Photography School

I got my first SLR camera in the summer of 2003. It was film and I was about to embark on my first and last bit of college. Only a 5 month course. This is isn't about how enlightening I found this course. This is about how I got through it.

The camera was a Nikon F80, and I have to say that I really do love film still. Film lends another dimension to a photograph somehow. Black and white was what we were about to study, and that excited me as well. It got me thinking about my mom and dad's photos when they were little. It was always fun to use my imagination as to what colour their clothes were, and what kind of day it was outside. 

Due to an unfortunate little accident, I ended up not having a car for a lot of this photography course. I lived with my older sister and she lived nowhere near school. I took the bus. To most people this is not all that unusual.  The course ran from October to March. What you need to understand is that this was that winter when it was FREEZING quite often. We're talking anywhere between -25C to -59C. I had to walk to the bus stop and wait for what seemed like an eternity, and then when I got downtown, I had to walk another 3 blocks to the school. I personally have never been a fan of winter.

I want to say that I was Miss Popular, and reinvented myself and all that kind of stuff, but I really wasn't, and didn't. People were nice to me of course, but I felt a little out of place. I was just a small town girl in a big city and was not knowledgeable on the technical side of photography. Most of my classmates were older and had been experimenting with their own cameras for quite awhile. I tried to do a good job, but let's just say it was not my best work. 

The darkroom was a place that smelled of chemicals, that gave me headaches, and yet also excited me. It was a long and laborious process, but worth it. What I couldn't understand was why everyone took so long to do their work in there? I suppose that I'm just fast at working, not the type to labor over something for hours. Do your work and move on.

We went on shoots as a class and I have to say that I wimped out at one of them. It took place at a farm, and me, having a sensitive nose, didn't do so well. My stomach heaved a sigh of relief, I did not enter any barns. I just shot what I could outside. I definitely got harassed for that ever after. We had a little display of our hard work at the end of the course. I was proud of myself, but a little in awe of some of my really talented classmates.

I found photography hard and more complicated than I ever thought it would be. I was starting to wish I had back my old little see through $30 purple camera. I just pressed the button and there the picture was. Then I realized how much I could manipulate a photo to make it look more interesting and that's what kept me going. I could get creative with it.

What still lingers with me: Red lights remind me of darkrooms. I can still smell the chemicals at random times, the strong smell stinging my nostrils. I sometimes hear the film moving over in my head after I take a picture. Cold walks to and from that bus stop. Visiting my friend after school at her hairdressing school. My after school part time job at the photo counter. Oh and the hot chocolate. If I smell really good hot chocolate I think of school. We had the best hot chocolate machine there, and after coming in from that awful cold, it was the perfect solution. 

check out what photography I'm doing now at Struck Photo