Shutterbug & Jitterbug

Westminster Abbey

"This has been one of the most enjoyable class sessions so far," said one of my photography 51 classmates yesterday. I agree with him because yesterday we had the chance to make an enlargement from negatives of our choice. Doing these assignments with your own negative makes such a difference because you actually start caring about the image. Also, it was probably more enjoyable because the instructor did not talk that much in the lab. She was there to consult when we had questions. You can see the results of my blood, sweat and tears in the scanned image above of the Westminster Abbey. I took this image 5 years ago in 2003 on my first trip to London. I like black and white images because they look so classic and timeless!

I think the class and the instructor have gotten used to one another at this point, so that's why things have gone more smoothly with less drama. In the life cycle of a team, I think we're in the norming stage. We know what actions to avoid setting her off, we know her quirks.

In class we also critiqued the motion photos that we took. I got mostly positive feedback on my images. Someone liked my cable car image and said it looked commercial. (Positive feedback is nice!) BTW, thanks for voting in my poll. I actually went with the cable car image that was on the flat part of California Street (Picture A). According to the feedback, I was able to execute technically on each of the motion objectives (blur, stop action and panning), but the instructor wanted me to improve my exposure because there was no shadow detail.

Today I decided to make a trip to REI, a sporting goods store, so that I could buy a backpack for my trip next year. I decided for an Eaglecreek Maiden Voyage 70 L backpack after much deliberation. At the end of the day, what won me over was the shape of the bag and the lack of dangly straps in the front. Thinking practically, too many of those straps in the front could prove to be a snagging hazard either when I'm walking or in the luggage carousels. I got 20% off, so it was an OK deal.

By the way, here is a tip for you: Pandora, a customizable radio station without commercials! So far I haven't created my own station, I'm just piggybacking off of the station my sister created, but I want to make my own station soon.