I gave a talk to a photography class of 20+ students at Penn State – Berks campus this morning. The teacher, Jeff, selects one photographer each year to speak about their work and approach to the medium. I learned that most students were using “point and shoot” cameras to learn photography. While this would have never worked when I was in college, I do believe that most of these cameras today are more than capable learning tools.
In most respects these simple cameras are more complicated and more geared toward learning the medium than the truly simple Fujica ST605n classic 35mm with which I leaned photography. Even basic digital cameras often come with exposure overrides, white-balance controls, histograms, and of course instant feedback. The tools have changed, so why shouldn’t the learning process change as well? I was asked by a student at the end of my talk whether I thought the way I learned the medium (B&W darkroom, then color slidefilm, then digital) was a better way to learn than digital from start? I’m happy that I learned in the progression that I did, but I certainly don’t think I would feel deprived if I were starting out today learning only digital.
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