Allen is showing her work along with that of her classmates in a beginning photography class. The class is held each Tuesday at the Kirk Senior Center in Willow Glen. Allen enrolled in the class several years ago through San Jose's Metropolitan Adult Education Program.

"The class experience gave me the basic knowledge and confidence to attempt photographing a variety of subjects," Allen says.

These subjects include landscapes, such as a lighthouse off the coast of Maine, and nature scenes, such as a dogwood blossom.

Allen used Adobe Photoshop to create the latter print. Students in the adult education class shoot both on film and with digital cameras, but instructor Richard Urrutia maintains that the photographer is the most important element in the process.

"I tell people they don't need fancy equipment, just a good eye," he says. And developing a good eye means knowing how to edit a shot.

Urrutia likens photography to haiku, in that an image should be pared down to its essence.

"I try to instill in people that you may not have the picture you want when you look at it, but when you isolate it, you begin to see other choices," he says.

Urrutia's class is open to adults age 50 and older and focuses on shooting landscapes and nature scenes. Urrutia takes his students on "location shoots" to nearby scenic places such as Kelley Park in San Jose, San Juan Bautista, San Jose History Park, Saratoga's Hakone Gardens and Campbell's Ainsley House. March's field trip is to Filoli Gardens in Woodside, where the class will photograph tulips in bloom.

"This [class] is fun because you have the field trips, and you get to come back and discuss it and get critiques from Richard," says student Bob Born. "We're always doing something different and discussing something different. There's a wide range of talent and experience in the class."

The current session of MAEP's beginning photography class runs through June 8. The class exhibit is ongoing at the Metropolitan Education District office, 760 Hillsdale Ave., San Jose. For more information, visit www.metroed.net.