Oklahoma State University Arts and Sciences Outreach and Stillwater Public Library are partnering to provide a new class, “An Introduction to Travel Photography” taking place at the library March 2 through April 20.
Jason Wallace, a local fine art photographer, will be teaching the class that is geared to both beginning and experienced photographers.
“Each person has different goals for their travel photography,” said Wallace. “Some people want to capture images for recordkeeping purposes, similar to a diary, so we’ll start off with basic strategies. By the end of the class, I want students to begin to explore the artistic side of travel photography. I want them to be able to capture not just the visual elements, but also the feelings of their experience.”
The fee based classes include seven sessions and take place on Thursdays from 5:30-7 p.m. Sessions include:
- March 2 – How to see in a world of sensory overload
- March 9 – The camera and its gadgets
- March 16 – Spring Break (no class)
- March 23 – Photographing Nouns: People, Places, Things
- March 30 – Photographing Ideas: How to Shoot the Invisible
- April 6 – Photo development
- April 13 – You’ve got a bunch of photos. Now what?
- April 20 – Recap and discussion
“Travel photography is a unique type of photography,” said Wallace. “It has its own challenges. There are many more elements not under your control, such as the activities taking place at the site. You also have to learn how to identify the essential elements of a place and how to situate yourself and properly anticipate and read its light.”
Wallace says that some locations can present themselves with too much of a good thing.
“On some trips, you are overwhelmed with interesting locations. On my first trip to Italy, I took over 1,500 photos in three weeks. Out of all of those images, only three were really good. The rest were fillers.”
Wallace tried to work out why those three photos were so much better than the others.
“Ultimately, those three photos had elements of focus and artistic expression that the others did not. I want to teach those elements to the students so that they transform their photography from basic recordkeeping to creating images with that kind of emotional impact. Those are the photos that will be long lasting and the ones that will capture the meaning of your travel experience.”
Wallace holds a B.F.A. in Studio Art from Oklahoma State University. Since 2008, he has offered his fine art prints at over 70 art festivals, and won over a dozen awards. In addition to his fine art work, he also photographs commercially for real estate, construction, and design companies around Oklahoma. He travels to Italy frequently.
“An Introduction to Travel Photography” is a non-credit class. Registration is $89 until Feb. 18. After that date, the class fee is $109. Registration and course information are available at http://asoutreach.okstate.edu/community/photo.
For more information, please contact Christine Nichols with Arts and Sciences Outreach at 405-744-8459 or christine.nichols@okstate.edu.
The Stillwater Public Library is located at 1107 S. Duck St. (the corner of Duck and 12th Ave.). Visit the library online at http://library.stillwater.org/ or https://www.facebook.com/stillwaterpubliclibrary.
To view Wallace’s work, visit his website at jwallacephoto.com.