I knew that this was the perfect place

It's that time of year - when all of us students at Prairie View have to start putting together our final portfolios and begin looking forward to graduation and our future after that. All that makes it a great time to reflect and look back on where we've come from.

Before I first came to Prairie View, I spent two years at University, working on a degree in Fine Arts. I took a photography class there, and I felt that it wasn’t enough for me and that university wasn’t the right fit for me. So, I decided to come to Prairie View. I knew even before I came here that I was very interested in portraiture - and that certainly hasn't changed! Although I felt that my photography had potential at the time, I realized that most of what I did was intuitive and that I really needed to learn a lot more in order to truly improve my work.

Right from the start, I knew that this was the perfect place – I learned so much right from the start! Although I felt comfortable with my camera before coming to school, having played around with it for a few years already, really getting familiar with the technical points behind a good portrait was a huge part of understanding how to take better pictures.

I love natural light. Before I came to Prairie View, I always felt inspired by beautiful light, but it was a much more subtle, subconcious choice in my work. Now, after having learned more, it’s become a much more concious descion to look for the perfect light. It’s still as inspiring as it was before, when the sun is at just the right spot in the sky – but now I can look and see it with a trained eye and know even more than before how to take advantage of it.

Speaking of lighting, studio lighting is something completely new that I’ve had the chance to learn at school. I was always interested in trying product photography, but never had the opportunity to do so until now!

Another thing that I’ve had a chance to experiment with at Prairie View are various film techniques that I otherwise wouldn’t have tried. A big thing that was introduced to me was double exposures on film, where the negative is exposed twice. It’s always very exciting to see what happens – since you don’t know how the two images will precisely come together. I keep finding myself running out with a roll of film to shoot multiple exposures now that I’ve learned about this, and it never quite loses its thrill!

Now that I’ve had a chance to learn so much, I feel that I’ve been able to improve greatly. I’m able to get the photographs I want quicker – in fewer tries, and much closer to the vision inside my head. I looking forward to learning even more, right up until graduation, and hopefully I’ll keep learning and getting even better long after!

Jenna Shaak

PV Diploma Student

2011-12