©2007 Tony Ferguson
Digital Photography 1
About this Course,
Sample Time Line,
FAQs,
Sample Videos
fergyart@yahoo.com
FAQs This class online will start
TBD--email for availability. (too soon for you to start?
contact me for future classes)
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: I am having some problems looking at your video samples from the course. What do I do?
A: This is usually a codec issue. The current videos are windows .avi format which should work no problem on Windows platforms. For Mac users, you may need to update QuickTime. The first two solutions should work for almost everybody.
Mac and wish to use Quick
Time to view the files,
is this2. For
Windows
users, make sure you are up to date and have
Windows Media Player
(this link allows you to select specifically for your Operating System) and
Windows or
Linux users, the XVID codec
should solve most problems:
http://www.xvid.org/Downloads.15.0.html;
Mac Users:
http://n.ethz.ch/student/naegelic/download/
(One note on the wmcomponents, you have to restart Safari to activate the new program. Only wmcomponents mentioned that in the download instructions)
3.
For
Windows users, Here is a
codec checker to see what codecs you have and what you can update:
http://www.jockersoft.com/english/codecinstaller.php
4.
For
Windows
or MAC
people, after you
update your current media browser, and if you are still having problems, make sure to download
www.xvidmovies.com/codec and run
1.1.3 (or newer) for Windows or Macintosh.
If you are on a PC or MAC and have
tried these so far working solutions for some students, and you still can't get
it to work, contact me. If you are using Linux, you can open anything
usually.
5. Here is a media player which is known to work on nearly any computer or
operating system. It's not as pretty, but it will work;
| Download VLC - Version VLC 0.9.2 | Download VLC - Version VLC 0.9.2 GNU/Linux: |
| Select your operating system to download VLC binaries:
|
Q: I'm a very busy
person with a crazy schedule. Are there regular class times for this
course?
A: No, since this is online
and for professional development, it is up to you to complete lessons when you
wish (which is done on your own computer) and post them at your convenience (I will provide
instructions on how to do this later). On a daily basis I will check to
see who has posted what and provide some sort of feedback. I do recommend
that you 2 lessons a week and post your results (Instruction will follow after
signup). This should be doable with anyone's schedule. If you want
to start after we have already started a class, contact me as I may be able to
do a one on one class with you.
Q: Are there grades or deadlines?
A: No, since this is online and for professional development, it is
up to you to complete lessons when you wish (which is done on your own computer)
but it is encouraged that you average 2 lessons week so that you continue to
develop and improve your knowledge base.
Q: I am not really a group person and like to go at my own pace. Can I do
this?
A: Sure, you can work ahead and post and share whatever you wish.
I will be available the duration of the course. If you want to start before or
after a class, contact me so I can check my schedule, I may be able to work with you one on one.
Q: If I miss the
start of a class, can do I have to wait until the next one to start?
A: No, since this is online and for professional development, I can
work with you one on one if you wish which means we can start anytime. It
is to your advantage to work along with the class because you will learn more
and share more and usually its a lot of fun to see what people are taking
pictures of. It is also an opportunity to ask that artists questions; and overall, is a very
positive experience for all. But if you are like me, some things I like to
learn on my own terms and time frame--so I am willing to work with anyone
whatever their needs are, again, schedule permitting.
Q: Why are you
courses so much less expensive then a community or college course or adobe
training/workshops?
A: I do not have the overhead an institution has. I am a one
man/family show. My art/computer/software background & knowledge also serves
me well in being able to develop specific training for a variety of types.
Being a studio artist also serves me well to understand what small business need
to understand aesthetically, technically and creatively to stay competitive. As visual artists, image is everything and you or I
may think we create incredible work, but if our presentation of it, images,
video, web, etc. are not professional, it will only hinder our progress. The problem
is many people don't take the presentation of the work seriously or take a "good
enough approach." I come from a family of do-it-your self-ers. And it
is in this spirit that I offer professional development training to artists &
small businesses so that they can invest in their knowledge and equipment to do-it-their selves saving thousands of dollars over the life of their career.
Therefore, I can charge less making the knowledge and experience I have
accessible to all people's who wish to take their photography from an amateur
status and begin to move into a professional approach yielding professional
results. There are numerous
other benefits and areas I won't go into now when you want to take a
professional approach to your photography.
Q: Do I have read anything? What do
I have to read exactly?
A: Read
assigned pages. You are smart, aesthetically and visually developed
people. More importantly, as an artist, you have a passion and work ethic.
I can teach anybody anything that has a good work ethic. Most of you can
probably look at the pictures and understand visually what Ang or myself is
talking about and assimilate that into your approach. There is not a great
deal of text and what Ang has to say in the text book is very valuable.
I looked through many many books on digital photography. Ang is still
among the best.
Q: Where do we discuss the images or anything else?
A: We will post via email or moodle or
other platform and there we will discuss and offer feedback.
Q: What is Moodle?
Q: I've heard
about your photography workshops where you actually shoot participants work
during the workshop teaching them to light, shoot, take
photographs, and how to edit those images in Photoshop, Elements or other editor. Will I learn how to
take pictures of my artwork in this class?