SPRING 2015

I always forget to post at the beginning of the semester, so here is a quickie:

Good Luck>  Invest Now>  Have Fun>

Summer 2014

Bees’ll buzz, and kids’ll blow dandelion fuzz…

If you know it, it’s now stuck in your head forever! Yep, I’ve got little ones, and that song, amongst others, is in high rotation this year.  I need to go to my happy place quickly lest I be swallowed by the Cthulu monster known as Disney…

Camera? Check
Sunglasses? Check
Water (or Hoppy version of said liquid)? Check

Phew… now I’m ready for summer.

So how does this whole Photography thing work anyway?  Well, lets start here… or maybe here… nah, lets go back there, it was more comfy…

I look at this class in three parts: 1) the technical camera stuff 2) the software to get those images out there, and  3) the artistic intent of why you take pictures and what you expect them to do.  That third one is a doosey.  In fact, while the other two tend to be stumbling blocks for some folks, that last is really what photography (art) is about, so open your mind (Quaid) and start the reactor, because days of snapshots are a thing of the past…

A couple of things to help you have success in the class:

1) invest now, not later when the class is almost over.

2) get over yourself, you are not the bad-ass photographer you think you are.

3) you are also not as completely void of artistic talent as you may think you are.

4) show up and do the work…there will be more waves later.

5) it’s not the size of the lens, it’s how you use it.

6) the PC to Mac is not the problem, don’t blame the tech.

7) no pictures from Disneyland…my very small black heart will shrivel up further.

8) no I have never seen a picture of a flower, please tell me all about it… (sarcasm)

9) I have a family and other interests outside of this class, and email is not one of them.

10) Show me something interesting…

 

Well, have fun!

Cheers,

R.

Spring Is In The Air…

Welcome Back!

If you are new, then, just Welcome!  A few things occurred over the break; here’s the skinny…

Something on the administration end of the first offered 156 class was wrong, so despite the fact that the class was full, they dumped it and supposedly called all the students to tell them to sign up for the new (same) class.  If you didn’t get the call, please sign up ASAP!

I know a lot of you wanted some type of  Advanced night class.  Unfortunately, despite what your fellow students told you, I only had six interested emails.  Sorry.  If we had enough students, I would open up a section.  The plain truth of it is, we don’t have a large enough advanced population to run both a day and night section, so we alternate when the offerings are.  Last year, 156 was at night; this year it’s in the day.  I’m hoping to offer classes that contain multiple (but related) topics so that classes won’t get dropped based on student numbers, so look for Portraiture and Studio Lighting to be offered in the Fall, hopefully at night.

We moved the classroom configuration and low and behold, there is space in our space!

The second lab is opening as scheduled, though in limited quantities, and trust me when I tell you that it has taken dozens of meetings to make such a simple task actually come to fruition.  There will be some work done during the semester to make things smoother, but overall we shouldn’t notice it too much… right…

I went to CES, and frankly, not much on the horizon.  Every booth had a drone or two.  Every booth had a scantily clad female posing for camera trolls. And every booth pretty much had bling but no substance.  Nikon’s announcement of a 4D, Samsung, Fujifilm and Sony are pushing mirrorless, Sigma had a decent 50mm lens, Panasonic also pushed mirrorless but in terms of Hybrid photography, and all the companies are looking toward 4k video (6-8mp at 60fps or higher).  Oh, and a lot of wearable cameras for sports etc…

Of course there is always this…

See y’all soon…

R.