The Creative Media Arts Department at MATC has been digital for over 12 years now, and Mark Saxon has been teaching digital photography there for 14 years already.

Saxon is the Photography Dept Chair and a full time faculty and is very knowledgeable in the new changes in the department itself.

According to Saxon, Photo 101 which is Fundamental Photography, has new guidelines in the equipment and class structure.

Some of these changes make image capturing more tedious in the development than it used to be with film.

In Photo 101, the intent is to teach the basics of image making like shutter speeds and lighting, etc. This used to be a color slide class up until now, which has changed from film, to digital. According to Saxon, the easiness of editing images has become more difficult with the use of the computer.

The student would bring the slides in and then the class would use a magnifier to look at them once placed onto a light board.

Now, the student has to bring in a memory card containing their shot photos, the memory card images have to be transferred into the computer, and all of the software knowledge involved with picture development and techniques is much more complex than the film to light table technique.

New entry-level students can look forward to the fundamentals of Photoshop as well to align their digital photo skills with projected soft wares used. To capture images, Nikon or Cannon equipment is used to serve the lessons. Saxon says, “The greatest concern, is not to lose the focus on the basics of image making.” Mr. Saxon also relays that another reason that the alterations have been implemented, is that it’s getting tougher and tougher to find film.

Kodak is in Bankruptcy court. Film products like Fuji Film USA and Kodak were the products purchased for classes but it gets more difficult to get the films processed.

The cost of film and current film buying issues was very expensive to keep up with, therefore serving as a huge motivator for the changes. Saxon said, “It takes a high level of commitment if you are going to be a photography major, and the fundamentals are the most important thing at that point to learn.”