©2007 Tony Ferguson Digital Photography 1      About this Course, Sample Time Line, FAQs, Sample Videos
fergyart@yahoo.com

Sample Time line  This class online will start TBD--email for availability. (too soon for you to start? contact me for future classes)

How to read the timeline:  The bullets in front of "Read" or "post" or "page numbers" means it is something for you to do. Always mouse over text where it says "read" in case there is a hyper link. The numbers in front of topics means those are the pages you should read before doing the lesson to better help you understand what you are learning and to prepare you for other learning.  If you read and think about what you have read, ask questions, answer other's questions, you will cement this information into your brain.  As you use your camera more and participate in our discussions, what you read, how your camera works, will make sense. 

●Select: the above headings to familiarize yourself with the course.  This is a sampling and once you enroll, you will have full access to the lessons and all the videos.

●Read: your Camera Manual, really! If you can't find it, download it from the manufacturer's website. 

●Post your camera model with a link to the online manual on the manufacturer's website if you can find it.  They are your best resource as it is impossible in my pseudo infinite wisdom to think I know all the camera models out there and what they do at any given time.  Of course, you can always try me.  You might be surprised at what I think I know.

●Read: Digital Editing Software
●Read: "Photography and “'other skills'”    If you wish, share your thoughts on any of the reading. 
●Read: Critique
●Read: Threaded Discussions: What is a Discussion Group?
●Read: “Creative intelligence in Photography”
●Post: an introduction about yourself (who you are, why you are here, one thing you are very passionate about).


This course is comprised of 24 lessons with video tutorials for many of those lessons that show you step by step how to achieve the objectives of the lesson. Those thumbnail images you see accompanying the lessons are examples of what previous students in this course have achieved with the lesson. As you develop your knowledge of how to use your camera and edit, you will gravitate toward being able to do more sophisticated editing techniques in the later lessons. As we know, once you know and develop techniques, your creativity tends to expand with how you approach your subject matter and then later how you edit it.

Because there are so many students and camera models, it will be your responsibility to learn how to use your camera's functions through experimentation in this course and through the lessons--these lessons will help you in this endeavor but there is no substitute for playing with the camera and analyzing the photos (and their data) as well as reading the manual and learning how your camera works--and I talk about how to do this and also will provide help. 

All cameras now embed camera information into the photograph such as your camera settings, shutter speed, exposure, etc. It's really cool, and you select your image and "get information" or "properties" on it to find out this information for use in your study of how different settings affect the image.

You can use any image you have taken for this class.  I would encourage you to get out and about and use your cameras as you will learn the most shooting new things.  That said, you may have something you've wanted to edit for a long time such as an old photograph or you may wish to prepare something so it looks professional to sell on-line. Now is your chance!  Remember: when you shoot, to set your camera on its largest size and highest quality your camera is capable of.  Later you will resize and optimize for the web. 

Like Painters, photographers either by creating the composition (actually physically moving objects around in the composition before they shoot the image) or when they frame the composition visually, utilize line, shape, color, texture, and form in numerous ways to create a variety of relationships that are pleasing to the eye or call forth psychological analysis of "what is going on in this picture." These “elements of design” much like a studio artist in their arrangements, either work successfully or not in how they were arranged or composed and to what degree they create unity between the subject, form, and content of the work.

Anybody can take a snap shot but an artist, a photographer captures a moment in time and presents something “as it is” or as the artist, photographer "would like you to see it"--with an idea, some intent, in mind that affects us in some way to look and ponder a little longer. The reading corresponds with the lessons.

 

Lessons 1 and 2 (week 1)
●Read: The Elements of Design: Line, Shape, Color, Form, Space, Texture/Pattern
●Read 226-227 File Formats:
●Read 232-235 Basic Color and File Management:
●Read 238-239 First Steps: Opening Files, Image Denigration, Color Mode, Work in Native Format
●Read 240-241 Cropping and Rotation:
●Read 68-73 Composition: symmetry, diagonal
●Read 78-79 Image Orientation:
●Read 80-81 Image Proportion:
●Read 102-103 Color Composition:
●Read 74-77 Focusing and Depth of Field

(1)Lesson: Understanding how your camera takes pictures: zoom, focus, sport preset or shutter priority and aperture priority (depth of field) or landscape preset. Find an environment where there are objects that are still and objects that are moving in the same composition.  The idea is to choose an object for your subject and focus in on that and create a composition. Put your camera on a still surface or tripod and while focusing on the subject, take a picture with everyone one of your basic settings that your camera has--more than likely they are on your dial and are represented by little icons. It is important that your camera does not move at all during the entire process and that you shoot the exact same composition (for comparison sake). After analyzing all your pictures, post to the discussion board what your discoveries are and how it relates to our reading for the week. More specifically: 
●What did you learn about depth of field?  What happened between the relationship between your subject and the other objects in the composition, be they moving or still with different settings?
●What settings did you find optimum for causing a moving object to be still? Or what setting did you find optimum for showing the movement of or "freezing" of water for example?

The canon digital rebel, for example, on its dial has for depth of field: 13 possible settings, manual (far too many combinations to list) aperture priority, 18 possible settings; shutter priority (and a bulb function), 52 possible settings, 12 on program mode, 1 for automatic, 1 for portrait, 1 for landscape, 1 for macro or close-up, 1 for sports, and 1 for no flash. So, to keep this simple, I just want you to go through your basic dial settings with out any tweaking or adjusting exposure at the moment.  Post this to the discussion board in the correct week or topic area.
TIP:  Are you noticing your images are not as sharp as other students?  It is possible something is off on your camera. It could also be that you may not be as still as you could be. I would check the camera lens (how clean is it?), the settings in the camera, try shooting on tripod and don't forget to make sure you camera settings are on the highest possible resolution and quality. Your current image quality could hurt your grade later after these filter and adjustment lessons.  Always always always, shoot on your highest quality and largest size.

●Submit 1 image of your composition shot on automatic.
●Submit 1 image where everything is “frozen in time,”
●Submit 1 image where you show the “movement of moving objects” in relationship to objects that are still in your composition.
●Submit Total: 3 images, label as L1auto, L1frozen, L1movement in class format in the order listed.  Make sure to include some basic setting information such as what setting you used, if you were able to change your F-stop, what that was set on, etc.

=====================================
●84-85 Digital Zooms/Camera Movement:
(2)Lesson: Take a picture while in a moving environment such as a car, bus, merry go round, etc. (Have somebody drive you--think safety).  Body brace your camera and take your picture on your basic dial settings and if you camera is capable, play with aperture priority/ shutter priority, and manual (if you have them), automatic and presets such as action shot, night shot, close up, etc. just like with the above lesson. After analyzing all your pictures, post to the discussion board what your similar or new discoveries are and how it relates to our reading for the week. More specifically:
    ●What more did you learn about depth of field, focus (manual or auto) what happened between the relationship between you and whatever you were focusing on? When was your subject in focus and when was it not? Was it hard to focus while moving? Did your camera have problems deciding what it wanted to focus on versus what you wanted it to focus on? What was the best setting to "freeze" subjects outside your moving environment?  Post this to the discussion board in the correct week or topic area.
 
●Submit 1 image of your composition shot on automatic.
●Submit 1 image where everything is frozen in time. List what setting you used. i.e. action or sports icon. Or, I used a fast/slow shutter speed with these settings....
●Submit 1 image where you show the movement of moving objects (if there happens to things moving) in relationship to objects that are "still" in your composition. List what setting you used.
●Submit Total: 3 images; label as L2a, L2b, L2c

Lessons 3 and 4 (week 2)
●Read 260 Image Size and Distortion:
●Read112-113 Quick Fix Color Balance; color balance; levels

(3) Lesson: Take an image that has something funny about the color and apply any number of the features in your software that affects color such the "color balance" function, auto color, levels, etc. Include before and after editing.
●Submit Total : 2 image; label as L3a, L3b

There are 21 more lessons if you join the class or work one on one with me including full access to video tutorials you can download to your computer for personal use.

TF