You’d think Zoom would be the worst way to teach photography, but what started as a necessity turned into a blessing. After three years of teaching history, politics and theology with ALL, I decided to try photography. After 34 years teaching at Cape Cod Academy, I'd run photography seminars for years. The kids always ended up with a personal portfolio and a public gallery of their work. Why not offer it at ALL?
Turns out, Zoom is perfect. With screen-sharing, I can bring my students into my computer to see how various apps work, real time, while they watch. I have programs the college doesn’t have on its system, nor does ALL. Just as I did at CCA, students send me work which I file in personal portfolios. At the end, the best work is assembled into virtual galleries.
Let’s start with portraits. What works for portraits works in general. I ask my students to look for what is interesting in a person, what is beautiful and what is good. (Actually, it’s not a bad practice to look for these things in everyone we meet.) Anyway, if you can see these qualities in a person, it’s apt to show up in their portraits. It’s not too great a stretch to carry this approach into photographing landscapes, wildlife and events.
So we’ve got things to consider taking the photographs, light being crucial. Then we’ve got all the possibilities to modify the work after taking the picture… all kinds of interesting apps. It’s a chance to take the photograph all over again. A photograph can morph into an oil painting… the central image in a photograph can be made to pop a bit – or to glow. Backgrounds can disappear and be replaced with something else. Obviously, the whole enterprise is only as good as the original photograph, but with graphics, the photograph isn’t the end of the process. It can be just the beginning.
ALL offered photography this spring session in two 6-week classes. We had a good time. People tried things they didn’t know existed – and then took off!
Click on the button below to view the photo gallery from this spring's classes.
