By Meghan Chute
The Decision
I never thought that I would have gone back to college to take a program that was only for myself. I have a few photographers in my family who take photos as a hobby, and it has always been a big interest for me, but I wanted to take it further. Not just snapping a quick picture of something that I find picturesque- I wanted to learn how to yield a real DSLR camera, how to compose a photo so it would be more thought-provoking, and of course how to properly work with Photoshop without over processing. The biggest driving point to go back to college and choose something that I found enjoyable and exciting was that I could be my own boss at the end of my program journey.
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| Meghan Chute |
Starting out as a completely innocent wannabe photographer was daunting. It seemed like a lot of my peers had had some kind of knowledge at least about using a DSLR camera. The professors, who are very welcoming and easy to talk to, have a vast amount of knowledge on a lot of aspects of photography. They still work in the field and bring along many relatable stories, sharing problems they have incurred and how they’ve handled them.
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| Meghan Chute |
This program offers so many opportunities to find your niche in photography. The assignments are pretty open unless calling for something specific. In my first year, I started out wanting to only photograph nature and landscapes. The idea of photographing people and telling them how to pose or what to do was absolutely terrifying for me. I should mention that I’m a bit of a shy and quiet person and prefer to be in my own space. That all changed at the end of my first year. I was invited to a photoshoot with my second-year printing mentor photographing to models in the studio. I was so hesitant because I’d never really shot people except to finish an assignment.
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| Meghan Chute |
This small photoshoot changed me. Having to interact with two strangers, tell them what to wear and how to pose was so awkward, but as I shot with them, I became more open to the idea of photographing people. Over the summer I met more models, and girls who wanted to get their photos done with me. Now that’s all I want to photograph, people, families, hell even newborns (which I had never in my life ever seen myself doing). As it nears to the end of the
