Week 8--Reflection

Shot at Arches National Park, at dusk. I actually took two photographs. One where the exposure was darker, to better allow the sunset's soft colors though; and a second with an exposure a few steps higher to achieve the little lighting that there was on the rock face.  The person hiking was an added bonus!

 These past 8 weeks have been very beneficial to me. I started off with very little and limited knowledge about landscape photography. Living where I live, in rural Utah, there was so much around that I had wished I could photograph, and now, I know I can!

I am by no means an expert in this area (especially after defining expertise and studying what makes an expert and expert), but I have been able to become expert in certain concepts of landscape photography. I have learned the camera functions that are needed to set up a well-shot landscape photograph. I have learned about the importance of light--but also, I have learned that any light can be good light if you know what to do. I have learned the importance of knowing an area, and looking for dramatic vistas, but also, knowing how to create one. Photography, especially landscape photography, seems to pose rules but then allows those rules to be broken--if need be. Now that I know the rules, I feel as though I can experiment more, and branch out my now made schemas and scripts.

As a learner, I have seen myself evolve. I never realized how much of a tactile learner I am. As I do things, try things (and at times, suffer much trial and even more error), my long-term and working memories are kicked into play and I am able to form scripts, steps to replicate for a desired outcome. If I wanted to take another starry sky picture again, I know now where to set up my camera, the settings my camera needs to be set to, and how to best take, process, and edit that picture. I learned all of that by experimenting with scripts. I also learned that I have a behavioral side as well. Good looking pictures ("Wife approved", I call them) are a positive reinforcement for me that motivate me to continue shooting and trying.

I have enjoyed talking to "old timers" in the landscape photography community and as I read their articles and view their work, study their process, through a peripheral-sort-of-way, I have been an apprentice-of-sorts to them.

This course has not only opened my mind to how learning takes place in the world, but most importantly, how it takes place in me. By studying theories, then reinforced through experience, I have learned how I learn, from here I know how I can gain more insight and knowledge, where I can improve and how I can better myself.