Teaching Photography Update

Teaching Photography Update

by William Lulow

Since I have had a lot of experience as a teacher (a degree in education) as well as a teacher of photography, I often write about it and the techniques I employ on a daily basis. I have been successful teaching because I am a trained teacher, not just a photographer who teaches the art. There is more to teaching than simply putting materials and techniques in the hands of students and hoping for the best. One of the things most good teachers know is that students learn at various paces and in different ways. Some are visual learners, some learn from reading materials. In addition, students often expect different results from a learning situation, be it a class or a private session, so as teachers, we have to be aware of the kinds of students who come to us for instruction. I had an experience at the beginning of my career (some time back in the 1970s) when I took a course with a famous photographer who was also an editor at LIFE MAGAZINE. He was a great photographer, but not such a good teacher. He gave a few assignments with no specific directions or anticipated results and I left the class feeling as though I hadn’t learned a thing. That’s not the way I teach.

As a teacher, I think it is necessary to approach your topic, whatever it is, from a few different angles. I incorporate a fair amount of reading from articles I and others have written as well as a lot of “hands on” experiences where students are encouraged to copy what I do and see if they can replicate results I tell them to. My assignments often include a statement to the effect of: “if you have done the assignment correctly, your image should look like this,” – with an example. This way, students can know beforehand, what they should expect from their efforts. Then results are discussed at the next meeting OBJECTIVELY. It’s not just a question whether or not the teacher likes the results. Students are always encouraged to improve with positive teacher responses to assignments. The goal is to make students want to achieve more each time and it is best presented with a lot of positive reinforcement. In order for any student to become a life-long lover of the subject, she needs to know that she is making progress at every turn and also she feels comfortable about the process in general. That’s how you build great students who go on to produce the results THEY want, not just what the teacher wants. The idea is for teachers to guide students to the point where they can take over, make the process their own and ultimately learn more on their own.

In the first example here, this student went on to set up her own in-house, small studio where she could photograph family and friends whenever she wanted. Even though she didn’t really want to set up a studio as a business, she still went about the whole process as if she did. She learned all that was necessary to get started. She bought equipment that I recommended which was exactly like what I have in my own studio. She also became quite adept at handling all of it. Learning often is comprised of emulating something you like and then making it your own.

Make no mistake, photography is one of those art forms that require some knowledge of equipment if you intend to produce some really good images. Even if you use just a camera phone, knowing all the techniques of how to use it properly will go a long way toward helping you create some lasting pictures. The more you get into photography, the sooner you will realize that creating really good images is all about how you can use the equipment from cameras to lighting, to make your pictures really great.

The second example here is of me showing a student how to use a bounce-card to make her light softer and with less shadows, to record some dancers. Using devices like this require changing exposures a bit to account for the more diffuse light.

The third example here is of me working with a beginning student. I am demonstrating the proper way to hold the camera and she will take it from there. Various methods of exposure including what each of the settings do is built in to all of the instruction and repeated each time she has a lesson.

Again, my focus as a teacher is always to try to make sure that students enjoy what they are doing when they’re taking pictures. A teacher must be able to judge how far to take each lesson when it comes to techniques. Each student learns at his or her own pace, so teachers need to know how much information to impart at a given time. People who have learned a facility with equipment often cannot understand why it takes others longer to grasp what they already know. That’s where a teacher’s skill becomes necessary.