More About Teaching Photography-II

More About Teaching Photography-II

by William Lulow

I have been doing a lot of teaching over the last several years, and it has made me think more about what good teaching is all about. I have had several students in the past, who have really progressed from not knowing how to use their digital cameras, to becoming really proficient at it. My technique involves an assessment at the beginning, of where a student is on the “learning curve,” what kind of information is really needed in order to progress and what the student’s ultimate goals are. The instruction includes demonstrating to the student how good pictures are created using manual settings, strong compositional components and a good deal of thought before the shutter is released.

A good teacher who knows his or her subject matter thoroughly, should know what a student needs to better his or her efforts at making images at any level. Some want to start their own businesses eventually. Others just want to improve their techniques enough to get more from their image-making equipment. Whatever the student’s needs, the teacher should  be able to fashion assignments that will help him or her not only to understand the process, but to be able to control it as well in practice. The very best way of learning anything, from a language to a technique, is to immerse oneself in the study as completely as one can.

As a trained educator as well as a photographer with over forty years experience with virtually all types of assignments, it’s sometimes difficult to imagine anyone not wanting a complete knowledge of photography. But, for whatever reason, not everyone has the same goals in mind when learning anything. Photography is a skill that once learned, will not be forgotten. You might forget something here or there on occasion, but the basic knowledge won’t change. And, the basic rules of light and how it is used to create images will not change either. And, one’s techniques only get better the more they are practiced.

One of the best ways to learn a new technique is to have a good teacher explain it to you and then take you out to practice it for yourself. Here I am helping a student with portable flash and exposures in a dance studio. In this instance, I demonstrated how to make these images and  the student  then copied what I showed her and did it on her own. Here is one of her pictures:

I often begin with a field trip of sorts, to do some images of landscapes usually just outside my studio or the student’s home. I like to begin with a normal or slightly wide-angle lens to capture more of the location. I also include some beginning notions of composition and what makes a strong one. Here is one student’s effort:

Here she was trying out reflections and the compositional technique of “leading the eye” into the image.

Here, another student was practicing some still life imagery:

Both of these students were doing assignments based on real life situations and learning how to control light with their cameras. In my estimation, both have succeeded in learning some of the basics.

So, my teaching technique consists of explaining the principles of exposure, composition and lighting, then demonstrating them, finally having the student go through the same motions and notice that it produces the same effect. Then the practice will produce the desired effect. We do this many times during the course of my six-lesson package, so after only this brief introduction to making good pictures, the student leaves with the knowledge of how to practice the basic techniques. Then, it becomes a matter of more practice until the student becomes really proficient at exposure determination and begins really to think about the kinds of images he or she likes to make and discovers how best to make them. This is the best way to teach as well as to learn the craft.

There are any number of videos available as well these days, that will demonstrate how to use your camera properly, but without having the same machine in your hands and to see for yourself how everything works, it’s not always easy to put all that into practice. When I was learning these techniques for myself, I was working for other photographers. I was in their studios and I could see not only what I needed to learn, but I could also look around to see other things. I could see where every piece of equipment was stored, how it was cared for, when it was used and how the photographer used it. I was able to see for myself what the studio environment was and how different photographers did things differently. It was an invaluable education for someone like me who was determined to learn everything I possibly could about the profession I had chosen.