So Far

Enchanting Winnipeg Winter

How it's Going

Follow the light

I am an 'older' student.  Starting a new career path at this stage is somewhat stressful to say the least.  Before I started at PrairieView I could take a reasonable picture  and I enjoyed documenting every family function, trip and well...everything.  "Passionately annoying" is likely a phrase most family members would use to describe me and my obsession with documenting every breath of life. 

I say that I could take a reasonable picture, but the truth is I would only consider one out of 500 pictures a keeper.  That was my frustration. I knew most weren't all that good, but I did not have any idea how to get to the point where I could get a great shot.  More than that, I wanted consistency in taking good photographs. I wanted to create something that people would find compelling, without having to rely on happy accidents and sheer volume of pictures in order to turn out a few good ones.

Precision

The more I learn about my camera, about composition, about art and technique, the less happy I am with my photographs. I see incremental improvements, for sure, but it can be frustrating as knowledge takes time to filter in and I need to practice each technique. PrairieView has loaded me up with challenging assignments for sure and I am confident that the process is working.  It is a humbling experience, but striving for better images is what I signed up for. I just didn't know how badly I sucked,  and very likely these images I have on this page will work their way down the list of ones I thought were good tomorrow.

It's Still Fun

My Wife

The amount of assignments can be overwhelming at times. I am fortunate to have a willing subject (my wife) who will come with me on shoots, and pose whenever necessary. Family life is difficult though as a student no matter what the subject. The instructors do make the assignments understandable and they themselves are great understanding people. 

When you finally integrate theory and practice, you are rewarded with better images. Being challenged and rewarded for effort is fun.  Hunting for that perfect shot, with the perfect timing, in the perfect light, with a perfect composition, without any distractions in the background, appropriate depth of field, intriguing design elements, and the image conveys the message you intended, with the right mood and on and on is a fascinating challenge.  Yup it's fun.

Exploring New Areas and Rediscovering Old Ones

Winnipeg Skyline

Black and white, colour negative and slide film have become new and exiting for me.  I had never worked in a darkroom before and printing my own images is addicting. "Who the heck uses film anymore?" were my thoughts when I first read the PrairieView brochure. But I love it now; so much that I purchased all the necessary darkroom equipment to make my own prints at home. Thankfully (though sadly) many people have also abandoned in recent years so setting up a darkroom can be pretty cheap. But I'm not sure when I the darkroom will be operational in my house because other assignments have taken most of my time!!

Mondragon

Film has properties that are inherently different than digital.  Using it involves a very manual process and it feels closer to the creation of art than digital. Not that it is. But it feels like it. Our first assignment with slide film was amazingly eye-opening. I could not believe the vivid colours and new textures. Now I can take those slides/negs and capture them with today's scanners that are reasonably inexpensive. Or take my digital photos and create digital negatives and print them on printing paper in the darkroom creating hybrid analogue and digital photos.  I intend to explore this a lot!

So Far to Go

Sweet Stroll

I am only a few months into the diploma program and I am pleased with the progress so far. But I know I still have a lot to learn, and even more to integrate. I expect it will be a lifelong process and pursuit.  It's fun, its tiring, it's frustrating, and rewarding most times. I am a self learner but I can't help thinking how many years of knowledge I have the opportunity to absorb in a fraction of the time it would take to research all of this. Who knows how many bad habits I would have learned along the way on my own.  Learning itself is fun.  

James Forsman

PV Diploma Student

2012-13