The last fourteen weeks have flown by! It feels like we were just in January getting started to take on a learning project journey. Here we are, in the last week of the semester, doing our learning project reflection. I took this learning project assignment as a time to take on my dream hobby of photography. My only experience with photography is using my cellphone camera, so I was ecstatic when my DSLR camera arrived. I’ve wanted to learn to photograph with a DSLR camera for a long time because my old photos from travelling are not of the greatest quality. I want to be able to take some fantastic landscape photographs when I travel the world. I also wanted to learn photography to save money when getting family photos taken. My last goal in learning photography was to be able to use this skill in my classroom to teach my students photography. 

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Learning Project Recap:

Picture This!: Introduction & what I hoped to accomplish during this learning project

When Life Gives You a Lime: Getting familiar with a DSLR camera using YouTube tutorials

The Lost Art: Finding motivation and inspiration when you are feeling unmotivated and uninspired & a plan to get back on track

CapCut Video Editing: Making a Flipbook-inspired video using CapCut

Shutter…Not to be Mistaken by Shudder: Learned about Shutter Speed using photography blogs

Opposite Day: Learned about Aperture using photography blogs

In Search Of photography tips: Learned about ISO using photography blogs

You Used to Call Me on my Cellphone: Reviewed photography phone apps: VSCO, Photon & Pixlr

Snap, Crackle & Pop: Editing photos using the Snapseed app

It’s Gonna Cost Ya: Created a photography portfolio using Adobe Portfolio *Spoiler Alert* After working on my portfolio, I realized I couldn’t publish it without paying a subscription fee.

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Top Takeaways:

• Photography is much more complex than I expected it to be! I am used to having my phone automatically adjust the exposure, but I wanted to learn how to set exposure and other settings manually with the DSLR camera. Getting some good photos takes a lot of practice and trial and error. 
• Many online photography resources have a cost. I didn’t realize how expensive photography is. There’s the cost of buying the camera and accessories like memory cards, lenses, camera bags, tripods, etc. Then, there is the cost of online photography courses, editing sites and tools, and online portfolios. No wonder photographer fees are pricey! 
• Blogs can be useful! Blogs were the most helpful because 1) they are free, and 2) they are easy to follow and understand. I enjoyed reading people’s personal experiences with learning photography; seeing their photography examples was inspiring. I also found YouTube had a lot of great tutorials. 
• There are so many online resources, but you have to comb through a lot to find what fits your needs. I was looking for a free, easy-to-understand resource and found it challenging at times to find both. I understand that people use the money from their apps and courses to cover their cost of living, but I’m a university student without a large disposable income. 

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Final Thought:

I’m glad I finally took the plunge into photography as a hobby. I will continue to practice photography in my spare time – I have a long way to go before I reach 10,000 photographs. Someday, I hope to be able to use my photography skills to take some lovely family photos and travelling photos and use photography in my classroom.

If you want to see the photos I’ve taken throughout this project, you’ll have to read my other blogs (links above)—see what I did there?!