2012 BEGINNERS DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY AND

BASIC CAMERA CLASS ITINERARY

Sponsored by the Cookeville Camera Club

The meeting's will take place on the flowing days at 6 to 8 pm, Starting on Feb 2ed, then will continue on the 9th, 16th, and 23rd of Feb then continue on March 1st, 8th, 15th, 22th, and 29th.

Located at First Presbyterian church Cookeville, TN, in the second floor fellowship room.

Price is $4.00 per class for non members and Free for CCC Members.

 

WEEK

1 Introduction and class discussion of members camera types and interests and desires .We will provide a hand out describing basic camera functions and a suggested home study subjects. This will help to give the students some background to understand the presentation. A Video will be presented the second hour to give the students a overall feeling for the following 7 weeks study. The video will be shown again at the end of the sessions to show the students how much they have learned.

 

2 Getting to know your cameras, function and operation. Students will be required to bring their camera and operating manual. Students will learn how to use their own cameras. Please try to read the operating manual for the basics. Don’t be upset if you don’t understand everything ,as you will before the completion of all the classes. Take home assignment is to take some pictures in all the various modes and have questions for the next week’s lesson.

 

3 A review of photos the students have taken and work questions that students have . We will then discuss how the camera determines what the proper exposure is with reference to the settings for aperture , shutter speed , and ISO. Become familiar how the HISTORGRAM depiction in the camera and the LCD screen , allows us to determine if the photo is properly exposed and looks like our vision of the scene.

We will then learn how the different camera modes affect the photos we take altered by aperture lens opening and shutter speed.

 

4 This week we will learn the basics of good composition in an attempt to keep our pictures from looking like ordinary snapshots Students will take photos using these principles for all to see.

 

5 We will have a local photo shoot to try the lessons learned .

 

6 Now that we have the camera basics learned we will discuss how supplementary flash can improve our photos. Mixing ambient light in combination with flash will demonstrate this technique.

 

7 We have mastered the camera and light so we will now learn how to take great photos of our favorites ,people. Students with their cameras will learn how to work with the subjects and pose and work the best lighting to bring the best photos of our subjects. Working the backgrounds and camera settings will create great shots !

 

8 Now that we have great images , we will learn basic computer processing of the digital data . You can then publish and print like the pros !!!!!

 

9 REVIEW

You now have completed the classes and we will now show the video that we saw in lesson 1. You will now understand all you have learned and things you would like to continue your education and having fun .

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

Now you will likely desire to join the Camera club if you haven’t already. Thru the club you will mingle with club members and receive additional help to further your enjoyment taking great photos in a fun setting. Seeing what other members are doing will increase you desire to do better and have a load of fun !!!!!! Maybe ,with what you have learned ,now you may want to get a new camera to achieve more artistic photos.

For More Infomation Please Contact The Rookie Class Director At

cccrookieclass@gmail.com

BIRDS of WINTER

Have you ever seen those beautiful winter time pictures of birds in the snow and you have always wanted to take them yourself? You know the one of a red bird standing out on a limb with a crisp white snowy background, or a pretty yellow bird nestled in a branch of an evergreen tree, or even a black and white stand out from the crowd picture of birds at the feeder. You have tried; you say.  You got cold and wet, the birds flew away and your camera died, so you quit and went inside where it was warm. Is that what happened? With a few simple steps, you can have the bragging rights to all the above pictures in your very own home.

SET THE STAGE:

You could go out in the cold countryside (that’s where birds live) looking for and scaring off birds, or you can try the following ideas first.

Attract the right birds by feeding them before the snow falls. Find a safe place to feed them near a tree or bushes. Some birds even feel safe next to a window. Choose the right food for the right bird. Different birds prefer different food, so surf the web or go to your local bird feed store and see what they recommend. Start in late fall and you will have lots of birds by snow fall. If the snow is already falling, go ahead and feed the birds. Some will show up anyway.

If you don’t want to go to all the trouble of setting up feeders and keeping them filled, find a friend who loves to bird watch. Let them do all the work for you. Either way, you do need to make several trips outside to get the birds comfortable with you. By the time the snow flies you’ll be set.

BE CAMERA READY:

The most important part of this step is to protect your camera from moisture. I know snow is solid (at least until it melts), but it will melt. And then it could drip into your camera’s delicate insides, causing all kinds of havoc. Water may cause permanent damage or even cause the death of you camera. You can buy all kinds of gadgets to protect your camera from the elements, but I use the cheap (free) shower caps you get at hotels. Or plan your shoot for when it’s not actually snowing.

Keep your lens clean. Nothing ruins a good picture more than having a snowflake fall on your lens. When your focusing on your bird and the camera sees the snowflake, you will get this lovely, fuzzy spot on the final picture. Always keep a lens safe cloth with you and use it.

Take extra batteries. The cold will zap the energy out of you batteries fast. Keep the extras inside your coat close to you. Your body heat will keep the batteries warm and ready to use.

Turn off any sounds your camera may make. This will scare off your bird subject faster than a cat. Refer to your camera’s manual for instructions on how to turn off sounds.

Dress warm. You don’t want to get the perfect shot only to have human nature take over giving you a shivering fit. This will cause an otherwise great picture to be blurry from the camera shivering along with you.

TAKING THE PICTURE:

Now you are ready. Birds are fed, snow is falling, camera’s ready and you are dressed warm. Take as many pictures using your autofocus setting as you want, but if your camera has a manual setting get brave and try them. My favorite shot is where the bird is in sharp focus and the background is blurred. That to me is a money shot. You can do this by turning off the auto setting and ( gasp) using your manual settings to adjust the aperture setting to a wide opening. You are now being creative. Play around with the manual settings and see what you come up with.

ALMOST DONE:

Editing. Take a good look at your photos. Crop them, so your subject (the gorgeous red bird) stands out, or the pretty yellow birds are surrounded with holly leaves and red berries.

LAST, BUT NOT LEAST:

Printing: You may choose to print your photos yourself, send then off to a professional site or take them to your local store to be printed. Try different types of prints. That not so good shot of lackluster birds around the feeder may turn out to be your black and white masterpiece hanging in your home.

I hope you enjoy your time outdoors and may you find yourself the next featured photographer in a magazine or at least the envy of your friends and neighbors.

Happy Shooting, Marie Scott

More information is available through the Cookeville Camera Club. The Cookeville Camera Club meets the second and fourth Monday evenings at 7pm at the First Presbyterian Church in the second floor meeting room.  Guests and visitors are welcome anytime.  Check out the events calendar near the bottom of the home page at cookevillecameraclub.com.