ATA Photography Workshop

ATA Photography Workshop - Summer, 2008
Thanks to all the sites I've linked to for this presentation especially Dennis Curtin at http:www.shortcourses.com

Introduce yourself and your camera
Explore your camera
1. Basics
  Animations of photography fundamentals
  1. Exposure
    How shutter speed and aperture work together.
    
    Controlling exposure
    1. ISO
      ISO (what used to be known as ASA) refers to the "light sensitivity" of the digital chip or sensor. Lower ISO numbers (100) require a lot of light to record a picture, while higher numbers (400 - 800) can record in relatively low light. If your camera gives you a choice of ISO settings, they will most likely include: Auto (the camera makes the selection), 100, 200 and 400. In most cases, it's best to rely on the Auto setting to choose your ISO. Also, beware of 400 or higher, because the result is often grainy pictures .
    2. Aperture
      The opening that lets light into the camera.
      
      Canon aperture demo
    3. Shutter speed
      How long the opening is open.
  2. Focus Lock
    Focus on your subject in the center of the frame, hold the shutter button half way down then reframe the picture and push the shutter button completely.
  3. Meter
    See the Controlling Exposure chapter
  4. Exposure Value
  5. Depth of Field
2. Tips for better photos
  Fodor's Tips
  
  Kodak Tips
  1. Get closer - fill the frame
  2. Take lots of pictures.
  3. Shoot vertical for tall subjects like people, trees and buildings
  4. Composition
    1. Rule of thirds
  5. Focus Lock
  6. Fill flash
  7. Timer
  8. Tripod
  9. Shutter lag
  10. White balance
3. Find your manual online and download it.
4. If you have a histogram, use it
5. Get an extra battery or two
  Rechargeables are the way to go if you camera uses AA batteries. They are rated in milliamp hours, the higher the number the longer they will last.
6. Get one or morre large capacity memory cards.
  Look at the Sunday paper for deasls locally. There are always good prices for cards on the Internet.
Resources
1. Short Courses in Digital Photography
  A free book from Dennis Curtin with animations.
  This is an absolutely amazing site and the owner puts out excellent instructional books and CDs
2. Magazines
3. Web sites
  1. Flickr
    The coolest photo shari ng/community on the planet.
    My Flickr site is:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/msconsulting/
    Come and visit me.
  2. Picasa Web Albums
    A great, free place to create and store web albums. Works from either Picasa or iPhoto.
  3. Adobe Photoshop Express
    2 GB of storage space and online editing
  4. Picnik
    You can edit your photos online.
  5. Photojojo
    A great site with a weekly newletter with something new and different every week. One of my favorite places for photo info on the web,
    Click for one of my favorite tutorials- Panoramas on Steroids.
  6. Strobist is a site all about using off camera flaash.
  7. Imaging Resource
    A great place to shop for camera prices and other camera info.
  8. Kodak
  9. Digital Photography Review
    An extensive site with camera reviews and forums. Tons of info here.
  10. Cambridge in Colour
  11. Photo.net
  12. GeoffLawrence.com
  13. Black's is Photography
  14. Canon Photo 101
  15. Luminous Landscape
  16. Instructables
    Not really a photography baased site but it very cool and periodically has some usefful photo projects.
  17. Publish Your Photos - my presentation at MACUL in March, 2006.
  18. Canon DSLRs
    tutorials
  19. Buy.com
    A good place to chck for buying memory cards.
4. Schools
  Washtenaw Community College has a terrific photo program!
5. Books
  1. The Digital Photography Book - Scott Kelby
6. REMC
Activities
1. Textures and patterns
2. Colors and shapes
3. Shoot Pairs using focus lock
4. Shoot an off center subject using focus lock
5. Shoot against a light/dark background using EV
6. Shooting better portraits
  Black's Photo tutorials has a good tutorial for natural lighting and simple lights.
  Studio Lighting Tutorials has a lot of good info on lighting for portraits.
  1. Using natural light
  2. Using hot lights
  3. Using a reflector
  4. Using fill flash
  5. Posing
    Avoid mug shots
  6. Classic portrait lighting
    1. Butterfly
    2. Short or loop
    3. Rembrandt
    4. Broad
    5. Paramount
7. Motion
  1. Freezing subject with shutter speed
  2. Blurry background, sharp subject by panning
  3. Sharp background, blurry subject subject passes through frame with slow shutter speed
8. Popping balloons - Stopping motion
  The most famous of this type of photography is the work of Harold Edgerton at MIT.
  A greaat resource for stop motion photography is HiViz , a sit for tachers and students.
9. Create a Flickr account and upload an image or two
10. Create a Picasa Web Album
11. Shoot indoors with the timer and no flash
Image Editing Tools
1. iPhoto
  Apple only - free with a new Mac
2. Picasa
  Free from Google.
  A terrrific tool for Windows users to organize, edit and publish their photos.
3. Adobe Photoshop
4. Adobe Photoshop Elements
5. Paintshop Pro
6. Software that came with your camera
7. Picnik - online editor
8. Adobe Photoshop Express - online editor, storage and very cool slideshows
9. Image Tricks
  Free for Macs.
  This is a great program to use with iPhoto.