--
Kenneth Waller wrote:
Funny you should bring up Henry Ford CC, I work within a mile or two of it and took a couple of Photoshop classes there a few years ago. It turns out I knew more about Photoshop that the instructors did. If I remember correctly one of the instructors had never used PS before the class and was simply presenting the material she was given!
I've taken a number of week long workshops with several noted Outdoor Photographer professionals and one of the hardest parts of the workshop, for the leader, is the critiques of participants images. On one hand the participants seek suggestions for improvement, but the instructors have to be careful of not totally crushing the ego of the participant. For me, that's one of the reasons for me to take the workshop, I want to be able to see what they see. Kenneth Waller ----- Original Message ----- From: "graywolf" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: PAW - seated @ 1/4
I guess my problem with all this goes back to when I took a color
photography
course at Henry Ford Community College in Dearborn 25-30 years ago. I took
the
class because while I had about 20 years experience with B&W, I had almost
zip
with color. Figured it would be a quick way to come up to speed. We used strictly slide film for the class overnight develop and turn in the whole
roll
in slide pages for each assignment.
One of the assignments was the color red. I caught a shot of a brand new
bright
red junkyard crane. I was in a position to photograph only once that I saw
in a
year of watching afterward. It had to be in just the right position in the
yard
or it was blocked by buildings. In that position you could see it from a
park.
But only from a spot about 10 feet square. Move right or left and it was
again
blocked by the buildings. Move forward and it was blocked by a fence. Move
back
and the trees blocked it. But from that point that one time it was
perfect.
Except, there were powerlines in front of it. Now today with Photoshop
that
would be no big deal. Nor would it have been much of a problem having a
retouched, but with an overnight slide?
The lady instructor insisted that I should have taken the shot from
another
viewpoint. That there was always another viewpoint. That she was
absolutely
right about everything she said, she was the instructor, after all. Unfortunately she didn't know a heck of a lot about photography. I had the impression that her qualifications were that she had taken the same course
a
couple of years before.
I have ever since hated uninformed criticism.
Interestingly that is the only formal photography course I have ever
taken. I
tried to get into a business class for photographers a few years later.
The
instructor wanted me to turn in my portfolio and contact sheets for
evaluation
to determine if I could be given such advanced standing. Remembering the
other
class, I took his idea seriously and asked some of area pros what they
thought
of him as a photographer, and would they hire graduates from his courses.
As a
result of that research, I took a couple of general business classes.
--
Rob Studdert wrote:
I'm with Frank to a degree, I don't mind constructive criticism however
the
"after the fact" comments are what put me off competing in photo club
salons. I
don't know how often these sorts of compositional comments were made as
if the
photographer had control of the elements or could have put themselves in
a
better position than they did (for instance where the shots were
obviously
happened upon and not at all static). Sometimes it just isn't possible
to
better the composition and if as the photographer you know this then
comments
telling you how you should have done it are frustrating to say the
least.
-- graywolf http://graywolfphoto.com
"You might as well accept people as they are, you are not going to be able to change them anyway."
-- graywolf http://graywolfphoto.com
"You might as well accept people as they are, you are not going to be able to change them anyway."
