Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-03-14)

10 14 March 2020I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

THE

VEWS

EXPRESSED

NTH

SCOLUMN

ARE

NOT

NECESSAR

LYTHOSE

OF
AMATEUR

PHOTOGRAPHER

MAGA Z

NE
OR
TMED

AL

MTED

O

vertheyearsI havegathered

manystoriesonhowuniversity

andcollegecoursesarewasting

students’money.In thelate

1990s,justbeforeI retired,I tookona

studentwhohadbeenstudying

photographyfortwoyears.Afterthefirst

fiveminutesI realisedshehadn’ta clue

aboutphotography.Shefeltshehadwasted

a fortuneandwasgoingtofailthedegree.

I setaboutgivinghersimpleinstructions

onportraitlightingusingherfatherasa

model,onlyusingthewindowandroom

lightaslightsources,showingthelighting

effectsonherfather’sfacedependingon

hispositionin relationtothelightsource.

ShestatedthatI hadtaughthermorein

twohoursthanshehadbeentaughtat

universityfortwoyears.

A whileagoI wasin a photographic

storeobservingoneof theyoung

assistantstakinga passportphotograph.

Heshowedtheresulttotheclientwho

insistedit wasnotheronthescreen(what

sheactuallymeantthathehadmadeher

lookugly).HewasusinganAPS-Cdigital

camerawiththekitlenssetat 18mm

focallength,withtheflashaimedstraight

at thesubject.In ordertofill theframehe

hadtobeveryclosetothesubject’sface,

resultingin grossdistortion.Nowonder

thesubjectobjectedtotheawfulmesshe

waspresentingherwith.I askedhimif he

hadanytuitionin takingpassport

photographs.Heinformedmethathis

universitydegreecoursedidnotcover

portraiture.I quietlytoldhimtosetthe

focallengthto55mm,whichmadehim

standfurtherback,andtobouncethe

flashoffthewallbehindhim.Bingo! She

lovedthenextshothetook.

Thebasicsofphotography

Iusedtosubscribetoa monthly

photographicmagazine.Everymonthit

hada certainmaturephotographergive

hisfour-penneth.Onemonthhedescribed

howhehadstudiedforthreeyearsfora

photographydegreeat a prestigious

Londoncollege.Hethensetabout

searchingfora photographer’sassistant

position.Hegainedaninterviewwitha

successful London photographer who

askedhimif heknewhowto processblack

& whitefilm.Heliedthathedid.Howcan

a studentfroma topLondoncollege

comeawaynotknowingsuchbasics?

AsrecentlyasNovember,on

RemembranceSunday,I wastaking

photographsof theceremony.I noticeda

teenagerwithanoldNikonFM2taking

photographs.I toldherthatbeforeI

retiredI hada coupleof FM2s.Soon,she

cametotheendof thefilmandadmitted

shewasa studentat thelocalcollegeand

hadbeentoldtousetheFM2,buthadno

ideahowtouseit andaskedmetounload

thefilm.I askedif sheknewwhatthe

aperturenumbersandshutterspeed

numberswereandhow to set the ISO.

Shehadn’ta clue!

Teachingmethods

WhenI enlistedin theRAFasa

photographer,over 50 yearsago,withinthe

firstweekweweretaughtwhattheaperture

numbersandshutterspeednumbersmeant

andhowtheASA(nowISO)numbers

statedthesensitivityof a film.Wewerelet

loosewitha camera,lightmeterandfilm,

thenweretaughthowtoloadthefilminto

a processingtankandprocessthefilm.

Frommyexperiencesandhorrorstories

I havebeentold,universitiesandcolleges

aretakingthemickeyoutof photography

students.It seemsobvioustome,thata

subscriptiontoAmateurPhotographer

magazinewillsaveyoua fortuneand

teachyoua hellof a lotmore.

JohnHeywoodwasa professionalphotographer

untilheretiredin 2009.Heremainsanenthusiastic

amateurandhisfavourite subjects are portraits

anddocumentary.

AnAmateurPhotographerreaderponders

whetherasubscriptiontoAPcould be a

better education than a degree

View point

John Hey wood

© JOHN HEY WOOD

Doyouhavesomethingyou’dliketogetoffyourchest?Sendusyourthoughtsinaround

500 wordstotheaddressonpage 20 andwina year’sdigitalsubscriptiontoAP,worth£79.

AportraitbyJohnHeywood,whowastaught

the basics of photography while in the RAF

© JAMES ABBOTT

© ANDREW SYDENHAM

CONTENT

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CHANGE

Cheapfull-framecameras

AudleyJarvispicksoutsomeofthebest

second-handfull-framecamerabargains

MeikeMK50mmF1.7test

AndyWestlaketriesoutaninexpensive

manual focuslensforfull-framemirrorless

Bestwestern

PhotographerJaneHiltontellsusabout

her projects in the American West

Topphotographerstellus

howtheygotonwitharange

of used cameras and lenses

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approved

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