Digital Photography and the Joy of Learning
'Osteospermum' from an online short-course
with Sue Bishop, a flower photography specialist
There’s always something I can learn which will help my photography. And so, since 2008, I’ve done eleven online courses; one ‘real’ course; four separate days of hands-on photography; two drawing days. I've done both a three-day and a four-day photography workshop with Julia Anna Gospodarou and been mentored by her across a three-year programme. I’ve studied things you’d expect – photography, the history of art and drawing – and things you might not – modern art and meteorology (the latter to understand outdoor conditions better i.e. the weather, light and cloud formations). I’ve listened to two lunchtime talks at the Leeds Art Gallery. And I’ve a mini-library (well, not so ‘mini’) containing over 40 books on the history of photography; plus books on botanical illustration; more on the history of art; even more on photography!
For over a decade now I’ve been informing my photography in every way I can imagine, and I’m certain I’m a better photographer for it. But there’s more to all this than just the information I absorb.
I’m meeting new people at live events, and being stimulated by their ideas; I can observe what other people see and how they work at hands-on photography and drawing workshops; with online courses I enjoy the structure, the timetable, the challenge of assignments (where I’m typically photographing subjects I wouldn’t normally tackle, usually well outside my comfort zone, but finding I enjoy these new experiences more than I expect); I’m regularly exposed to new ideas – excited by lateral thinking and discovery; I'm curious, like a child; I’m ‘in the zone’ – losing myself and all sense of time, I’m in the moment, absorbed, focused, calm, fulfilled; I experience fun, pleasure, satisfaction and achievement; I respect people who have different skill sets from my own.
It’s about the joy of learning and people I meet in the way.