INTRO TO PHOTOGRAPHY

CLASS 5

Storytelling and the Decisive Moment

Buying Guide

Class Review

 

CLASS 4

Seeing the Light

People

Homework
1. Shoot the light.  Shoot some a) “contrasty” images – silhouettes, light against dark, picket fences, etc., b) colors in geometric shapes – square red barn, yellow triangle, etc., c) images with hard light, d) images with soft light and e) directional light, ie shoot something with side lighting, front lighting and back lighting.
2.  Shoot or bring a few pictures of whatever you want, things you like to photograph or images that you have questions about. 
3. Photograph people and/or pets
4. Review your camera controls.  We have covered:
– Camera modes and how to shoot in Aperture Priority Mode
–  How aperture, shutter speed and ISO affect exposure
–  What ISO does and how to change it
–  How to control depth of field and use it compositionally
– How to change your shutter speed and use shutter speed to stop action or blur movement
– Shutter’s rapid fire Servo Mode
– Exposure compensation
– What White Balance does and how to change it

Upload up to 10 images to https://www.dropbox.com/request/9g6zePp3NIPUoqTO9tv8.

 

CLASS 3

Landscapes 

Nature and Wildlife

Photo Editing

Homework

1. Landscapes. Remember to try using lines, shapes, colors, contrast, as well as rule of thirds, etc., to organize or design your image.  Use the LCD screen to check your composition.
2. Nature and/or wildlife images.
3. Photograph the moon
4. Edit one of more images: adjust brightness/contrast and/or color adjustments, crop, remove blemishes, etc.  Bring in the before and after. Use whatever software you like. Your computer came with an editing program already installed, or you can download software from your camera manufacturer’s website.
5. Edit a new or existing image several different ways.  Try to find multiple compositions within a single image by cropping it in different ways.  Try a long panel shot, vertical (or horizontal, square, crop in a detail, etc.  Don’t worry about losing resolution.

Upload up to 10 images to https://www.dropbox.com/request/9g6zePp3NIPUoqTO9tv8.

 

CLASS 2

Depth of Field
Shutter Speed
Exposure Compensation

Homework
– Experiment with depth of field, shooting both shallow and deep depth of field.
– Find a moving subject and shoot it at different shutter speeds.  Try rushing water, ceiling fan, traffic or anything else you can think. You’ll need a tripod in some cases, depending on how fast the subject is moving and the amount of light.
– Practice moving the focus points around. Learn to do it with your eye to the viewfinder and without looking at the buttons.
– Experiment with Exposure Compensation. Try to intentionally overexpose and underexpose an image. Remember to put undo the adjustment when you are done.

Upload up to 10 images to https://www.dropbox.com/request/9g6zePp3NIPUoqTO9tv8.

 

CLASS 1

Intro Class Presentation

Focal Points and Lines

Homework
1. Practice using aperture priority mode and working with the exposure triangle.
    – Know how to change your f-stop and be aware of how that affects your shutter speed.
    – Know how to change your ISO setting. In normal light, you can stick with 100-800. Adjust it and/or your f-stop as necessary to ensure the shutter speed you want. Try to keep around 1/125th sec., but don’t go below 1/30th.
2.Review your manual’s sections on focusing. Pay special attention to how to change your focus mode and how to change your focus point.
2. Rule of Thirds. Take pictures using rule of thirds.
3. Work the Scene. Find a scene or subject and shoot it several different  ways. Send/bring about three images to class.
4. Framing. 1) Find a subject and use other elements in the scene to frame it, and 2) use the viewfinder as a picture frame (check the edges and make sure you want those things in the picture). 
5. Review the presentation on points and lines.

Upload up to 10 images to https://www.dropbox.com/request/9g6zePp3NIPUoqTO9tv8.