More About The Learning Process In Photography

More About The Learning Process In Photography

by William Lulow

A couple of weeks ago, I published an article about how to learn photography. Upon thinking about it some more, I remembered how I used to study images. I went to museums and art gallery shows to see original prints up close so that I could literally absorb all of the elements and rich details that skilled photographers used to make beautiful prints. I remember being impressed by W. Eugene Smith’s use of deep black tones. I bought subscriptions to Vogue Magazine and Harpers Bazaar so that I could study the printed images of Avedon, Penn, Scavullo, among others. Then, as I might have mentioned, I made my own images and compared them, endlessly with those I was viewing. I wanted to make sure that I hadn’t forgotten anything when I looked at the lighting and how they were printed. I tried to analyze why these particular images were being used for publication. What was special about them? I looked at not only lighting, but camera angles and how they made people look. I looked at expressions of the people being photographed, even the professional models, in an effort to divine what could have been happening between photographer and model. When I actually studied lighting, it all began to make sense. It took quite a bit of time. This is not the kind of endeavor that can be learned in one or two tries. It takes constant practice. Whenever I could, I studied the kind of equipment and films these photographers used. Slowly, I began to discover that larger format films were sharper than those from a 35mm camera. I then had to have a medium format camera. My first was a Rolleiflex 2.8F. I soon graduated to a Hasselblad and began to acquire the lenses necessary for doing portraits.

One of my first large format cameras was a Calumet monorail 4×5 view camera. I knew about Ansel Adams and how he used view cameras to achieve the exquisite detail he mastered. That required a larger, more sturdy tripod. So, I invested in a large, Davis&Sanford tripod made especially for view cameras. This is no small tripod. It does not collapse into an easily carried package. From there, I graduated to using Deardorff 8×10 cameras. Of course, these cameras all used sheet film. So, I needed to purchase quite a few sheet film holders. Then, in order to develop the Black&White sheet film, I needed sheet film developing hangers and tanks. My first sheet film developing tanks could handle maybe 10 sheets at a time. But when I finally set up my own studio, I had 5 gallon tanks that could process perhaps 30 or 40 sheets of 4×5 inch film at a time. I can actually remember walking into my local camera shop in Denver and asking one of the owners about 4×5 sheet film holders. He peeked at me from over his reading glasses and said, “Oh, you’re really going to be a photographer now.”

I cannot begin to count the number of sheets of film I would wind up discarding until I really got the hang of not only how to agitate the film hangers correctly, but how the film itself needed to be handled. Sheet films are manufactured with specific notches in the upper right-hand corner so that one could tell in the dark, what film was being processed. Each film, including color films, had its own unique set of notches. I then had to find out how to dry them. I actually bought a used gym locker and put a hot plate at the bottom so that heat would slowly rise to dry the films. A blower was not good because it raised too much dust. All of these things were learned by trial and error.

Whenever you are attempting to learn anything, you need to immerse yourself in whatever subject it is until you begin to notice certain nuances particular to whatever it is you are learning. This is what I was doing through all of this. I was studying every small detail of how not only to shoot a picture, but how to develop the film for optimal results and then how to print the negatives so that I would have a top-notch print at the end.

Hasselblad Camera (made in Sweden), 1980s version

Deardorff View Camera, probably around 1955 model.

So, I believe the technique that works best is:

1. You have to be totally immersed in what it is you are trying to learn. Weekend golfers might be able to enjoy playing golf, but they will never learn the nuances of how a club hits the ball.
2. You have to practice almost endlessly and be aware of what it is you are doing. You don’t learn by repeating the same mistakes over and over again.
3. You need to observe critically, how photographs are made. These days, you also need to learn how to use a computer and the relevant software for making images.
4. Starting with a good teacher is helpful, but it doesn’t take the place of the constant practice. If you leave your camera in its bag and only use it every once in a while, you will never master the real art of creating images. I sometimes carry my camera with me even though I might not even use it.
5. You need to examine closely images of the type you wish to create yourself. You need to study them and be able to notice how they were made.

Just one further note, in addition to doing photography for a living, one of my hobbies is playing the guitar. Last year, I worked on learning ONE song until I knew it backwards and forwards. I knew what key it was in and what formations those chords had on a guitar fret board. It took the entire year of playing the song over and over, watching available videos of the guitarist which showed how he formed the chords, (where he placed his fingers gave clues as to the tuning he used), until it sounded right. Then, I copied the techniques. That’s what you need to do to master any skill thoroughly. Most artists who became really proficient at their art form, began by emulating those who preceded them. Then, they used that knowledge to develop their own.