Re: PF members exhibit Sept 07, 2013

[Lea Murphy <lea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Uhm. Yes.

But considering we were across the street from the Kansas City Art Institute when she asked the question it was clear THAT was more the type of schooling she meant.

your kids . my camera . we'll click
www.leamurphy.com

On Sep 10, 2013, at 11:39 AM, Randy Little wrote:

umm Lea you don't think all those workshops are school?   

Randy S. Little
http://www.rslittle.com/

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2325729/

On Tue, Sep 10, 2013 at 7:56 AM, Lea Murphy <lea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I had the opportunity this weekend to photograph a young lady's senior portraits. Her German exchange student house guest came along. The German girl, Lina, was very interested in photography and curious to know about all I was doing during the session….lighting, lens, f/stop, framing, etc.

As I was packing up gear at the end of the session Lina asked where I learned to photograph, what school I had gone to. When I told her I learned it all through reading photography magazines and books she was completely shocked. She said, "NO school?" I said, "No school."

My own experience has proven that deep passion combined with diligence, the ability to read combined with access to quality materials allows a person to do many, many things. I started photography when I was eleven years old and knew I was hooked for life by the time I was fifteen. My parents encouraged and supported me so very much in those early years with magazine subscriptions and book purchases, film and camera gifts that to this day warm my heart to think about.

I frequently wonder how different it would have been for me had the internet existed back then when I was really working to get photography figured out (late 70s- early 80s)…the ready access to information could have lowered my learning curve greatly. Or it could have completely overwhelmed me to the point of being unable to focus and absorb.

The beauty of my life now is that when I find a particular subject I'm interested in I take a class which is usually a very targeted intensive…I've done a master black and white printing class in Santa Fe with George DeWolfe, a studio lighting class with Marc Hauser, a One Light flash class with Zack Arias, and a life photography passion class (this class was so impressive it can't be pigeonholed into a category) in Santa Fe with Keith Carter. Each of them continue to impact my work on an ongoing basis.

Lea

your kids . my camera . we'll click

www.leamurphy.com

On Sep 10, 2013, at 9:33 AM, Andrew Davidhazy wrote:

May I mention  that some (maybe most) of the greatest and most successful photographers never took a course on photography in their lives. Formal education is not a prerequisite for effective photography I think. I can't think of what IS required but passion is probably a part of it. But I really don't know. Communication with others is probably another another. Being interested in others, being curious and flexible and open to learning from them or from mistakes are maybe others. Classroom learning is not useless and in fact sometimes is probably useful but it is not essential IMO. But as I say I am no expert on this and am just giving my opinion FWIW.

Andy