What's important in photo course

[Doug Paramore]

This question is a little outside of the normal range of our posts on this forum , but for the benefit of students I would like to know the answere. The moderato r may delete the post if so desired. I start teaching photography tomorrow at ou r local junior college. I will be teaching both beginner and advanced courses. M y question is this: For those of you who took photography courses, what was most important to you to help with your photography, and what would you have liked t o have been taught and was not? Any suggestions to make a class fit what you wan t to know a little better? I really want to give the students a good background in photography. I will be teaching some LF in the advanced course. Thanks for be aring with me on this.

Regards,

[Charlie Stracl]

I've never had a class on photography, but suggest the most important thing to teach is to experiment. Try something & see what results you get.

[Ellis Vener]

the most important characteristics are enthusiasm and patience. Know your material. Encourage the students to experiment, but try to get them to learn the basic technical stuff as a basis from which to experiment.

The best lesson I ever got about large format was: "When the movements start to get too complex, zero the camera (return all movements to the zero position), point the camera directly at the subject and start over." (Ron Scott)

The best lesson I ever got on lighting was: "Start with the light in one position. If you don't like the way things look, move it until you do. that is the only rule of lighting. (Danny Turner)

The best two lessons on photography in general? "You are responsible for every square millimeter of the frame." (Jay Maisel); "Expose for the shadows and print for the highlights". (Anonymous) The best philosophical approaches to photography? "If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough.(Robert Capa); and "it's only a picture, why not have some fun with it?"(Ellis Vener)

[Cesar Barreto]

Doug, Unfortunately, I had much less classes than wish I had, but from years till now I've been trying to teach something. People who seeks photography must learn above all that it's a meaning of expressing something that no teacher can tell them exactly what it is. Every time you finish a print you've aborted some other thousands of equally interesting and valid possibilities. There's where techniques comes for help. The more you know, the freer you come for creating a personal and original work. But, first of all, you've got have some personal and original thing to say. Otherwise, no luck will help someone, even technically prepared, to stand out in the crowd. It works here in Brazil and I suppose it must be OK everywhere. Good luck in your first class! Cesar B.

[John Hicks]

I think the most important things include a good grounding in technique, the wil lingness to try out new materials and processes for oneself, and the willingness to take the time to look at _lots_ of pictures.

It's going back a while <g> but I took a couple of college photography courses ; what struck me was that the instructors actually had very little technical kno wledge. The instructors were mainly into navel-contemplation photography and tha t left students unable to successfully contemplate a navel a second or third tim e after they'd managed to do it the first time by trial-and-error.

So the reason I think technique is so important is that it'll make photography _predictable_ for students. There's a big difference between "I hope it comes o ut" and "I _know_ it'll come out" and that keeps their confidence and enthusiasm up.

As for the second item, we see it here on photo.net all the time...someone wan ts us to tell them how a film or developer is rather than simply giving it a try .

Pictures...students need to look at pictures (or any other visual art) and lea rn to get past the immediate content to form...and back to content and how it al l works. As a visual art, photographers show others a representation of what the y saw or made up; I think it's well worthwhile to look at what others saw.

[Joseph Wasko]

Well, I graduated with a BS in Industrial Arts Education from The College of New Jersey in 1973. I was a Graphic Arts Major.

All freshman Industrial Arts majors had to take the basic Graphic Arts class. I had to take this class along with 4 more advanced classes. The basic class was demanding and time intensive. The Photography portion of this 3 credit class was 1/4 of the class. The other portions were 1/4 silk screen printing, 1/4 Lithography (camerawork and presswork), and 1/4 relief printing (platemaking and presswork).

For the Photography portion, each student was required to:

1. Load 2 sheets of 4X5 b&w film into a holder. 2. Expose these sheets in a Crown Graphic 4x5, using a hand held meter. 3. Process the negatives. 4. Contact print both negatives. 5. Enlarge 1 negative to 8X10. 6. Mount and spot the print.

If an entire semister is devoted to Basic Photography, I see no reason why all of the above should not be required in addition to:

1. A roll of 120 medium format film exposed, processed, and printed. 2. A roll of 35mm film exposed, processed, and printed, 3. A basic 3:1 head and shoulders portrait using hot lights. 4. A final photo essay containing at least 4 8X10 prints and text.

I don't like the idea of "dumbing down" anything. I think a student should be challenged. If a student can meet the challenge, he or she is rewarded with a lifetime skill and avocation. Tough but fair.

[james mickelson]

Doug, Many of us that photograph and have for some time tend to think about technique or equipment related issues. I think the best thing you can do for your students is to show them what other photographers create. Us ethe web. Use books. Many have never seen the beauty of Art Wolfe. Joyce Tennyson. HBC. Garry Winograd. Pick up a copy or copies of Black and White Magazine and show them what has been and continues to be created by photographers. Technique is easy to learn. Being creative is within all of us but it needs a mentor. Students need a little boost to get their creative juices flowing. We photographers get jaded and a little haughty thinking all that's needed is to just shoot and do your own thing. That type of thinking stifles real creativity. Just look at Misha Gordon. He didn't just come up with these ideas. He started with someone elses ideas and refined them to his own creativity. Kenna started with Bill Brandt. Adams started with Stieglitz. Give the students a tour of the possibilities and they will end up with their own ideas. And show them lighting from the days of the masters such as Rembrant and the other Dutch masters. Technique is easy. Creativity has to be taught. James

[james norman]

i studied under dr john pennybacker at LSU back in the early 70s, and he was one of those people who was born to teach. when he taught the non-majors, he realized that it was not truly the technical information that drove them to his class - it was a love of powerful images. he tried to find a way to identify that passion in each student and use that inner drive to teach them - they learned the technical aspects in spite of themselves as a support system for making images. one of his favorite projects for those majoring in fine arts/photography was a duplication assignment. each student would bring in a single image, any style or format or subject matter, and would discuss it briefly with pennybacker to describe what they saw in the image that affected them, and then they would have to duplicate the image or create a variation of the image. each aspect of the image had to be duplicated, from the type and angle of the light, to the poses, positions, etc of the subject. i used a historic street scene. the effect of that assignment turned into a 20-year career in architectural photography.

[Dave Anton]

Doug, I totally agree with James. Technique is easy and can be learned anytime. What I really appreciated in Art school were the critiques. To be emersed in a group of people all striving to understand what photography "is" is very unique and so group critiques and group involvement would be highest on my list. Your group critiques may even be their only opportunity for such an experiance.

As james also mentioned, I think it is very important to show slides and work of many photographers. Depending on your approach, showing other artists' work gives the student a chance to understand photography in an Art Historical context as well as its role in a commercial world. Possibly the differences between the two.

To me, understanding technique in photography is important (without it you can't create), but understanding the "idea" of what IS an image, is the most important.

Your a lucky man Doug.

Good luck with it, Dave.

[David F. Stein]

Good answers. #1: Work HARD to help each student realize what's in him- or hers elf, not just ratify what the teacher already knows or is. Practically, there i s no better way for students to quickly learn the potential of black and white m aterials than have each student use a $75 TLR and Verichrome Pan-the prints will glow. Stumbling with 35mm, the most difficult format to master, makes for stu mbling learning. Have fun, you are lucky to be teaching.