I am incredibly proud of my photography students: Zoe Ross, Taylor Cote and Matt Hill. Being a photographer at New River Academy is no easy task. A camera and the necessary gear such as batteries, film cards, cables, lenses, tripods and cleaning supplies, are delicate, heavy, and expensive things. Caring for them, particularly under our circumstances of constant travel and camping, can be quite an arduous task.
With each adventure we take as a school, the photo students have an added task to contend with. They carry their boat over their shoulder, their paddle in one hand and their pelican box in the other. While the rest of us contemplate our perfect line down the waterfall, the photo students are computing in their heads the equation of light + action+ and available vantage point for shooting. They climb cliffs, scramble down into river beds, fight through steep hillsides of bamboo and thorns, and drag themselves across zip lines to get the most innovative shot.
Being a photography teacher has given me a new appreciation for a photographer’s role in their photographs. This should seem obvious- who else but the photographer could be responsible for their own shot? But before this semester, I never payed homage to the photographer at all. Looking at a photograph of David Hughes running a huge waterfall, I would think to myself, “David is doing something so awesome! And that waterfall is beautiful! I wish I did things like David did so I could have photos of me like that!” I gave the subject all the credit! And while it’s true, without the handsome boys and girls running big drops in pretty places, none of us would have the portfolio we do. But I never would think, “Wow, what composition this photographer achieved! The exposure is perfect, look how the water seems to be suspended mid air, it must have been difficult to use such a fast shutter speed in that limited light. And the area is so remote- amazing that photographer lugged her giant lens and delicate camera so far into the wilderness!”
Watching Zoe, Taylor and Matt constantly adjusting their focus, change out lenses, climb trees and give up their own oppertunity to run a drop in order to shoot someone else running it, really makes me appreciate how far they go and how hard they work. Photography is one of those rare things that everyone benefits from. The photo students glow with pride when others admire their work, and the subjects of those photos glow with pride when they put them up on facebook and everyone at home raves about their latest big adventure.
Of course, then there is the hours spent in front of their screen touching up photos, uploading them to Flikr, giving slide shows and writing blog posts. With internet that flickers in and out, this can be a long a tedious process. My students work for hours at a time perfecting and sharing their photos, and always with positive, energetic diligence.
Thank you Zoe, Taylor and Matt, I am so proud of the work you do!
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- (C) Melina Coogan
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- (C) Tracy d’Arbeloff
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- (C) Taylor Cote
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- (C) Melina Coogan
