Photography Classes
One of my favorite pass times is photography. Since I was a kid, I’ve always had a camera close at hand to document the highlights of my life. As I’ve aged and my toys have become more complex, my cameras have kept pace. I’m basically a point-n-shoot type of person but I’ve always been on the lookout for the latest in point and shoot technology.
A few years ago I finally bought my first SLR digital camera, a Nikon D40. I found I love the quality of image that the SLR produces, even if I never took it off the auto mode. Last year, I graduated to a Nikon D90 (which added a video component). I’ve done a little reading to see how I could maximize the camera’s capabilities, but I know that to really do that I need to get away from auto mode and learn to use the manual functions of the camera.
So, I decided to enroll in a local intro photography class at the Sawtooth School for Visual Art. Tonight was the first class in a series that will take place over the next 6 weeks. There are 22 people taking the class and we all seem to be most interested in getting away from the point-n-shoot approach.
Our instructor is Will Parham and he spent our first class explaining how to use the aperture priority mode and the shutter priority mode on our cameras. The aperture mode is one where we choose the f-stop and the camera chooses the other settings (shutter speed, white balance, ISO, etc.). The aperture setting controls the depth of field in a shot (what elements are in focus). The shutter mode controls the shutter speed. He patiently explained how each works and showed us many examples to assist us in visualizing what that means.
Now that I have all the academic view of these settings, my assignment for next week is to submit 6 images that (*Note added 1/26:Have added the assignments I turned in for this):
- Show a Stop Motion
- Show a Motion
- Show a Large Depth of Field
- Show a Short Depth of Field
- Show a Panning Shot (Failure!)
- Is my Favorite Image Captured to this Point
I am anticipating the weekend where I can experiment with the camera settings to complete this assignment. It is fun to have a “to do” that is for pure pleasure!
That *is* a fun todo for the weekend!! I’m glad you’re taking the class… I always wondered what they taught in them, and it sounds perfect for where you are. I still just have my phone and tiny point and shoot, so I have to live vicariously through you and John. :)
[...] behind registering to take a 6 week photography class. I loved the first week, as I wrote in my last posting. But the assignment actually added the tiniest piece of stress into the mix as we had to turn in 6 [...]