Final Reflection on My Photography Journey

Final Reflection on My Photography Journey

For my final learning project post, it is a good time to reflect on my accomplishments, struggles, breakthroughs, and setbacks while learning photography. I had wanted to learn photography for over a year when I started EDTC300, I even had a camera 6 months prior to the class starting, but I hardly used it. Now, just over a month later and I almost always bring my camera with me when venturing outside. Through my online research and a couple of independent realizations, I now have the confidence and ability to keep my camera in manual mode and change my settings on the fly when the situation calls for an adjustment. In gaining the confidence to take over complete control of how my pictures turn out, this learning project has allowed me to test out different settings and modes for all sorts of climates and models. When I set out on this learning project, I had said in my first blog post that I wanted to experiment with my camera in order to use it to its fullest potential, and I believe I did that. Along the way, I also started to build an educational network through online spaces and improved my ability to learn, document, and share new information through these spaces. The tools, resources, and contacts I have come away with during this time will only continue to advance my knowledge throughout my teaching career.

Reflection of Each Week

Week One – Learning Photography: An Excuse to Play

In week one, I introduced photography as the skill I wanted to focus on and learn throughout my learning project. I gave an overview of my experience with cameras and photography in general. I also laid out what I wanted to accomplish by the end of the learning project, such as being able to take professional-looking photos by understanding how to use my camera to its fullest potential.

  • Introduction to topic
  • Explanation of experience with cameras and photography
  • Expressing interest in experimentation with my camera
Photo of my camera from week one

Week Two – Aperture and Shutter Speed: The New Light of My Life

In week two, I began to generally familiarize myself with my camera and test out how it worked. I talked to a photographer friend of mine about the basics of photography and things I should be aware of as I start off. I learned the definition and function of shutter speed and aperture through the photography blog site, Photography Life. After learning about their function, I used my knowledge of the two settings on my camera by altering them while taking landscape shots. Looking back it is quite funny to see how frustrated and puzzled I was that my manual shots kept turning out black and white, only to find out a week later that I just had it stuck in a black and white mode.

  • Linked my Twitter account to a blog for the first time.
  • Took my first couple of photos
  • Learned and began to get familiarized with the proper use of shutter speed and aperture
  • Linked a photography resource, Photography Life
Photo of Lizard Mountain range from week two

Week Three – New Scenery and New Potentials

In week three, I began to understand the basics a lot better. The biggest update and breakthrough was that I figured out how to turn off the black and white effect while using manual mode. Using my newfound knowledge, I took some photos of turtles that I really like and believe turned out quite well. I began to show an applied understanding of how to properly use shutter speed and aperture when taking portrait photographs in darker environments (lower shutter speed, high aperture) and not worry about a lack of colour. I also discovered the Program Auto setting which would allow me to try out tracking focus for shooting moving objects.

  • Figured out how to add colour to manual photos
  • Showed a better understanding of shutter speed and aperture
  • Discovered the use of tracking focus on my camera
Photo of a turtle from week three

Week Four – Getting on the Right Track and my Review of Fotor

In week four, I tested out the tracking focus on my camera through the Program Auto setting. I took what you could call, “action” photos of my friend hitting a jump on his bike to not only test the effectiveness of the tracking focus, but also the limits of my shutter speed. While playing around with the menu button like I did last week to turn off the black and white feature, I discovered my camera also has continuous shooting which I used to good effect. Unfortunately, I learned my shutter speed was not as good as I hoped but it still worked for what I wanted it to do. During this week I also discovered and used the photo editing software, Fotor to touch up the photos of my friend and see what I am lacking in my photos. From Fotor, I realized that my photos need more warmth in order to bring a fullness to what I am shooting. Lastly, while writing my blog post for this week, I learned how to take a screenshot on my laptop.

  • Tested out tracking focus for the first time using the Program Auto setting
  • Discovered my camera has continuous shooting and used it for action shots
  • Tried out and wrote a review on the photo editing software, Fotor
  • Learned how to use screenshot on laptop (command + shift + 3)
Photo of my friend from week four

Week Five – Hunting the Biggest Beasts in the Foggy Mountains

In week five, I took some time to just play around with my camera in the search for a larger animal to photograph. I ended up working on creating a certain atmosphere in a photo by trying to darken portrait shots of a moose in the bush. I was also able to work on shot timing as I positioned myself along a railway and waited for the train to be in the perfect spot for a photo.

  • Focused on a specific type of look and lighting for a photo
  • Was finally able to photograph a large animal
  • Worked on shooting with patience and getting just the right photo
Photo of a moose from week five

Week Six – Shutter Hunting in the Rain, Yet Again

In week six, since it had been raining in Fernie everyday for over a week, I decided to focus on taking photographs in the rain. But most importantly, I wanted to focus on actually photographing rain as I had heard it could be a challenge. At the beginning of the week however, I found myself camping just outside of Fernie where I captured one of my favourite shots of a juvenile bald eagle. Once I was back in Fernie, I headed to the Mount Fernie Provincial Park as I wanted lots of opportunity to capture rain on some leaves. In preparation of shooting in the rain, I did some research on techniques to try out and found an article from National Geographic where they talk to a photographer and editor of theirs, Jim Richardson, about some things to focus on and try out while shooting in the rain. I also looked at an article from Skylum that offered important advice pertaining to the ISO settings on my camera. To capture the rain, I focused on backlighting it in order to make the water shine through the light source as best as I could. The results were good photos of a branch in focus with some rain noticeable on its leaves.

  • Focused on shooting in the rain
  • Linked to a photography resource: National Geographic
  • Linked to a professional photographer’s website and gallery: Jim Richardson
  • Linked to a photography resource: Skylum
  • Learned how to properly adjust my ISO settings
Photo of juvenile bald eagle from week six

Five Takeaways From my Learning Project

  1. Photography, while daunting, is easier than it looks and a lot of fun. The reason I never gave photography an honest effort was because of how difficult it looked watching my friend do it and the amount of options that were available on my camera, it was overwhelming. However, it really only took my two weeks to figure out the basics since it is basically all about the lighting you are in and the lighting you want to create. Once I was comfortable with adjusting my own shutter speed and aperture, I could try new things and easily experiment with different looking photos. Now I take my camera with me anytime I’m heading to the woods or a hiking trail and know exactly what I need to do to capture a great photograph.
  2. When learning a new skill, keeping track of and documenting your learning is extremely beneficial. When I started off each week, I had a set goal in mind because I kept track of where I left off last week, what went well, and what I wanted to try for the upcoming week. I could go back through each week and review my work once I had learned new techniques and ways of photographing and see if I wanted to retry a certain shot to improve or expand upon something I wasn’t quite at the skill level yet to pull off. Now that I have finished the learning project but am continuing to take pictures, I can go back and track my entire journey from where I began to where I am now. The learning project can serve as a very good reminder that it is never too late to learn something new and it can be a lot of fun along the way.
  3. Fellow educators are there to help, so use them. Introducing online tools, including peers, colleagues, and contacts into your learning process creates network of learning that allows everytone to benefit and contribute. Online spaces are some of the best spaces to learn a new skill as everything is at your fingertips. Throughout the learning project, I was able to find articles, blogs, videos, apps, and softwares from those a lot more talented in photography than me to help advance my knowledge in photography all while sitting in my office chair. Through these tools I found new techniques to make certain situations easier to photograph and get new ideas for photos along the way.
  4. You get back what you give. During my first week two weeks, I wasn’t receiving any comments on my blog posts and wondered why that was so. However, I wasn’t acknowledging the fact I wasn’t really commenting on anyone else’s blog either. My professor, Dr. Katia Hildebrandt made sure to remind us that others are less willing to interact with you online if you arent willing to offer anything. The purpose of these spaces is to create an online network where everyone shares something and takes something away in order to maximize learning. Once I started to interact more online with my classmates and fellow educators, the more I received back.
  5. Sunny weather is the easiest to photograph. In the first week of my learning project, I wondered what weather would be the easiest to photograph. Since photography is centered around lighting, I very quickly realized that sunlight is the best and easiest to photograph as it gives you a lot to play with all the light you need. While I do love the look of a gloomy day, I have found a new appreciation for a sunny one.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my learning project and am beyond greatly to come away from it having learnt a new skill that I can work on and enjoy for the rest of my life. Through my learning project, I learnt the importance and ease of using online resources to help advance my knowledge for a hands-on skill. I saw how much information and new perspectives you can come away from interacting with fellow educators in these online spaces as everyone has something to offer. I also became much more comfortable sharing an educational journey with fellow peers that included some hiccups along the way, it allowed me to see the support that is out there and available for when it is needed. I am very thankful and excited to be a part of a networked learning community full educators that I will constantly be looking to expand upon as I learn more and contribute more throughout my teaching career.

One thought on “Final Reflection on My Photography Journey

  1. Hi Chayce! Congrats on finishing up your learning journey. I’m glad this assignment gave you the opportunity to start your photography journey. I like the way you’ve laid out your learning – it shows how much you have learned in a short amount of time. I hope you continue building your photography skills in the future because your pictures look amazing already!

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