Reflections on a Semester

What did you learn about photography that you did not know before? 
    - This semester was very eye opening to me, I learned a lot about photography that I was not aware of at first. The biggest thing that I learned was that; a good majority of the time you can't just really quickly hold up your camera and snap a picture and call it photography. When taking pictures you have to have some sort of vision for what your trying to capture. For example, if I wanted to take a picture of a person, I need to try to capture something that helps explain who they are in that picture. If not them then me and my photography style within that photograph.

What did you learn about yourself this semester?
    - I learned that I'm actually kind of good at photography. If I try really hard I can come out with something beautiful. I also learned that I really love it and I can use it to express myself in a way I could have never imagined. But, even though I can use photography to explain myself doesn't mean I will always want to tell you the story behind it. I'm a very secretive person and thats a gift and a flaw in itself. So a lot of my photos keep people thinking what was going through her mind when she took that. Photography has sent me on a path to discovery, of a new hobby and of myself.

What do you wish we would had done that we did not?
    - I wish that we used our film cameras more than we actually did. When I first took this class, honestly, I took it because I thought it was all on film cameras. I had these old film cameras that I fell IN LOVE with. They were my dads when he was younger. Looking through them became a new set of eyes for me. So when I found out that we were going to mostly work with digital cameras. I was a little bummed. Although I was upset, I learned  lot of useful things on a digital camera that are also of use on a film camera. All in all, digital wasn't so bad.

What was your struggle?
    - When I couldn't think of anything or when I didn't have a vision for one of the projects I would get really frustrated and want to give up and just take a 0 for that project. But, eventually I would just be sitting on the couch and it would just come to me and I would jump up and be like "Maddie! Dad! I need you guys!!!!" and even though it would just come randomly I feel like my photos turned out quite well.

What did you conquer?
    - Just putting myself out there and going for it. I did a lot of things that turned out to actually not work. But, the point is that I tried. I didn't let the fear and awkwardness of anything get to me. I just kind of did and hoped for the best and knew that I could do it. I was independent and strong and held to what I was looking for. I never used to do that. This class actually helped me with something I never thought it would. COURAGE.