Last Day Reflections

What did you learn about photography that did not know before?
This semester, I learned so many new things about photography that I did not know before. Before this class, I didn't know that there were so many different settings on the camera or how to use them. For example, shutter speed; I wasn't aware that you could change all the little numbers and things on the camera. It was also super cool to learn about the earlier versions of the camera and that we could create a camera out of a room, garbage bags, black tape, and a small hole! It was also fun to see the changes I could make in my pictures through photoshop. I had never used photo shop before until this class so it was incredible to see what I could do with it. I'm really glad I got to experience using photoshop and it really made me want to get it myself.
What did you learn about yourself this semester?
I learned that I definitely do not see myself continuing with photography as a career, but maybe just for fun once in a while. I really am learning to appreciate it more. I did not know of all the editing and work that can go into a picture. A lot of the time when taking a picture, you get one shot to get it right because whatever you are taking the picture of won't stay the same forever, so it is really amazing when you get a shot just perfect. I enjoyed looking at all the different photographers, photos and videos you had to show us too. It was like stepping into their shoes and seeing what they see and what they can create.
What do you wish we had done that we did not?
I wish that we could've done some more film photography. It was difficult and took time but I really liked the way the pictures turned out. It was cool seeing the turnout of all the different ways a photo can end up looking.
What was your struggle?
A struggle of mine was probably taking all the pictures. I found it somewhat difficult to figure out what and how I wanted to take the picture. I normally liked the product I ended with but it was still at times difficult. It was especially difficult when we were assigned to take a ton of pictures of one thing. It was also difficult to please everybody with the photos I took. Of course, not everybody is going to like them but I feel like everybody has a different creative eye so opinions will be different.
What did you conquer?
Something I conquered was probably photoshop. It was kind of difficult at times because of all the difficult things we had to do to the picture and it was easy to make a mistake, but it was helpful to be able to ask questions and get help from the people around me.

Blur Photos

Light

At first I had a hard time figuring out how I was going to create these silhouettes. I struggled with trying to stay in front of the light so that your focus would stay on the silhouette rather than the bright light. In the top photo I discovered I actually liked how the light showed through. Often, I had to retake the pictures a couple times to get what I wanted. I had a couple photos where the light dramatically changed just because of where the lamp and I were positioned which was bothersome. It was also frustrating at the beginning trying to keep the light from reflecting from the doors and things onto me. I definitely learning that silhouettes can be more difficult than you think. :)