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A beginning photography class is required for my degree and although I looked forward to it I was a little disappointed in my class. I was hoping to learn more about using a SLR camera but the class was more about developing and printing (B&W). Still I did learn some things and came away with some interesting photos.

I'll try posting them from my facebook acct......not sure if that will work tho':

WARNING......this group of photos includes kids.....LOL!:

THE HORSE One was the best of the bunch imo of course.
But then again I am biased when it comes to Horses, and other animals.
But all the photos were great.
Thanks for sharing,

Those are really great! Way to go!

Beautiful! Your contrast is excellent and that horse is gorgeous!

Yes, my first photography class as a Fine Art major at uni covered very little about the camera, the entire emphasis was on black and white darkroom printing.

My uni didn't offer much more than that, which was devastating to me because all I wanted was to be a photographer and it wasn't offered as a major. So over the years I've learned a lot more through workshops, non-credit art school classes, and photography magazines.

Can't wait to see more!

The best part was getting my husband to pose "nude" (he's not really nude.....just looks like it) for my skin lighting studies.

I probably won't continue much with photography. I needed to be able to use a SLR camera for reference photos for my paintings so all the darkroom stuff was frustrating to me. We had VERY limited dark room time and the quality of our prints were the #1 factor in our grading. Good thing (or is it a bad thing?) I'm a perfectionist!

ForMyACDs Wrote:The best part was getting my husband to pose "nude" (he's not really nude.....just looks like it) for my skin lighting studies.

I probably won't continue much with photography. I needed to be able to use a SLR camera for reference photos for my paintings so all the darkroom stuff was frustrating to me. We had VERY limited dark room time and the quality of our prints were the #1 factor in our grading. Good thing (or is it a bad thing?) I'm a perfectionist!

Well, that is WHY your art is so fantastic! Keep up the good work!
ForMyACDs

Being a perfectionist is pretty much mandatory when it comes to art anyway. Darkroom work is very intense with details, so many things can go wrong. Just the temperature or chemical mixture can throw everything completely off. Then there's dust in the darkroom, on the negatives, making dust spots on the print you have paint over later with Spot Tone and tiny brushes. If your photo prints or graphic designs or paintings aren't perfect, then why would someone pay hard-earned money for them? And why would a gallery owner show them? So it all has to be perfect and the artists have to be perfectionists. My fellow art students and I would be in the studios at school literally all night long working, only the art majors were allowed 24 access to a school building--the fine arts building. Other students on campus had to leave their labs and buildings by midnight.

I nearly had a breakdown over this class. It was a summer class and this particular instructor made no changes in his regular curriculum. We were required to do the same number of projects, shoot the same amount of film and produce the same amount of prints in a 7 week class as is required for the 15 week class. Unfortunately, because it is summer the darkroom was not open every day (as it is during the regular school year) and the only days it was open not a single person in our class was able to come in (it was open for 4 hours two days a week). During the 6 hour classes the instructor didn't change his lectures either so we had MAYBE 2 hours at most to work in the darkroom each class day. It was a mess! I get stressed over my classes but NOTHING like this one! I was surprised I survived!

I was particularly worried about this class affecting my GPA, but in the end it worked out fine.....I passed with an A

I don't know a lot of about photography, but those are beautiful, and have such a pensive and happy vibe. I love them!

I really like the one with the bottles and the Halloween decoration. Nice juxtaposition.

ForMyACDs Wrote:I nearly had a breakdown over this class. It was a summer class and this particular instructor made no changes in his regular curriculum. We were required to do the same number of projects, shoot the same amount of film and produce the same amount of prints in a 7 week class as is required for the 15 week class. Unfortunately, because it is summer the darkroom was not open every day (as it is during the regular school year) and the only days it was open not a single person in our class was able to come in (it was open for 4 hours two days a week). During the 6 hour classes the instructor didn't change his lectures either so we had MAYBE 2 hours at most to work in the darkroom each class day. It was a mess! I get stressed over my classes but NOTHING like this one! I was surprised I survived!

I was particularly worried about this class affecting my GPA, but in the end it worked out fine.....I passed with an A

Squashing 15 weeks into 7 weeks for an art class sounds typical, but limiting your darkroom access just because it's summer is irresponsible and downright mean. You should have had 24 hour access, and you should absolutely complain about it to the dept head. Not every student is a kid with no job or responsibilities. That's messed up. It would easily take me 9 hours of darkroom work to come out with two or three perfect prints, on a good day.

anastasia Wrote:It would easily take me 9 hours of darkroom work to come out with two or three perfect prints, on a good day.

Yep.......there were a few that I had to skip steps on, and a few that I should have done more dodging or burning, but I did what I could. The ONLY thing that saved me was that there was a continuing education class on the evenings we didn't have class. We were told the darkroom was off limits on those days, but I stopped in t talk with the instructor and begged her to let me use the darkroom along with her students. I mean, why should WE have to give up the darkroom when we're paying over $1600 for the class to a group that pays $200 for a class?

Our instructor WAS trying to get longer hours for us, but it "wasn't in the budget" so it was the school that was holding him back. It was just ridiculous. Oh yeah, and he IS the department head......LOL!

Great photos. I love the one with the cat and the top child one where she has on the veil. Beautiful shots.

This is terrific that you are pursuing this - you're artistic talents have always blown me away.

Of course you got an A!

What's your next class?

I like the one with the chick (that was my first impression of the bird type anyway). It's a little creepy, but then, it's just a chick. I like how it made me feel.

catsnotkids Wrote:What's your next class?

Illustration Painting, Life Drawing II & Intro to Digital Illustration

daria Wrote:I like the one with the chick (that was my first impression of the bird type anyway). It's a little creepy, but then, it's just a chick. I like how it made me feel.

I was desperately trying to come up with things I could use for the "light and shadow" assignment. The "chick" is actually this kind of lumpy clay pigeon looking thing with wire legs. I tried to use it for a few other photos, but didn't get the effect I wanted. This one I thought turned out kind of interesting.