 |
| Luxembourg Garden |
A as in the Automatic
setting on your digital camera, of course.
So you’ve got this
great SLR camera with 36 million pixels and just as many functions, but you
don’t have a clue how to use them. Surrounded by all of the amazing
sights in Paris, you're frustrated that your photos don't seem to do justice to
the beauty that you saw with your eyes.
To unlock the mystery
of your camera, take Meredith Mullins' photography classes at WICE. Here
you will learn that 'capturing the moment' is a delicate balance of artistry
and technical skill.
 |
| Meredith Mullins |
“Everybody can take
photos. But not everybody takes the time to compose, connect, and think
about why they are clicking the shutter. That's what makes a great photograph; when
you’re actually creating it. "
As a young girl,
Meredith's love for photography was born when her parents first gave her a
camera. Over the years this passion for photography led to her becoming
a fine art photographer and teaching at Monterey Community College and Hartnell
College, in California. For Meredith, the ultimate goal of an artist is
to evoke an emotional response in the viewer. Her photographs should
create a connection that makes someone think about or feel something.
Here in Paris, many
people take Meredith's classes to gain greater creative control and a stronger
voice in their photographs. The key things that she focuses on in the
introductory classes are:
·
Connection:
Deciding what interests you about a scene and then capturing that
emotion.
·
Lighting:
Understanding how your camera reads light and identifying what the quality,
direction, and quantity of light is doing to the subject.
·
Shutter Speed:
Determining whether to freeze or blur action. (Personally, Meredith
likes the idea of seeing time pass in a photograph, so she's a blur action kind
of person.)
·
Aperture: How
much of the scene is in focus.
According to Meredith,
when you have the perfect lighting or see a great story unfolding, if you have
to think about too many things, then you're going to lose the moment. By
teaching the camera functions in small topics, little by little it all becomes
instinctive. Once the mechanics of photography become second nature,
you are then free to have clear artistic expression.
By changing her
classes and keeping them new and interesting each year, Meredith has built a
loyal following of students. In her Exploring classes, Meredith
discusses the technical or artistic focus of the day and then takes her
students out to unique parts of Paris, to explore and make photos. In
this supportive and friendly environment, students can comfortably get feedback
on their work.
With each class,
Meredith is always pleasantly reminded that each student brings their own
unique artistic view. Although they were all walking in the same streets
together at the same time, each person's photos always turn out vastly
different from the other's.
In the Creative Path
class, she focuses more on the creativity of photography and finding and honing
one's voice. As a final product, the students in this class have made
calendars, books, or art gallery exhibits of their work. For Meredith,
seeing how her students have progressed to the point where any one of their
photographs would be applauded by the outside world is her reward and
motivation for teaching.
As for her own style,
Meredith considers herself a street photographer. She loves to wander
about town, observe, and see things that are not ordinarily seen by other
people. She likes to capture life unfolding in a real way. One of
the highlights of her photography experiences was an early morning walk making
photos of the pristine, untouched snowfall in her Parisian neighborhood.
Transformed by the flowing snow and the golden glow of the street lights,
the normally mundane inanimate objects created a magical connection where she
was able to capture some of the best photographs of her career.
In addition to
teaching at WICE and also being on its Board of Directors, Meredith does
exhibitions of her own work every couple of years. She's also the Co-Founder
and Director of the International
Fine Art Photography Award which had 4,000 entries from 72 countries, and
was viewed by 8,000 people at its exhibit last November. As if that
wasn't enough to keep her busy, Meredith's also a blogger for ‘Oh, I see!’.
*****
 |
| Montmartre Soccer |
- Do you need to have an expensive camera to take her classes? No. Meredith believes that once you've learned the technical basics and how to make a connection with your heart and eyes, then you can make beautiful photographs with any kind of camera.
- Become friends with your camera now and start making your own photography magic! Check out and enroll in WICE's upcoming photography classes.
*****
 |
| Meredith Mullins |
- From April 24th to May
1st, Meredith will be exhibiting some of her photographs along with the work of
some of her former WICE students at the Studio Galerie B&B, near the Canal
St. Martin.
Post by Veronica Kugler
Photos by Meredith Mullins