enjoy taking pictures of?
What do you find difficult taking pictures of?

Baking analogy: Heat + Time (Aperture + Shutter Speed)

Skin analogy: Lighter skin has a high ISO (more sensitivity to light), darker skin would have low ISO (less sensitivity to light).

Doubling the ISO number of the film doubles its sensitivity to light. In other words, you could capture a low-light scene with a shutter speed of 1/15 second with ISO 100 film, or 1/60 second with ISO 400.

Still too much light, use a quicker shutter speed.
Anything beyond 1/250th of a second will be a frozen image.
Experiment with shutter speed blurs to convey movement.
Pay attention to the histogram.

for the photography course today. Starts on 6/16.

I love taking pictures. I do it constantly. About 3 years ago my dad bought me a Canon camera, an expensive one and it broke and we’ve upgraded and gone through two more. I love my camera. I love being able to capture images on it that catch my eye, so I can share them with other people. People often give me praise on my photography but on paper, I know nothing of photography and I would like that to change.

...so im taking it off the list. However, I will keep my goal of ‘learn to take better photos’ which is similar =)

I am one of these people who have a hard time expressing themselves through feelings or through art. I have always had a love towards photography and how people can express themselves so deeply through a camera lens. I believe taking a photography course will not only help me express myself through a hobby I have always wanted to pursue , but also be a great place to meet people who have the same interests as myself.

Okay, I haven’t actually taken the course yet, but I signed up for two courses – intro to digital SLR cameras (a one day course) and then an intro to photography course (a 4 week course – on Saturday’s). It’s at the local community college. I’m looking forward to it. I bought a new lens for my camera!

Thirteen years ago today, my uncle died on K2. He was a photographer to support his climbing. I really hope to follow in his footsteps!

• So I can take great pictures of our kids growing up
• So we can make the most of our great digital camera