Over the last ten weeks I have been taking a digital photography class at the local art college, Columbus College of Art and Design. Considering I already have my B.A. in Visual Arts and I take photographs all the time, some have asked, “Why do you need a photography class?”

Well, simply, I wanted the homework.

And it would also be extremely egotistical for me to think that I know everything about photography. Everyone could use some more knowledge.

As a creative person, it’s easy to get into a routine – doing a style of work that at one time really worked well and you want to do it over and over. But then it becomes stale and your audience wanes.

Enter art school.

It was time for me to look outside of the box. Time for me to take a photograph whether I thought someone would like it or not. It’s easy in this age of social media to let the audience control your art.

I worked on things that I hadn’t worked on for years such as night photography, motion blurs, portraits, studio gels, flashes, manual aperture/shutter controls, how to organize the ginormous file of digital files, and how to organize the ginormous file of actual film negatives. All this “homework” was actually what I wanted and needed. Because really, one of the best advice for anyone that wants to be a better photographer is to take more pictures.

Here are some of my favorites that I took for class. These are all in-camera effects; edited only for some color enhancement if needed.

All photographs taken with Canon Rebel xsi.

architecture art school blur canon fan photos canon lens canon rebel canon rebel xsi canon shooters color photography columbus columbus ohio columbus skyline double exposure flash in-camera leveque tower long exposure motion blur night photography Photography portraits skyline studio gels sunset vintage camera