The locations were excellent for the kind of work he was discussing in the class, though I do think there was one too many garden to visit. A side benefit of the photo locations and the lunch locations was that the class was able to get a wonderful feel for the diversity of spaces that Boulder has to offer.<\/p>\n

In the field Mark was willing to share his lenses (there was a line to get a hold of the fisheye) and never seemed to tire of explaining the same camera techniques over and over again. On the first morning shoot I spent about 45 minutes talking with Mark about HDR techniques, soft glow techniques, and how to do bracketing and in-camera multiple exposure on my Nikon D90. He helped me (and several others) find the options in the menus and helped us set up sample images. On a later shoot, he spent quite a bit of time talking with me about how to find and photograph textures (something very important, I learned, for compositing). I must also say that he was incredibly welcoming to Wendy and Hydan, inviting them to join the group for meals and spending time talking with them at the Railroad Museum.<\/p>\n

In the classroom, Mark presented techniques slowly, methodically, and clearly. He made sure everyone in the class was following and was able to complete their own versions of the examples. He did, however, have a slightly predetermined idea that everyone in the class was familiar with the basic ideas behind HDR and compositing, and there were a few of us who would have enjoyed some overview discussions of those techniques and the reasons to use them. Though Mark did provide us with quite a bit of software and material, it also would have been helpful for attendees to have some textures on hand to use for compositing. Until I figured out that I needed to go out and photograph textures I was a bit lost on what to do when trying to create composites and in the field I felt like I was just photographing for no purpose. But, after talking with Mark about textures I was able to photograph some and then find another subject that I could composite with that texture. I felt very good about my outing that day: I had a deliberate goal, envisioned something in my head, and was able to approximate it using Photoshop.<\/p>\n

What I Learned<\/strong>
\n1. Digital affords creative possibilities that film doesn’t.<\/strong> As I mention above, I tend to enjoy film more than digital. As Mark gets excited about Photoshop, I get excited about using my 1914 Kodak 3A Folding Pocket Camera and my Polaroid 250 Camera. But, my experiences in the workshop have made me more aware that digital photography and the software that enhances it affords people with endless opportunities to expand their work. The image that one sees in the viewfinder does not need to be the end of the line. Digital technologies and software provide photographers with the ability to create a final image that is the blending of several images or has one or more very cool filter effect applied to it. The difficult thing is learning what software does what (and then learning the software). Editing in Photoshop takes a tremendous amount of time, trial and error, and stamina to sit in front of a screen for so long.<\/p>\n

2. How to use new features of my Nikon D90.<\/strong> I learned to how to set up auto-bracketing and why I should use that function. I also learned how to read the histogram when viewing the images and why it is important to do so. I also learned how to use the multiple exposure features and why I would want do so. These seem trivial written here, but they will be very important as I continue to experiment with the techniques we learned in the class.<\/p>\n