Black & White Film Photography

My entrance to the world of photography was in a beginning photography class at Penn State. I used a Pentax K1000 SE while learning black and white film photography. In this class I learned to process not only my film but also make and chemically process prints. The teaching assistant, Tara Tallman, was a great help, very patient and inspired me in so many ways.

I was lucky enough to next take a chemical photography class to learn the Zone System as it was developed by Ansel Adams. It was taught by Marc Hessel and was, unfortunately, the last time he taught the course at Penn State. I also used my Pentax K1000 SE camera and, as the system dictates, processed my own film and prints. I feel very fortunate to have taken this class with Marc. He knew the system and had experience teaching it in a way that was easy to understand and use.

Color Digital Photography

Keith Shapiro taught my first digital photography class. The class introduced me to working with color and Adobe Photoshop. I used a Nikon Coolpix 4300 as well as objects and photographs that were scanned. I also took a course with Gerald Lang that focused on studio photography. I learned studio lighting while using a Kodak DCS Pro 14N and Cambo studio stands. It was the first photography class in which I was able to work as part of a team. It was an interesting experience and we produced some really interesting images.

I later took an Independent Study with Keith in which I primarily used my Nikon D70. He encouraged me to make prints and to produce a digital portfolio. My digital portfolio consisted not only of what later became this web site, but also a custom designed CD and case. The CD contains a digital copy of my photography portfolio and resume and allows to me freely distribute samples of my work to interested parties. My web-site and CD portfolio are direct products of the independent study and a class taught by Jerrold Maddox on computer graphics.