Today was an exciting day of photography assignments and thorough instruction.
We took a short trip to a historic homestead with an outstanding variety of photographic subjects.
Some students chose to spend a good deal of time exploring the rooms of the buildings with an array of old tools inside. One could also photograph the open fields with blue skies and knee-high grass, or many animals including horses, chickens, pigs and ducks. The weathered buildings and their furnishings gave fantastic textures, especially in black and white film.
The third session of the course was orientated around controlling the quantity of light entering the film/sensor. We discussed aperture and shutter speed and their reciprocal relationship to one another. Later, ISO speed was included, so that equivalent ISO, aperture and shutter speeds could be explored.
The quality of the images was awesome. Students put a lot of effort into thinking about their images before shooting them. We were also encouraged to explore the emotional impact of the photos. That is, what is the underlying message that we are trying to convey to the reader. Also, would our message provoke a similar emotional response towards further generations? Moreover, each student has learned to recognize the importance of mental construction of images prior to pressing the shutter release.
I felt exhausted after the photo shoot and theory, and will sleep well tonight. However, by Godís grace, I look forward to shooting and maturing even more tomorrow.
—Prizewinning Photography Student Leigh Plowman
