Hello ,
Every once in a while, I revisit comments photographers made about classes they took with me.
Some of them are from when I first started teaching in 2002. And at that time, DSLRs were nowhere near as widespread as they are now.
Back then, all photographers who took the Introduction to Photography class used film SLRs or compact cameras that worked in fully manual exposure mode.
Here's a comment I wanted to share with you. I'm sharing it from an SLR user who took the Introduction to Photography class back then.
"At first I was a bit intimidated by using a manual SLR camera. Through Sam's class, I now have more options and control in taking pictures and have fewer "failed" shots. I can now anticipate how the camera will perform and can manipulate the exposure to capture what I want to
capture."...
Comparatively speaking, SLRs are much less complex to operate than DSLRs.
And even though the camera technology back then was much more straightforward, using a camera during that time in manual exposure mode was just as intimidating as it is now.
Nothing has changed except the camera's technology. So it can't be the technology that's the problem.
The problem is we don't know what to do with a camera to get the pictures we want.
In other words, cameras might become more technically complex, but that's not a problem if we understand the relationship between camera operation and
composition.
For example, If we learned what to do with an SLR in the film days, we already know what to do with a digital camera to get the pictures we want.
That's because we understand photography, and our understanding of photography can be applied to any camera.
We only need to learn digital camera technology to do the work we know how to do.
Of course, a digital-to-film camera scenario works too.
The point is if we understand photography, we can pick up any camera, and we'll know what to do with it to make the best picture possible.
We'll need a few minutes to figure out how to work the specifics of the camera to get the image we want, but other than that, we know what we're doing in terms of camera operation and composition.
It's kind of like knowing how to drive a car. We can drive 'em all if we know how to drive one car. We need to learn the specifics of the car's ergonomics to use
it.
And remember, we learn and improve by doing, so practice making at least one picture today.
That’s all for now; thanks for reading!
Sam
Be a better photographer; study and practice photography with me.
And if
the timing doesn't work for you in any of my scheduled group classes, we can schedule a one-time lesson or a series of in-person or online one-on-one private instruction that cover the same things as any of my group classes.
