Learning How to Learn - Making Experience Count

When Iodine went into the United States Army to be all I could be, I went in as a United States Army Photographer. During photographic training, I asked respective modern times about making black and whites from slides. The stopping point minded response was always, "That's why we have got negative film, soldier. Prints come up up from negatives and microscope microscope slides come from slides."

I served 1 twelvemonth in Korea. The 2nd twenty-four hours I was there; my very first duty assignment was... you guessed it... 200 8x10 black and whites from existing slides. I tried to explicate that the paper and chemicals for that did not even be in the Army Supply system; but soon establish it did be in the regular army Diversion Center. This is where I met Mr. Kim. He taught me how to do black and whites from slides. Since ours was a very little post, I went through all his chemicals and paper in a very short amount of time. I had to happen a larger Diversion Center and fast, so I took the two hr autobus drive to Soul.

Soul, Korean Peninsula had twenty million people in it, twenty five old age ago. Their diversion centre was much larger and had plenty of paper and chemicals; however they only had 1 more than processing beat than our little diversion center. For those of you who don't know, making black and whites from microscope slides affects developing each black and white inside a visible light tight certain drum. The procedure usually takes about 28 proceedings per print. Now I had a whole new problem, I was physically running out of clip to make that many prints, that's when I met Mr. Lee.

Mr. Spike Spike Lee suggested I set two black and whites in each beat and develop 4 at a time. He explained that the paper have an emulsion side and a paper side. If the emulsion side touchings anything else it will be ruined, however if you set paper side against paper side with the emulsion sides facing away from each other, you can indeed set two black and whites in each single black and white drum. With Mr. Lee's aid I did pull off to acquire my first undertaking done just in the dent of time.

About a hebdomad later, I had to develop about 16 axial rotations of microscope slide movie in a very short amount of time. Again, I was faced with restrictions of a very little diversion center. They only had 4 reels to develop the movie on. I didn't have got the clip to travel to Soul, but thought about what I learned before. With a small spot of practice; I establish I could also set two axial rotations of movie on one reel and was finished within the allotted time.

I learned many things in Korea, but that procedure have stayed with me throughout my life.

First - I learned something new. (Prints from slides.)

Second - I learned how to better the something new. (Two black and whites in one tank.)

Third - I learned how to accommodate to something different. (Two axial rotations of movie on one reel.)

To this day, I have got NEVER seen a book or social class that adverts developing two axial rotations of slide

film on one reel. It's not easy. But it can be done.

The cardinal to the acquisition procedure is very similar to learning picture taking in general.

First - You have got to larn the basics. (Composition, Rule of Thirds, Etc.)

Second - You begin to develop a style. (You begin "Framing" your subject.)

Third - You take your work to the adjacent level. (You recognize that Framing and Rule of Thirds

can work on people shots too, not just nature.)

If most of your life you have got taken Nature Shots, seek shot people. If your chief beginning of income is wedding ceremony picture taking attempt shot Nature. Use all the fast ones of the trade you have got learned over the old age in new and exciting ways. If you are used to taking portraits of grownups seek disbursement three hours with a two twelvemonth old in the park.

To maintain your work exciting and vibrant, you, the photographer have got to be the same. Seeing things in new and exciting ways is a learned skill. Learning to see creatively is not something you only larn once and then you're done. The truly great ones; those who will dwell on forever in the field of picture taking (Ansel Adams, Prince Edward Edward Weston and Imogene Merce Cunningham come up to mind), are those who continued to larn and then relearn their trade every twenty-four hours of their lives.

This is the challenge I give to my students. "Don't just larn something once. Learn it again and again. Creativity makes not intend creating from scratch. It intends taking something you've already learned and applying it in a new and different way."