Photography class

Well, the class is now over... at least for me. Emily woke up this morning with a 102 fever, so looks like we will be staying at home all day. It sure doesn't seem to bother her at all -- she is still running around and playing like she normally does. She apparently doesn't feel too awful, which is good.

Overall, I enjoyed taking the class. I didn't get too much out of it, but still, I feel if I walked away with a least a little it was worth it. The class was an intermediate photography course, so I was a little worried I wouldn't be where the rest of the students were. I took a course in college that did a unit on slr camera operation, so I had the basics and was hoping I would be okay. Turns out, the exact opposite was true. Apparently, the beginner class the guy teaches is how to take a good picture while staying on the automatic setting. I definitely knew more than the rest of the class, but still walked away with a couple helpful techniques. Some people didn't even know how to turn on their cameras.

The one thing I was pretty disappointed with was that the teacher wasn't that impressive. He is stuck back in the 90s thinking portraiture should be done in a studio with completely posed shots. His pictures were ridiculous and he kept saying, "now this is a good picture." I know of many other photographers in town who would have been better qualified to teach the class, but oh well.

The dynamics of this class were very strange, as well. The class was made up of either moms or senior citizens. Apparently, senior citizens can take any of the continuing ed classes for free. Two of the senior citizens who paid for the class were not happy when this information came out. And they were so funny... about every hour, one of them would raise their hand asking if they could tell a story. This story never had anything to do with photography. Like did you know quail turds could be made into jewelry? I also learned the evolution of the tobacco barn in North Carolina. Useful information, let me tell you.

At one point I asked a question and the teacher said, "I have two answers for you and one is the expensive option." I told him, "Well, I don't really want to hear that one." He stopped for a second and was a little taken aback. He then commented, "if any of you think I am ever trying to be fresh with you, I'm sorry. That is not how I mean to come across." Awkward. All I meant was I can't afford the $500-1000 option.

So, we will see how my pictures come out now. Only problem is that I don't really have a subject to shoot. Emily won't stop long enough for me to take a picture of her.

And that is why I am pregnant... babies are the best subjects.