
Do I look a little embarrassed? I am not one to be the center of attention and needless to say, that decorative, uhm, trophy did not do much to ease this sentiment. But I was very happy, too, and I am glad to have a nice photo with my great professors.
Today was the last session of my digital photography class at the college. Overall it's been a great experience and I feel that I learned quite a lot (although, to a degree, that has left me more confused, if that makes sense!) Tonight everyone showed their photos and played their slide-shows as part of our final assignment. We were asked to rate our favorites in three categories: color images, monochrome, and the slide show. I "won" one first, two second and one third place! And because I had the most trophies as a result, I was also given the "big winner" medallion. I certainly did not expect this, there was one other very good photographer, a young kid who had this edgy arty kind of style I really liked. He got two first prizes and very deservedly so. This was a lovely way to finish a great class; one of the professors had already told me two weeks ago that he was giving me an "A", my first since I left school twenty years ago!
Lately I've been thinking a lot about my photography and where I might want to take it, especially after having photographed so many properties over the last 10 days. I am a bit of an impatient photographer, I will admit. That's probably what drew me to digital photography in the first place, the fact that you get instant results, both when you take the pictures and during post-processing. Although I've been taking photos ever since I was a teenager I was never interested in the perceived messiness of film development, or the complexity of learning about aperture, shutter speeds and how to find the correct light setting without the ability to view the results there and then.
Yet if I am to take away the most important advice of my professors it would this: to become a good photographer you need patience. And the technical skill. Meaning: know your f-stops, your shutter speeds, your ISO, etc, etc. After I photographed my first property two weeks ago I was very frustrated. I had been too lazy to use my tripod (all these adjustments I could make with it just bedazzled me) and it showed in the results. I felt very bad and almost did not charge the realtor for the photos. But he liked them anyway and I decided to keep my mouth shut and to start applying what I was learning. And boy, do I still have a lot to learn. I am still not 100% happy with the images I subsequently took of the other properties. One of the reasons? I kept forgetting my settings. I.e. in one room I had increased my exposure and the ISO and then forgot to change it back when I moved onto the next room where the light was very different. The worst mistake was when I took exterior photos on a bright day with my exposure set at +2.0 -- I had forgotten about that and only noticed it an hour later!
Digital photography appeals to me because the sprinter in me loves the instant gratification it provides. Yet to become really good at it, perhaps even professional, I will need to adopt some of the marathon runner's principles. Training. Perseverance. Technique. Like: use "sunny f.16" on, well, sunny days. With a shutter speed of 250 to keep the same exposure values.
I have many ideas as to where I would like to take my photography. And it's not all about selling my photos and services, I would for instance also love to run workshops for beginners, those who are still confused about how to best organize their images, and who want to learn the basics of digital photography and how to get the best out of Photoshop and other software applications. I am actually good at bringing concepts, both technical and organizational, across to an audience, and it is something I love doing.
I have to admit, I never expected to become so passionate about photography. I still compare myself to the many talented artists out there, both professional and amateur, and I feel small and insignificant. Like, who am I to be dreaming such dreams, compared to them? Oh, I know, the good old envy bug is nothing but counter productive. But this is where I love this online community, yes, there are people who I might feel a little jealous of, but at the same time they are all happy to share their work and processes. I have probably learned more from looking at their stuff and reading about their experiences than anywhere else. And whenever I feel like I am no good at all, the universe sends me a little upbeat reminder to keep believing in myself, like a request to use one of my photos, or the sale of two photos in my show at the salon (yay!), or the very encouraging feedback from professional photographers, such as my professors, or my neighbor.
My mind is buzzing, can you tell? So much has been happening since we made The Decision, and it's like suddenly my world is shifting into gear and moving forward again. Tom and I have had to make some difficult choices (about the sweeties and my job) but overall, our barometer is set to sunny f.16!