Photographers Rise to the Challenge at BCAE Symposium

Aging shutterbugs will fondly remember creative adventures in the darkroom, the sulfuric smell of ‘stop bath’ on their fingers and the anticipation of imagery coming to life in a liquid-filled pan. The process of going from exposure to print was arduous, but the payoff was that much more exciting as a result.

Fast forward to Summer 2011. Camera enthusiasts speak an entirely different language – the equation between shutter speed and available light is being calculated for them… as a result, avid photographers can focus more energy on capturing the moment. And for those of us that tend to drink too much coffee, digital auto-focus is a godsend.

Digital photography has revolutionized the way we capture and preserve images, but just because certain aspects of the medium have been simplified doesn’t mean there’s nothing left to learn. In fact, there’s plenty of tricks that can help you take your digital hobby to the next level, and this weekend the BCAE is showcasing some of them in its first annual day-long seminar for photography enthusiasts, practitioners and the merely curious, called  “Take a Shot: A Digital Photography Symposium.”

The symposium, which is sponsored by Shutterbug Magazine and Hunts Photo & Video Supply is divided into two morning and two afternoon sessions with four workshops repeating twice each time—attendees are able to pick four out of eight total classes that speak to their individual interests. Topics vary from the basics of digital photography to more complex subjects like art direction and the elements involved in a fashion shoot, and award-winning photojournalist Bill Brett will be on hand to make a short keynote address.

The instructors are all actively working in the field, but conveying ideas in a classroom setting requires them to be able to explain creative processes which, any artist will tell you, isn’t always easy.

“Honestly, I'm losing sleep over it,” admitted Mike Diskin, a contributor to Boston Common, Boston Magazine and Stuff, who will be teaching Through a News Lens: Photography and the Media during the morning sessions. “I'm a guy that has learned through trial and error. I'm a digital baby. Take a picture...look at it...then adjust. I shoot by feel. I never really know how to approach something until I'm smack dab in the middle of it.”

This isn’t Diskin’s first time up at the chalkboard, however – his BCAE Street Shooting class last year went well enough that he was asked to return. He says he’s flattered to be asked to teach in the company of some other, substantially more experienced artists and hopes students will walk away with a greater understanding of effective principals and trends within media photography. He’s also a champion of subtlety.

“I feel too many photographers actually err in the opposite direction,” he said. “They want to say something, so they scream it, but an audience likes to participate. They don't want to be spoon-fed; they like to draw conclusions on their own. A really good photo, story, painting, film, whatever...leads the viewer to a specific place the creator wanted them to go—without them knowing.”

Lifestyle Photographer and owner of Elevin Studios, Eric Levin, is also a BCAE vet; he previously taught a class called Poor Lighting, a handy set of instructions about getting professional lighting effects ‘on the cheap.’ He returns with Professional Lighting Tips and Tricks on Saturday.

Levin’s career spans from the pre-digital age to the present, but he refuses to give in to certain trends. 

“I haven't shot automatic in over 10 years, not once,” he said, noting that he does, however, find automatic focus very useful during fast-paced shoots. “I live, eat, and breathe light. I can tell you the exposure—f-stop, iso and shutter speed—of any scene without looking at my camera display and be accurate within one stop.”

Levin agrees with Diskin that putting ideas across coherently in a classroom setting is a challenge, but it’s one that he rises to confidently.

“It's extremely hard,” he admitted. “It's even hard sometimes to communicate what I want to my assistants. They have to learn my language so I can almost just point and grunt and they know what I mean."

"Fortunately, I'm good at whipping stuff together and can answer pretty much any question asked, so it's all good," he added. "I'm a wealth of knowledge at this point and I can speak on all types of photography, from fashion, to food, to interiors, to portraits, to journalism, and on...I love it; it's my life.”

A Lighting Tip from Eric Levin:

“Find a friend and play around with a light source (maybe a window or something with daylight). Find out which angles/directions/types of light are flattering, and which aren’t. This will help you whether shooting with strobes or natural light, auto exposure or manual. You can't Photoshop bad lighting, so it's better to know what's up ahead of time when going into a shoot.”

Visit the BCAE website for more info and to register for classes, which cost $175 per person.