It’s four days and counting. Yes, Thursday evening I jet off to London for five weeks of photography, travel, and beer. I can’t wait.
As I’ve already mentioned, this summer I’m teaching a hybrid cultural studies and photography course. In preparation, I’ve been reading the textbook I assigned: London and Stone’s A Short Course in Digital Photography. It’s been a great review for me, and it’s given me some vocabulary and ways of talking about photography that are helpful. The best chapters have been the ones that discuss the art of photography rather than technical aspects. Most of the chapters are about using the equipment, but chapter nine gets into portraits, landscapes, perspective, etc. — bringing into practice the technical know-how of the first part of the book. It also offers exercises that I’ll likely make use of during class time.
My students have also been getting ready. Their first assignment was due last night, and I was so enthusiastic to see what they came up with, I graded them all this morning. Essentially, it asked them to take three portraits and four landscapes (one at night). The idea was to get them to see the familiar in new ways and try to capture that with the camera. It also asked them to use the camera’s manual settings, just to begin getting a feel for how the camera works. Here are some of my favorites from their submissions.
This is just a sampling of their work. Check out LitMUSE to see all of their portfolios. They will be adding significantly more through the end of July, so I’d invite you to check back often. If I have the time, I will highlight more of their work here.
This week, I’ll be packing and deciding on my final travel kit. I got a new shoulder bag from Think Tank, the Retrospective 30. The idea was to get a big enough bag to carry an assortment of lenses, my strobes, and other necessary equipment without being too big and bulky. I’ve very pleased with the bag so far: it’s rugged, compact, and fits all of my necessary equipment: the 5D, the 16-35mm, the 24-70mm, the 70-200mm, the Speedlite 580 EX, the Speedlite 430 EX II, batteries, lens clothes, and a few more pieces of stuff. With all that, the bag is heavy, but manageable. I’m considering taking the battery grip off the camera and ditching the 24-70mm lens (heavy glass). Instead, I’m considering the 50mm f/1.4; that small lens on the gripless 5D makes a compact but powerful combination. I might just end up doing that. I’ve even toyed with the idea of just trying to leave the 50mm on all the time. It would be a challenge, but it could be cool. It would definitely be lighter to carry around. Any thoughts on this from my photog friends? (As if anyone reads what I post here.)
Just a couple more days. Exciting. My next post will likely be from London.
