Digital Digital Digital

It's just all so digital! Believe it or not I learned photography on an old-school, manual, film camera! You even had to advance the film with a toggle on the top of the camera! It made such a satisfying click when the shudder went off. I even had to develop my film by hand! We had to put the film inside light-safe bags, take the film out, wind it on special spools, and place it inside light-safe canisters all without looking! Then we used a darkroom to develop the film, one print at a time! It was only after I learned this that I got a digital camera. It was so instantaneous! I could just snap the shot without worrying about wasting the film. I could even immediately view the photograph to make sure I did it right!

I sound so old, don't I?

Well, I'm not old. I sound like this because I learned from a traditionalist in photography. Her philosophy was that if you could successfully and artfully photograph with a traditional, manual camera, and develop the film yourself, only then would you be ready for the digital camera. Her method was a way of teaching us to think about our photographs and to plan our photographs before taking the shot. By doing this, we eliminated our digital compatriot's snap-happy tendencies. Now, even with a digital camera, I plan my compositions and consider the lighting before clicking the shutter.

Don't get me wrong; I love digital photography. After taking the picture I can immediately check to make sure they are right. I also love how organized my digital photos are on my computer. With iPhoto, I can manage albums and events just like traditional photo albums, but without the hassle of acid free paper and covers. And the storage takes up much less space than a photo book!

I hope that if I get to teach photography in my classroom (whether it's middle school or high school) that I can give my students the same experience I had. I want my students to understand the photographic process as part of learning about the history of photography. I want them to learn how to compose and develop their photos, without resorting to photoshop. With these tools I hope to mould better, more experienced photographers than the snap-happy masses.