Picture perfect photo club

[caseychappell]

Hi, I'm Casey and I am a wedding photographer in Raleigh N.C. (Usually I'm hanging out in the wedding

forum.) anyway, I recently hired my best friend to shoot weddings with me and since then I have been

approached many times by other girlfriends wanting to be my assistant or to be trained in photography.

SO I decided that I would teach a class once a month for whoever wanted to learn photography. Our first

meeting is on monday night. I just was wondering if there were any ideas or suggestions on Basic

photography 101 websites or books that any of you recommend. (I know there are thousands...so that's

why I'm asking you to help narrow down for me a few.)

I'm also wanting ideas for the class and suggestions on what I should teach first, second, and so forth. I

know it will be a great class, they are all ready to learn and to be pointed in the right direction. I will also

be giving them assignments to shoot for the next month. But I thought I would ask you guys what you

thought.

Thanks ahead of time for any thoughts!

[neild]

I'd suggest as a start:

<p>

1. f-stops and how they relate to DOF;<br>

2. the f-stop/shutter-speed/ISO(ASA) exposure triangle;<br>

3. shutter-speeds and how they relate to movement blur (also hand-holding);<br>

4. focal length and how it relates to FOV and DOF.

<p>

This should give them a firm basis... but does the average novice photographer own a camera which allows these factors to be studied?

[athinkle]

There are basically (IMHO) two types of photography classes: The first one teaches people how to use their point and shoots. These cover the things that could be learned in the manual, and also cover the basics of uploading and editing and such. The "real" photo classes, about the principles of photography, cover the sorts of things discussed by the previous poster. These classes, however, usually require some form of SLR. IF the people you are teaching have SLR cameras, film or digital, then I'd go with teaching them the principles listed above.

[Spearhead]

I work with a photographer who teaches beginning photography classes and uses an approach similar to how I learned. Start with what photographs can be used for, what value they have for people, how photography fits into daily life. Talk with them about what they want to photograph, how they would approach their subjects, what they need to do to make them express whatever they want to express. Have them bring in their cameras, make sure they are set to something basic that will work in most situations, and have them do the first couple assignments with their attention on how you photograph what you want to photograph.

 

Bring in photographs that show the variety of genres. Have them talk about what they see in them and how they would approach the same subjects. Help them understand the importance of post-processing - how most photographs were created in the darkroom, and now in digital tools, from the raw material of negatives or files.

 

If they don't get to the point of understanding why they are photographing and what photography cn be, all the technical stuff is useless.

[phyrpowr]

I agree with Jeff, a good overview is what's needed first, with just a little tech info about ISO/shutterspeed/aperture relationships.

 

Sample shots of deep DoF, shallow DoF, high and low contrast, etc., and why you might want them in different situations. Throw in some real "wow" stuff

 

Basically what a camera can and can't do, a simple DoF assignment maybe, then onto more control work the next class.

[niranjn]

Inspire them by showing them excellent photographs.

[._._z]

<small><i><blockquote>

 

Our first meeting is on monday night. I just was wondering if there were any ideas or suggestions on Basic photography 101 websites or books that any of you recommend. (I know there are thousands...so that's why I'm asking you to help narrow down for me a few.) I'm also wanting ideas for the class and suggestions on what I should teach first, second, and so forth.

 

</blockquote> </i> </small><p>

 

As an introduction to photography, how about showing examples of unique properties of photos: aperture controlling DOF, fast shutter speeds stopping motion, slow speeds blurring, panning to emphasize movement, the difference between wide angle and telephoto (and the effect on DOF, and on distance distortion), etc...

[caseychappell]

thanks for all of your responses. Sorry I sound a little unprepared for this class, I"m more

than ready to teach a ton of stuff on Monday, I"m just shooting my brother's wedding this

weekend and I'm a little distracted. I"m trying to collect ideas and resources until then and

after the wedding I can sit down and map out the evening.

Thanks for all your suggestions and ideas. Keep them coming.

Any website must go to's?

I love the concept of sharing about the importance of photography in daily life. Most of

these women are stay at home moms or young brides who just want to have a outlet of

creativity and possibly a future source of income.