Got My Ricoh GR III for You, But Wait, You’re Giving Us a Nikon D3400?… (Revisited)
Date:
Digital Photography I (152)
Table of Contents
Introduction
Photography, for me, became something more than just snapping shots with my phone—it was a way to manage stress, get outside, and force myself to experience nature (despite usually hating it). The act of going out with a camera, sometimes with friends, sometimes alone, gave me a reason not to just sleep away my weekends after an exhausting week.
If you asked me which class I learned the most from that year, it would be this one. My parents used to call me a “talented photographer” growing up, but this class was the first time I really understood what makes a photo good.
Technical Lessons That Stuck
The big shift was realizing that good photography is not just about clicking at the right time, but about controlling light, exposure, and composition. For example:
- The Exposure Triangle: balancing aperture, shutter speed, and ISO became second nature. Want shallow depth of field for portraits? Open up the aperture. Shooting moving subjects? Crank up the shutter speed. Shooting in low light? Raise the ISO, but carefully, to avoid noise.
- Composition Rules: rule of thirds, leading lines, symmetry, and negative space were no longer abstract terms. I practiced them so much that I now instinctively “see” these structures when framing.
- RAW and Editing: we worked in Lightroom, adjusting white balance, contrast, and colors. HDR workflows were especially fun: merging multiple exposures into one balanced photo, without losing the details in shadows or blowing out the highlights.
Sometimes I found myself torn between taking a technically “correct” photo and creating one that was artistically or emotionally striking. That tension—between pleasing the eye with balance and telling a story with imperfection—is part of what makes photography endlessly interesting.
Getting Forced Into Nature (and Liking It)
Ironically, the assignments that forced me to go out—chasing light at sunrise, finding interesting angles in mundane landscapes, photographing people in candid moments—became the ones I loved most. The act of being outside, camera in hand, became its own kind of therapy.
Revisited
I later revisited this passion by adding a photo gallery section to my blog. Now, it’s not just assignments—it’s a growing portfolio. Some photos are technical exercises, others are just moments I don’t want to forget. And in a way, each one is a reminder of how a class I didn’t expect much from ended up changing the way I see both photography and the world.