Photography 1

Reflection:

Do you feel like your experience in Photography I was successful? Explain.

I do think that my experience in Photography 1 was successful for a few reasons. Firstly, when I started with the digital portion of the semester I struggled a lot with figuring everything out. I asked a lot of questions and pushed through it which allowed me to be able to learn and grow as a student in photography.

What was the hardest thing for you in taking this course? How did you overcome this difficulty to be successful?

The hardest thing for me in taking this course by far was all of the camera trouble that I had. I had a very hard time getting the images to even come through properly and the camera kept jamming, and what I was able to come out with was extremely hard to get prints of because the exposure wasn't correct. I overcame this by making a lot of test strips and trying different filters to increase the contrast and try to make the images lighter and more crisp/clear. I also switched cameras which helped significantly with the exposure and from there I was able to get a lot of images and it was pretty much smooth sailing.

What was your favorite project this year? Why?

My favorite project this year was the photojournalism one because it came out so clear and crisp which I had been having issues with for the entire semester. it just sort of came together right for the end since it was the last assignment. This was encouraging to me because I was able to leave on a good note.

What was your least favorite? Why?

My least favorite assignment was intro to film because that is when I had the hardest time with my camera and developing and I was just really stressed out and overwhelmed for the most part. I tried really hard and put in a lot of effort with nothing really to show for it which was very frustrating for me.

How has your understanding of photography (composition and technique) and your appreciation of photography (the work of other photographers) been impacted by this class? Be specific.

My appreciation of photography has been impacted positively because I now know all of the things that go into taking a picture as well as the different compositional techniques. Specifically, when I see final images of things and know that they are edited, it takes a certain skill to be able to properly edit and enhance images without taking your attention away from the subject but instead subtly highlighting pleasant features or aspects of the image.