Trouble with a capital “T”

Trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble…..

Our high school is performing “The Music Man” and I have this song running through my head in the annoying, it will never go away sort of way.  But it does allude to something I want to talk about today.  In each and EVERY one of our classrooms, under EVERY week, just below the assignments, is a place few people go…..

But we all should!

I will be the first to raise my hand as “guilty” of not using this section as well as I could (or at all to be honest).  I did not really understand the purpose of it until recently and sadly I have been at this over two years and am nearly finished.  I want my loss to be your gain.

This is what I am talking about:

Problems and Solutions Discussion.  

For some reason I thought I had to have some big “issue” to post there.  I could not have been more wrong. 

Click under this section and this is what it says,

”This Problems and Solutions Discussion forum is where you can post information about any technical or assignment problems you're experiencing, and post any solutions, tips, tricks or other comments that would be of value to fellow students.”

My current Instructor adds this note,

“If you have any questions about this week's assignments that you think your classmates might also have, please post them here.  If you think you have an answer to a classmate's question, you are welcome to chime in - this is a community, let's welcome one another and support each other as we learn more about portraiture!”

This, ladies and gentlemen is a FABULOUS tool, a GREAT resource, a WONDERFUL arena for us to connect and help one another.  Remember that no question it too small or stupid.  I struggled all the way through Lighting PH136 not knowing if I should leave the modeling light on all the time when using strobes or shut it off.  It was not until I was taking Studio Photography PH212 and was having a phone conversation with the Instructor that it occurred to me to ask her and not feel ridiculous about it.  If I had posted a little note in the Problems and Solutions Discussion during week one of Lighting, then I would have known.  And it is entirely possible other students in the class had the same question.

This is a learning environment!  We are all here to LEARN.  To better foster that we need to simply ask questions when we have them. It may very well be that a classmate knows the answer.  We are all at different places in this journey. One of the beauties of the AiO set up is that because we are all at different points in our journey, we can and SHOULD help one another.  AiO has given us a platform in the Problems and Solutions Discussion where we can do just that.

Do you have a question that you have been too nervous, afraid, or did not think to just ask?  Well now is your chance!

You can always ask us questions here on the blog as well.  That is one part of what we are here for as Student Ambassadors.  We are all a bit further along in our journeys and have found ways to be successful and yet are still learning.  Let us all learn together.

It’s just another Manic Monday …

Monday Ambassador

Recent Class Assignment and a Road Trip

Good Morning Everyone and Happy Sunday! Today I am just going to talk about a recent project and school assignment that I had due. On Thursday of this past week I had the pleasure of going on a road trip. I had a class assignment due on Saturday so I chose to go to a different location other than what I normally use. The road trip took me to Baltimore MD and Washington D.C. I had always heard about this great place to shoot called the Graffiti Warehouse located in Baltimore, so that was the first place we headed. I also like to photograph National and Historical Site so for that I headed to Washington D.C.

The assignment for school we had to take portraits using only available light, no strobes or flash. This is something that I do all the time so I wasn't to worried, I used the Graffiti Warehouse for this they had a few rooms with huge windows that gave some amazing light. Below are some of the photos taken yesterday.

 Photos By Wayne Salat

 Photos By Wayne Salat

 Photos By Wayne Salat

Photos By Wayne Salat

For the other personal project, as I had mentioned, I went to Washington D.C. I have never photographed at night so this proved to be a challenge. Photographing some of the monuments during the day also proved to be a challenge as the light was quite strong.  Getting my settings right and putting the knowledge that I had to the test, produced some nice photos. Below are some photos of the U.S Capital Building taken at 10 PM and the others were taken during the day when sun was brightest.

  Photos By Wayne Salat

  Photos By Wayne Salat

  Photos By Wayne Salat

 Photos By Wayne Salat

Enjoy Your Sunday and Photograph Something Everyday!

Sunday Ambassador~ Wayne

Down to the Wire!

It is a beautiful Thursday in Michigan! It is 57° instead of 97° this morning. What a difference a week can make!

What do you do when your assignment is due in six hours and you don’t understand a concept? This can even happen for seasoned students…like myself…so first thing, DON’T PANIC.

Last week I had an assignment that I totally thought I understood. I went out and shot my images for the assignment (it was creating a planar panorama in photoshop or like software), sat down to process it, and it didn’t work. There were several choices to make in the process and I tried them all, and nothing worked. Now what? Professors don’t really like calls at the last hour when assignments are due. They really do have a life outside our classrooms.

Here are some options:

·         Check Skype and see if the professor happens to be online. If so, ask your question.

·         The internet can often be a great place to find solutions. Google the exact info you need help with. Often you will find your answer or enough information to get you past the obstacle that has you stumped.

·         Call a friend. Develop relationships with other classmates so that you can call on each other in times of trouble. I have a couple fellow students that I’ve developed friendships with whom we’ve shared phone numbers, and feel comfortable enough to call at late night hours J. A lot of times two heads are better than one. You will find that your classmates track along the same class schedule as yourself, so you will be learning together for the next three or so years.

·         If you don’t get your answers through any of the previous suggestions, turn in everything you have tried with explanations of how you did things and ask what went wrong. At least you will get partial credit, AND the professor will know how to help you.

The last option is actually what I did on my planar panorama problem and I got a 90% on it. So it didn’t harm my overall grade, the professor was able to work me through the problem and now I know what to do to create planar panoramas. (By the way linear panoramas are a lot easier to create. Hmmm…I think I feel another blog coming on.)

Planar Panorama (It takes a flat surface to shoot against.)

 Linear Panorama

Do you have any other suggestions for those last-hours-before-an-assignment-is-due problems? Please share them with us.

Have a great day!

Your Thursday Student Ambassador

Auto Giga 6.2 Review. Northlight Images. 2013. 24 Jul 2013. http://www.northlight-

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What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?

Good Thursday Morning from your Thursday Ambassador. It is a great day today. I get a private session to photography a Frank Lloyd Wright house today! This came about because I am a student at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online Division. Be glad you are a student too!

THEN  and  NOW

When I was a child I thought about being a great pianist. I even dreamed getting married in a field of yellow daisies with a grand piano there. Funny, I pictured the field and piano but not much of the wedding. J I did go to college immediately after high school and major in piano performance, but the degree I got was my Mrs. not a bachelors.  I spent the next 20 years supporting my husband’s pastoral ministry with my music ministry. Now he is encouraging me to get my degree.

Along my married journey I also met and fell in love with photography. Once I picked up a camera (actually I was given two Mamiya 645s) and started capturing emotions of people, I was hooked. That was back in the mid-1990s. Ever since people have been asking me to photograph them. I wanted to learn as much as I could so I went to as many photography seminars as I could and I turned into a good photographer. I kept telling my husband, and growing children, that as soon as I wasn’t needed to raise our kids, I was going back to college to get that degree I stopped a year short of. About 2005 that dream was drawing close enough to start thinking seriously about what do I want to be when I grow up? I didn’t see my music going anywhere it wasn’t already being used, so it seemed futile to finish a music degree. I was working as a part-time freelance photographer, and absolutely loving it, so this made a lot more sense.

THEN  and  NOW

THEN (top)  and  NOW

I contacted the local colleges and universities (because I couldn’t relocate to go to school) but none of them offered a photography program that would have been as in-depth as what I already had experienced. That is when I found AIPOD. I looked for a school that would not only give me the degree I wanted, but help me move from being a good photographer to a great photographer. I planned to, and have, put in 100% effort to get to that place. I have also pursued learning outside the classroom. I take advantage of photography classes taught by master photographers. I took a week long Master Class taught by Clay Blackmore and David Ziser that really cemented my ability and confidence to properly light and pose my subjects. I take in as many CreativeLIVE trainings as I can (because you can watch them free online-and ask questions live when they are videoing them). You can see 3 days of Pose It, Light It, Love It with Clay Blackmore July 29-31. Just sign up free at CreativeLIVE.com. Today I'm starting one on High Volume Photography Business. 

Before I started AIPOD I rarely practiced my photography outside an actual shoot. Now I understand the reason to practice over and over. Even if I can accomplish my goal on the first try, I gain confidence and streamline my process each time I accomplish it again. This creates a confidence in me, which will also create confidence in my clients as they see me work. So now that I have only 3 months left to complete my bachelors in photography, I can look back and see a huge difference in my photography, my confidence level, and my ability to run my business successfully.

So what is your story…and what do you want to be when you grow up? Share it with us.

Advisor, Advisor, Where Art Thou?

I hope you all had a Happy 4th and caught some fabulous Firework shots!

As a student at AI there is a team of people put in place to help you.  Specifically YOU!  Your Admissions Counselor, Financial Counselor and Academic Counselor make up this team.  Notice they are called COUNSELORS because their job is to COUNSEL, to ADVISE, to HELP you!

coun·se·lor

  [koun-suh-ler] 

noun

1.   a person who counsels; adviser.

coun·sel

  [koun-suhl]  Show IPA noun, plural coun·sel for3, verb, coun·seled, coun·sel·ing or ( especially British )coun·selled, coun·sel·ling.

noun

1.    advice; opinion or instruction given in directing the judgment or conduct of another.

2.    interchange of opinions as to future procedure; consultation;deliberation.

If you do not know who your Academic Counselor is or how to contact him, here is some help.  This is screen shot of my home page.

Notice the big purple arrow on the right hand side?  This is where the name and contact information (phone and email) for your Academic Counselor can be found.

PLEASE take advantage of these men and women!  They are experts!  It is their job to help you wade through the logistics of your educational courses at AI.  Pick up the phone and really get to know them.  Give them a way to remember you (mine is easy, I have 10 kids – no one forgets that LOL). Get to know them a first name basis.

Our Advisors are also our advocates.  If you need something ASK them.  It never hurts to ask, the worst that can happen is youget told, “No,” and then you are no worse off then if you had never asked.  Let me leave you with an example.

I had a particular Instructor that I really “clicked” with.  She was encouraging and challenging and I grew a lot in her class.  I learned that there was another class she taught that I still needed to take and in fact she was teaching it soon.  She and I had been in contact and she indicated she would like to have me in class again. So I called my Advisor.  At first the response was, “Well I don’t know,” but with further explanation and discussions and a bit of persstence on my part, I got in the class with the Instructor I wanted! 

Advisors – they are just a phone call (or email) away.

Have questions?  I am happy to answer.  Or share your experience with your Advisor. 

It’s just another Manic Monday…..

Monday Ambassador