Photo 1000

I registered myself for Photo 1000 - Traditional Black and White Photography class with Ajarn Buddhaporn when I was at Webster. We learnt how to click photographs with a Single Lens Reflex (SLR) camera and then print it ourselves in the dark room. You might be thinking that what’s so difficult about a photography course it might have been fun. No, it was sincere hard work. We had to stay inside the dark room for hours and hours just to get one good print.

Everything from loading the film onto the camera to clicking photos to loading the exposed film onto the cartridge in a dark room to washing the film in chemicals to developing the print in the dark room, was painstaking hard work and required a lot of time and précised strategic steps to develop a good photo.

Over a period of 8 weeks we were required to submit three assignments with 4 photographs each. Each assignments were supposed to have a theme. At the end of the class four best photos (portfolio) clicked by each students were selected and displayed at the graduation ceremony of Webster at Hilton Resort and Spa.

Below is my photo statement (“What makes a good photo?”) which was displayed along with my portfolio photos.

Photo Statement
Kuldip Garhwal
Major: Bachelor of Business Administration
Minor: Advertising and Marketing Communication

What makes a good photo? It’s not an expensive camera, not a beautiful landscape, neither the perfect angle. It’s the photographer, who ensures the ideal composition, light, shape, line, form, etc which adds life to a photo.

If you want to become a good photographer, start taking photos with a digital camera. It’s fast, easy and inexpensive. In digital photography what you see is what you get. In the last three years, I have clicked 14,349 digital photos. One does not have to worry about light meter or shutter speed (complicated techniques of traditional photography), since it is automatic. Digital photography has improved my ability (composition, light, etc) to take photos.

But when I started using a Single Lens Reflex (SLR) camera, I found out that the real essence of photography lies in traditional black and white photography. Let me explain how a photo is taken with a SLR camera.

When you take a photograph, the film in your camera is exposed to light. The quality of your photograph depends on how much light reaches the film, and how long the film is exposed to the light. Two camera controls, aperture size and shutter speed affect exposure.

The size of a camera’s aperture regulates how much light reaches the film and also determines the photographs depth of field. The camera’s shutter speed controls exposure and the appearance of moving objects in the photograph. Exposure is determined by the combination of aperture size and shutter speed. The two controls act together to produce the final image.

If you master the combinations of these two controls, you can take good photographs. But in traditional black and white photography, what you see might not be what you get, because your final outcome depends upon the darkroom techniques used. The best combination of burning, dodging, choosing a filter, f-stop, exposure time, etc will result in a good print.

I learned a lot in this class, thank you Buddha.

Assignment 1 - People

Egyptian Photographer


Philosopher in deep thought


Swimming through life


Thai smile and crepe


Assignment 2 - Point of interest or Fine Art

Complicated Twirls


Neglected


Sunday Morning (After Party)


Tile Texture


Assignment 3 - Nature


Lightning Sunlight


Nirvana


Untitled cave


Way to eternity


Portfolio


Neglected


Nirvana


Road to home


Swimming through life