In Class Essay




       In all honesty, I came into this photography class believing that I knew all there was to know about photography. Since the start of this course, however, my perception of what makes a good photo has completely changed. I have always been able to distinguish between a well-taken and a poorly-taken picture, but I was not able to tell why one was better than the other. For the same reason, I have never been able to recreate many of the amazing pictures that I see on the internet or in magazines. I have learned a lot about the various elements that go into creating a good picture, including exposure, photography techniques, and much more. Although we learned a lot this year, there are some things that I wished we went more in depth to, such as taking portraits.

       Spotting a good picture is a lot different than taking a good picture; I really understood this after taking the course. By learning about shutter speed, aperture, and ISO, it has become a lot easier to manually take a well exposed picture. These three settings allow enough light to enter the camera, creating a perfect picture. In addition, some photography techniques, such as the rule of thirds, allow the subject of the photo to be highlighted, and make for a more exciting photo. I also learned that a lot of photos tend to be enhanced by photoshop, so even if your picture is not perfect, you can make it better using some editing. Although we did use some photoshop, I wish that we were actually taught how to use it rather than watch videos and learn it by ourselves. Photoshop has always intrigued me, but we barely learned how to use it even though it was required in many of our assignments. I also wish that we learned more about taking portraits, as my family always asks me to take photos of them!

       This year, I learned many things about photography, including Photoshop, photography techniques, and exposure. All these aspects of photography have helped me change my perception of what a good picture looks like. I hope to continue taking pictures in the future, and I will definitely keep what I learned in this course in mind. I will try to learn how to use photoshop on my own as well, and hope to keep improving my photography skills.

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