Photo Lab Manual (PDF) - Richland College

A Guide to Writing in Your JournalThe journal or diary is used to record thoughts and impressions of your photographicexperiences during this semester. Technical information (f/stops, shutter speeds, lenses,etc.) should be listed separately in the back of the journal. We are more interested inhow you respond to the picture-taking process and the subjects you photograph.Writing should be done freely as you will not be graded on how well you write. We arenot necessarily looking for writing which is lengthy, as quality and depth of expressioncan be concise. Writing is best done after a shooting session, after rolls are exposed, orafter prints are made. It is advised not to wait until several assignments have gone by tobegin writing as the immediacy of the experiences may be forgotten.Photography is a powerful medium for communication and self-expression. The factthat you have to be where your subject is to photograph it establishes some degree ofinteraction between you and your environment. We want you to be conscious of this,as well as your reactions to the process of taking pictures. You might consider thesequestions to respond to in your journal:• How did you feel about the shooting of this assignment?• What was it about some or all of the subject matter which compelled youto photograph it?• Are the resulting photographs from the picture-taking process what youanticipated them to be?• If you photographed people, how did they respond to you? How did youfeel about photographing them?• Are you having fun taking pictures? Why? If not, why?• What have you learned from shooting the assignment?• Does the picture-taking process or the resulting photographs have any othersignificance beyond the physical act or the surface appearance of the print?17