I want to outperform the University of Redlands. My goal this year is to have everyone in the club learn more in the club than they would in Photography classes. Why? Well if you're like me, you don't have time for the classes in your schedule, and they're nearly impossible to get in anyway.
Ryan Scott, downtown Seattle, 26mm at 1/250" f/8.0 on ISO 400. I took this photo last night while I was in town and I wanted to make it the first photo I shared with you all this year, since I think it captures a lot of what I want to do this year. It's got all the basics: it's in focus, it's properly exposed, etc. I took it without using any automatic functions: focus, flash, exposure, all manually set to get exactly what I wanted. We will spend some time on these fundamental skills, but you're not going to make the cover of Sports Illustrated with a sitting model and an on-camera flash. I had my subject crouch down rather than sit up straight, I composed it so he is slightly off center, rather than perfectly centered in the middle of the frame, and if you look closely, yo will see that I rotated the camera to align with the vertical of his face, rather than the horizontal of the wall or sidewalk. The photo is essentially crooked, but this is the look I wanted here. The bottom line is, I would rather see creativity than perfection, regardless of what kind of camera you use, or what subjects you shoot.
Ryan Scott, downtown Seattle, 26mm at 1/250" f/8.0 on ISO 400. I took this photo last night while I was in town and I wanted to make it the first photo I shared with you all this year, since I think it captures a lot of what I want to do this year. It's got all the basics: it's in focus, it's properly exposed, etc. I took it without using any automatic functions: focus, flash, exposure, all manually set to get exactly what I wanted. We will spend some time on these fundamental skills, but you're not going to make the cover of Sports Illustrated with a sitting model and an on-camera flash. I had my subject crouch down rather than sit up straight, I composed it so he is slightly off center, rather than perfectly centered in the middle of the frame, and if you look closely, yo will see that I rotated the camera to align with the vertical of his face, rather than the horizontal of the wall or sidewalk. The photo is essentially crooked, but this is the look I wanted here. The bottom line is, I would rather see creativity than perfection, regardless of what kind of camera you use, or what subjects you shoot.Field trips, contests, and cold, hard, constructive criticism. You can't learn everything in a classroom, and I generally don't believe you will not improve if you're always told your work is amazing. For example, please do not hesitate to tell me the above photo is crap. If you think I should have centered it or kept it level, tell me!
We're going to try and do at least three major field trips each semester, into the city, into nature, and in between. We will discuss destinations at the meeting. As for contests, we will have a theme for each meeting and everyone will shoot for that theme between meetings. We will start each meeting by sharing our best three photos from the theme, and giving feedback.
Questions:
Do I need a camera?
Yes. I'm sorry but we don't have the budget yet to provide cameras, and I sold my extra SLR to buy a new strobe so everyone will need to have a camera this year, preferably digital but film works if you can keep up.
When will the club meet?
We will decide this at the first meeting, but it will probably be once a week in the evening (7 PM or so).
What's the deal with this blog?
We will use this blog to post photos and share experiences. You will all be given write-access once the semester begins.
What do I have to do to join?
E-mail me at alexander_grummer@redlands.edu and tell me you want to be added to the club list, so you will receive e-mails on when the first meeting will be, etc.
Please comment on this post with any other questions so everyone can see them as well.
