Photo 101 course - class 1

Gord and I enrolled in a six week course at Henry's School of Imaging called Photo 101. It runs for six weeks (two hours every Thursday night) and tonight was the first class.

Our Photo 101 course is an immersive and fulfilling program for the aspiring photographer. In this workshop we explore many of the fundamental skills required to advance your photographic knowledge. Students will learn both the technical and artistic sides of photography in a group environment.

Each week, students will be lead through a combination of lecture style and hands on exercises. Students are expected to complete weekly assignments and post them to the course Flickr group for in class discussion.

Course Outline:

• Getting acquainted with the essential controls and menus of your DSLR
• Understanding the camera's automatic settings, when and why to use them
• How to set up your camera for shooting
• Understanding how to take full control of exposure
• The creative effect of shutter speed and aperture
• Controlling Depth of Field
• How to effectively control ISO for proper exposure
• Understanding equivalent exposures
• Appropriate use of Bracketing and Exposure Compensation
• Overview of Semi-automatic modes; Program mode, Shutter and Aperture Priority Modes
• How focus works
• Advanced focusing techniques
• Achieving correct exposure through the use of Metering Modes and Exposure Lock
• How to get the best color in your photographs
• The benefits of shooting in the RAW format versus the JPG format
• Introduction to flash and use of ambient light
• Understanding lenses, focal length and perspective

There are 14 in our class and nearly everyone has a different brand/model of camera. I took my Nikon D5100 and Gord took his Canon PowerShot.

I've had my Nikon since August. Even though I'd done two three-hour workshops at Henry's that focused on my Nikon, I've been lazy and never gotten out of the "auto" mode. Considering the cost of my camera and the two lenses I've bought and all it can do, I want learn how to use it properly.

Our instructor is Ingrid Forster. Here she is in action.

Here's Gord looking for the exposure compensation button on his camera (we didn't even know what one was before tonight!).

Our homework for next week's class is to take three or more pictures of our kitchen and living room (as if we were selling our home ... so a complimentary shot). We have to take it in "P" (program) mode with no flash. Then we have to take more pictures of the same shot... with a positive exposure compensation and with a negative exposure compensation so we can see the difference.