sorry. The begining of a rant about a photography teacher.

[RyanLilly]

So...My younger brother just started a high school photograph class, it an introduction class, so I expected that he would learn the basics, like aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc...then assignments like, leading lines, rule of thirds, DOF, and whatnot.

So I gave my brother a Canon 10S and a 50mm 1.8, that has a roll of Tmax 400 that I had been shooting at 800, but I only took about 3 frames so I told him to finish out the roll.

So the first day of class they were taught how to develop film, an then assigned to shoot and "oddity" as their first assignment, then rather than teaching, the instructor told the class to ask him individually if they needed help using their cameras. So my brother was going around trying to take photos not even knowing what shutter and aperture were, or did, or even why they had to be adjusted. I guess the rest of the class is on "green box mode" in that case why even bother requiring an SLR! So after helping my brother understand how a everything works, and he had shot some pictures, I reminded him that Even though the film was 400 speed, it was shot at 800, and had to be developed accordingly, and his teacher should be able to help him.

So when he told his teacher that the film was shot at 800, the teacher asked why it was shot at 800, so he explained that it was my film and I had started the roll at 800. The Teacher asked "does your brother even know how to shoot film?...just go develop it. Tell your brother to step off and don't do anything that unless I tell you to." than made him develop it as if it were shot at 400!

end rant.

P.S.

So, Now I'm making my brother read "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson.

N

 

[craig]

The difference between 400 & 800 is only one stop. In the B&W world that is not much. Also if the only the first 3 shots were exposed @ 800 ISO all he had to do was change the ISO back to 400 and expose properly for the rest of the frames. I do not see the teachers fault. He is only trying to get everyone on the same page. Personally whenever I exposed B&W I shot at 320 or 200 ISO (ASA back then) I found that the added exposure gave me much more to work with.

Love & Bass

 

[ann]

As a photo educator i find this madding.

however, i do understand that it is important for a beginner to listen to one "voice" as it can get very confusing if too many people are trying to teach one person technical information.

Is this a basic darkroom class, or a camera class? Perhapes that is creating issues and the teacher expected everyone to all ready know about fstops/shutter speeds.
That is always one of the first questions i ask of beginning darkroom students. Do they know how to use their cameras, and if they don't we do go over somethings very quickly and i give them a handout. However, this is in the darkroom class.
If the class is basic camera class with some darkroom experience, it changes the whole dicussion.

I am sorry your brother is off to such a shaky start.

 

[ksmattfish]

The peanut gallery always knows more than the guy actually doing the work.

Possibly the teacher has read the Kodak Tmax 400 tech pub which recommends no development change for rating the film ISO 800?

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/f4043/f4043.pdf

I don't agree with Kodak myself, but that is their official advice.

Give the teacher a chance. First class and first assignment are not enough time to judge whether this teacher will bad (rare), good (very rare), or somewhere in the middle (common). Not every teacher is strong on all points. Most of my teachers emphasized the technical side; I wish a few more would have concentrated on the aesthetic/creative side. After your brother is done with the class you have the rest of your lives to explore photography together.

If your brother's high school is like mine was chances are the photography teacher isn't much of an expert at photography. They probably have their own artistic specialty, and a basic understanding of all the other stuff they are expected to teach. In HS my photo teachers were painters and sculptors. That's been my experience working with my local photography teachers in my town today; they are not photographers, but they are required to teach the class. The schools can't afford a specialized teacher for every kind of art. With the lack of value placed on arts education in the USA we're lucky our art teachers aren't all really coaches that have to teach a class to validate their hiring. It wasn't until I got to college that I actually got photography teachers that were photographers.

 

[Joves]

Yeah like ks said wait and see wether the teacher is going to be good or not. Though for now it does seem to be lacking to some extent now.

 

[ann]

good point KS, i have had many art teachers come take my darkroom class in the summer because they have been told to teach photography in the fall.
still makes me shake my head in saddness.

 

[abraxas]

So...My younger brother just started a high school photograph class, it an introduction class, so I expected that he would learn the basics, like aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc...then assignments like, leading lines, rule of thirds, DOF, and whatnot.

So I gave my brother a ...

... So, Now I'm making my brother read "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson.

Unless you can give your brother credit for the course, you should probably mind your own business.

 

[JerryPH]

String the teacher up, hang him from the highest lightstand in the room, I say!

This is high school and possibly the teacher has barely little more experience or knowledge than is needed to give that class. Another option is one that was mentioned that they want to keep everyone on the same page.

Extra info is always nice, but I would suggest not confuse your brother with more advanced topics until he has his basics down.

Don't give him a negative attitude about the instructor too, let him enjoy the class and learn with the others, and if he blows a few rolls of Tmax, meh... not the end of the world.

 

[Battou]

Personally I would have pulled the roll of film out of the camera before loaning it to him but that is just me.


But anywho, I don't agree with the methoed of learning explained but that might just be due to the way I took class, We sat threw hours of theroy on the basics before we even took a single shot. I'd give him till mid term and if things are still looking as dumb as they sound then I'd step in and tell your brother to listen up and give him a rundown on the ins and outs of photography and let him spend his class time taking pictures with the rest of the class.

 

[Iron Flatline]

Just make sure the kid comes out liking photography. We've all learned things that we later discarded or improved on.

 

[RyanLilly]

Thanks guys. all very good points. Some thinks just kind of bug me, but in reality everyone here is probably right. Any I cannot and should not pass judgment about the class based on what a high school kid tells me about the first few days.