6 Reasons to Take a Photography Class
Kim Weston instructing during the Boyer YL Ranch Workshop
What are your past experiences taking a photography class? Was it helpful? Did it advance your photography? Let us know in a comment below!
Learn how to use your camera
Kim Weston photographs on Wildcat Hill
The only way that you will learn how to use your camera effectively is to use it. Kim Weston stands true to the thought that knowing your equipment sets you free. Once you know how your camera works and how it picks up light, you can step into the next level of creativity with your work. You start to take out any “Happy Accidents” from your work and start to produce work that you know you can create.
Taking a photography class is like completing a writing assignment. You use all your skills and knowledge to create something that you are proud of. Participating in a group or private workshop forces you to really concentrate on your equipment and think about how your gear will react to the surrounding light. Depending on what kind of work you get from the experience, you can then alter your approach to get the desired affect you are looking for.
Spend more time seeing photographically
©Frank Baudino - Gwen in Wildcat Hill Studio
Seeing photographically is a different way of viewing the world. Sometimes it is hard to switch into that mindset and a photography class allows you to focus 100% on your vision. The more you get into your photographic craft, the more you realize you start looking at the world differently. However, with the day to day requirements of life, “seeing photographically” usually gets put onto the back burner. You might be thinking of it in your subconscious but it’s not something that is actively firing in the brain.
That is where a photo class comes in handy. Wether it is just a day or a week, you are immersed into the process and your mind is switched into photographic mode. You don’t have any outside distractions and your main focus is creating art and further working on your overall artistic vision. Many of our participants comment that they feel refreshed after a workshop as they have been able to switch their thinking to more of the creative side and less thought of the day to day fastballs that life throws at them.
Familiarize yourself with the rules of photography
Sylvies Lounge - ©Kim Weston
There are ton of rules of photography. Leading lines, the rule of thirds, etc that photographers should consult when first stepping behind the camera. These photographic rules were established for a reason and if followed correctly, can help the artist produce compelling work.
While the rules of photography are important, it is also important to break the rules. Breaking the rules of photography is more something that advanced photographers tend to do, after they have established they can fully execute the standard rules of photography. Breaking the rules is almost another rule that is almost like a right of passage for photographers. Breaking the rules to create compelling images can be a liberating practice that all artists should experiment with in their career.
Develop your own unique style
Nude on Sofa - ©Km Weston
At first it may be tempting to copy or imitate another photographer’s style that you enjoy and/or have been studying. This at least allows you to get your foot in the door and to the location to begin taking pictures. Influences are all around us and it is pretty much impossible to claim that your art is not influenced by someone. Wether you are aware of it or not. Don’t feel bad or embarrassed about taking elements from other artists at first. Use these as ways to further expand your vision and to start the creative process.
Once you have established a level of comfortability photographing, using your camera, and in our case - working with a nude model you can then start to branch out and experiment with poses and forms that you find interesting. It is all about taking that first step into the creative mindset. Once you build up the confidence to make that leap, the rest will come as you continue to create.
Receive professional review of your photography
Balthus 2 - ©Kim Weston
At Weston Photography Workshops, we make a point in reviewing student work. We take the time and sit down as a group either after the shooting has commenced for the day or the following morning before we start photographing. It is very important to look at the work you create day to day and not go full speed ahead with a 3-4 day shoot. Reviewing the work allows you to slow down and analyze what you were envisioning in the field. A lot of time photographers will get behind their cameras and just start firing away. We want to make sure the photographer emerges from behind their camera often and really contemplates what they are going to capture on their camera.
What is also super beneficial with reviews is that you can see if you have captured the shot you were intending to capture. It could very well be that in your mind you nailed the shot and there is no need to return for a review. However, upon sitting down and looking at the image you could see a missed element or a bad crop. Being able to see this before the workshop is over allows you to revisit the scene and capture it perfectly. We always encourage our students to revisit certain scenes to see how they could capture it better. Having consecutive days of shooting is very valuable for this practice.
Interact in a new environment
©Michou Von Beschwitz - 3 Models at Salvadore Dali’s House in Spain
Who doesn’t like experiencing a new place? If you are interested in a photography workshop or class I bet that you always have a camera with you when seeing new things. Raise your hand if I am right. Ok cool. Not only do you get to see a new place, but you have the opportunity to create art in that place. Wether you are photographing a figure or just capturing the beauty of the landscape, the excitement of a brand new location is a special feeling.
Even if the location isn’t brand new to you and you have been there a few times before, if you look hard enough, you can always find something new to look at and photograph. We have photographers who return to Wildcat Hill for many years and continue to come up with new and exciting work that they have never thought of before. Every time you visit somewhere, you grow and evolve as a human and artist. You are evolving in your daily life as a human which directly relates to what you see and capture at the location you inhabit to create art. One of the most amazing things is to see returning photographers, who have become amazing friends for the most part, come up with beautiful, fresh concepts every time they visit Wildcat Hill or a destination location like the Boyer YL Ranch. Part of our job is to enable that creative growth for you as an artist.