I feel that I have gained many skills throughout the semester. From learning how to take actually decent photos and editing those photos to make them look better and even do fun and crazy edits to them. When I look back on my photos I can see literally see my improvement. I have gained a decent amount of camera skills. I now know how to use aperture and shutter speed to attain different kinds of photos which I did not know how to do before coming to this class. Other than that I also know how to utilize the elements of art and the principles of design to improve the photos that I take. Easily my favorite project was the multiple image techniques one. I very much enjoyed combining different images together to create interesting and fun multiple exposures. I liked it so much I got Photoshop and Lightroom on my computer at home so I could experiment with it more. When I first started this class I thought photography was just taking pretty photos. And it was, but it also so much more. I saw and learned how people tell stories and express themselves and different concepts and it honestly astounds me. The new photographers that I discovered of the top of my head would be Saul Leiter and Tania Klein. The main thing that I like about their photos is there specific use of colors to create a mood and also Klein's self portraits that she does. I actually notice many things about the world that I would have never noticed if I had not taken photography. I notice interesting things that might make good photos and then all the different ways I could photograph that thing. I also notice the different Elements of Art and Principles of Design in the world. I love learning about new ways to edit photos and use interesting techniques so that is what I'm probably most excited to learn about next semester.
