Wildlife photography from the students of Dr. Drew Crain

Dr. Drew Crain started off his J-Term class with the basics of what makes a great photograph. Next, he showed his students examples of successful wildlife photography as well as the work of previous classes. The students appreciated seeing examples of what they might find in the coming weeks on their excursions. The class’s first shoot was on the MC campus with some resident turtles and a frog. The first off-campus excursion was to Benton’s Hams, Tanasi and Fort Loudon. All other excursions were to Cades Cove in the GSMNP. The class focused on being in the field and learning about how to appropriately interact with nature. One of the assignments in the class is to develop a Flickr blog and post photos so that students can give and receive critiques on how to get not just good, but great shots! In the final week of classes, students are working towards building portfolios to present. These portfolios should show each student’s best work because the best portfolio and best photograph win a prize.