Prizewinning Photography - Monday, November 15th, 2004

My brain is spinning. Talk about mental gymnastics! Depth of field, aperture, focal distance, film speeds… I mean, really, if we were meant to learn this stuff, God wouldn't have given us point-and-shoots!

Seriously though, the first day is over, and I'm having a blast. I walked in this morning without even realizing that you can adjust the shutter speed, and now I can do it! What's more, I know when I'm meant to do it—something equally important! For a newby like me, it is slightly overwhelming, but I think tomorrow's field work will probably help cement everything. I think I've been taught all the basics of how to take a decently exposed picture, and so I think that's not too bad for one day's work. Rowan, Will, and Daniel are explaining everything really well, and the classes are all entertaining—nothing too dry or boring. I LOVE their photos… very cool.

I think everyone else is learning a lot as well. I was chatting to some of the more advanced members of the class, and it sounds like they're getting a run for their money. Some of them might have already known the basics, however they're still learning a lot from the instructors' experience.

Tomorrow we grab our cameras, leave the lab, go out to the field, and… well, we'll see what happens. It'll be interesting to see how much I can remember when the rubber hits the road.

But Day One? AWESOME!

—Prizewinning Photography Student Jason Lau, from Lilydale, Victoria, Australia