Blog #12: The Final Blog Post

It's hard to believe that the semester is already coming to an end when it feels like it just started last week. Maybe it's because I'm a senior and I'm so close to being done anyways, or maybe it's because we just got back from five day Thanksgiving break trying to get everything caught up and completed before the end of next week. Either way, time has flown on by.

But, in what feels like to be a short amount of time, I do think I learned quite a bit in Digital Nature Photography. It was really nice to get back into the habit of using my camera again, even if it was to focus on a specific object - nature. The last time I've taken this many photos in this period of time was probably back when I was in high school on the yearbook staff, going to any and all extracurricular activities and events so we would be sure to cover them in the publication that year.

However, it's reasonable to say that I'm an expert photographer, nor was I expecting to becoming one when I registered to be a part of this course. I was, overall, looking forward into getting back into the habit of taking photos again and improving from where I left off last. These are the things I notice about myself and the quality of pictures I take now that have changed since the beginning of this semester:

• I take the time to analyze my surroundings before I take the shot. I used to just look around real quick, see what I think would make a good picture, take three of four shots, glance at the photos real quick to check the lighting, and move on. Now, I actually look around me, think about my position and where I should be/what I should be doing, and take several shots from different angles and orientations. Then, I go through all of the photos, look for any details that are distracting, retake the shot if I need to, and then move on. There's something about being critical of your own work while you're still in the "moment" of taking pictures.
• I'm not the greatest at using Lightroom, but depending on the original shot I take, I don't need to make any extreme changes to my pictures. I was a little hesitant about having to use Lightroom for this class but I'm not a fan of altering pictures in any capacity, but the little changes aren't so bad. There were some pictures I took that I had played with a lot that sort of made me feel uneasy, but had I taken the time to actually check the quality of my pictures before I left the area or imported them onto my laptop, I probably wouldn't have made so many changes. So, I guess you could say lesson learned in that regard.
• Everyone is creative in their own right, and how they wish to construct their pictures may not be as appealing to others as it is to them.
• I have a better idea of how quickly camera bodies and lenses can get dirty, but it's not that difficult to clean them out or who to go/refer to to get them cleaned.
• Lastly, there is no such thing as taking too many pictures because each one is a little bit different from the other.

Thank you, Dave, for being willing to teach a bunch of seniors who had a variety of experiences with photography and editing in general. I'm glad that this course is offered at Rocky, and I look forward to taking better quality pictures in the future!