Teaching a Basic Photography Class

[Bill_Turner]

Cecil,

The first time I used the phrase "Eschew Obfuscation" was in 1968. I don't recall seeing it in any of your posts.
--
Regards,
(afka Wile E. Coyote)
Bill
PSAA
Equipment in profile.
Eschew obfuscation.
The frumious Bandersnatch

 

[Jimsokay]

One of my favorite sayings! Though I seldom use it anymore as it always has to be explained.

1968 would be about right.

Cecil,
The first time I used the phrase "Eschew Obfuscation" was in 1968.
I don't recall seeing it in any of your posts.
--
Regards,
(afka Wile E. Coyote)
Bill
PSAA
Equipment in profile.
Eschew obfuscation.
The frumious Bandersnatch

--
Jim

 

[Robert Strom]

If your town is lucky enough to have an independently owned camera store you might strike a deal with them to give the students a discount and give you a small percent for the referral.

Robert
--
http://www.streamlinestudio.com

 

[KenEis]

After owning the 700is for a week now I've also found there is now way of determining what ISO was used. You can set ISO in manual mode to 80, 100, 200, 400, 800 or auto. But after the picture is taken ISO is not reported in the EXIF data.
--
Ken Eis

 

[Barrie Davis]

Love this page for beginners. http://www.spotmetering.com/

Thanks a lot for that link ... guess I learned a LOT.....

.......................about how NOT to build a website!! LOL
--
Regards,
Baz

 

[fatbastid]

Not sure where to get the materials, but...

One thing to watch out for is the typical Adult-Edder that attends these courses. They typically show up with a plaid shirt, and have a front-hind pushing out from under their belt. Most often, they have an old camera, and a ham radio walkie talkie that goes off as though it has Terrets syndrome during the class.

Try to get a nice diverse class. A great place to look for books is http://www.amazon.com .

--
Just learning, but gettin better all the time. Please dont call me phat.

 

[malc_s]

Ha,what?

 

[edleg]

I, too have been asked to teach a photography class. This is for a highschool age group photography club whose students feed pictures into the yearbook. One of things they have interest in is building pinhole cameras. But, they don't have a darkroom and I don't plan on building a new one (been there done that...).

I saw an ad on e-bay or somewhere for a 35mm film camera body "pinhole lens" made from a camera body cap. Basically it was just a plastic $1.00 body cap with a small hole drilled in the center (with an estimated f stop of f128 or f256 or something like that) that was used in place of a real glass lens.

Does anybody have any real world experience in this sort of thing with either a film slr or digital slr using the bulb shutter release (and tripod) for a long exposure? I was thinking that 35mm B&W film might work well.

Thanks,
-Ed-

 

[HarryBuedel]

Find out if they have previously used presentation
software/hardware. (projector, etc.) Preferably and a favourite
among most teachers is Powerpoint.

Scientists who do research on effective presentations consider
Powerpoint an abomination.
.

Out of curiousity why an abomination. I teach middle school and PP is used frequently by both teachers and students.

 

[Bill McLeod]

Scientists who do research on effective presentations consider
Powerpoint an abomination.

In a photography class, there is no substitute for making prints.

I've never heard of that research. Any sources? All the information I've heard has been the exact opposite.

 

[Barrie Davis]

Scientists who do research on effective presentations consider
Powerpoint an abomination.

Out of curiousity why an abomination. I teach middle school and PP
is used frequently by both teachers and students.

Presumably Powerpoint is like software for desktop publishing. It works, but it doesn't come with an inherent idea of what looks good on the page. That sense of good taste in design had to be supplied by the user, who didn't necessarily have the slightest clue, either.

So, it can be said that, Powerpoint allows the construction of seriously BAD presentations -- FASTER than it had ever been done before. ;-)

And that's what happens.
--
Regards,
Baz

 

[Robert Strom]

Scientists who do research on effective presentations consider
Powerpoint an abomination.

Who are these scientists? What do they recommend as an effective tool?

Out of curiousity why an abomination. I teach middle school and PP
is used frequently by both teachers and students.

Presumably Powerpoint is like software for desktop publishing. It
works, but it doesn't come with an inherent idea of what looks
good on the page. That sense of good taste in design had to be
supplied by the user, who didn't necessarily have the slightest
clue, either.

Isn't your conclusion true of any artistic endeavour, like photography. Every artistic expression starts with a blank page.

So, it can be said that, Powerpoint allows the construction of
seriously BAD presentations -- FASTER than it had ever been done
before. ;-)

And that's what happens.

You say "presumably". Does that mean you don't have any experience using PP? There is no software that I know that automatically produces good taste in design. There is, however endless books, tutorials and templates for PP that are designed to impart good design and content effectiveness.

--
Regards,
Baz

Why give negative advise if you don't also provide a positive solution?

Robert
--
http://www.streamlinestudio.com

 

[Barrie Davis]

Scientists who do research on effective presentations consider
Powerpoint an abomination.

Who are these scientists? What do they recommend as an effective
tool?

It isn't the tool that's at fault, is it?

Presumably Powerpoint is like software for desktop publishing. It
works, but it doesn't come with an inherent idea of what looks
good on the page. That sense of good taste in design had to be
supplied by the user, who didn't necessarily have the slightest
clue, either.

Isn't your conclusion true of any artistic endeavour, like
photography. Every artistic expression starts with a blank page.

Yes Quite so. Thing is, scientists are not usually temperamentally disposed toward excellence in art and design -- Leonardo da Vinci excepted.

So, it can be said that, Powerpoint allows the construction of
seriously BAD presentations -- FASTER than it had ever been done
before. ;-)

And that's what happens.

You say "presumably". Does that mean you don't have any experience
using PP?

Plenty of experience of seeing typical results.

My wife is a dietitian, and she brings all the skills of a dietitian to her Powerpoint presentations. Unfortunately, those skills do not include any art and design ones. Neither does she have time to develop them -- her task is large enough just "getting SOMETHING out for the morning!"

I suspect that that is how most PP pressies are knocked together. It is the speed that is crucial to its use by busy people.

There is no software that I know that automatically
produces good taste in design. There is, however endless books,
tutorials and templates for PP that are designed to impart good
design and content effectiveness.

Yup!

Why give negative advise if you don't also provide a positive solution?

The solution is self evident... take time to learn how to do it properly, and take time to apply the skills. Both of which are self defeating requirements in many of the scientific people who use PP.

But you know this already.....
--
Regards,
Baz

 

[echelon2004]

I have tried to educate some of the people shooting for a magazine I help with. Not quite the same, but same basics I suppose.

I first showed them a bunch of pictures that was good, followed by a similar collection of images that wasn't good.

I let them figure out why the second set wasn't good, so we discussed a lot about composition, timing, lighting etc.

Then, without mentioning much about specifics, we talked about how one can move closer or furteher away when framing, how that compares to just zoom in (all the time with images to illustrate the difference), how DOF works (only a problem with dslr owners with limited knowledge, much DOF rarely poses a real problem) etc etc.

Oc course, none of it worked, by I still believe in the concept=)

Good luck, and try to have fun or you'll risk going insane!
--
Anders

Some of my pictures can be seen at;
http://teamexcalibur.se/US/usindex.html

event photography and photo journalism

 

[Barrie Davis]

But if its
like lots of other P&S that you would find your students bringing
to class it might be hard to teach with.

Oh boy! Are you ever right with that, Ken?!

That is precise reason I eventually gave up teaching amateurs at Evening Institute classes. This happened a long time pre-digital.

My students' typical camera changed from match-needle SLR, to all-auto P&S compacts. If they had any manual controls at all, they were obtained by finding cute ways of out-smarting the auto features.

And they were all different!

I couldn't address the class as a whole, and I couldn't get my head around 20 new (horribly inflexible) cameras with each new intake!

I used to enjoy helping those guys and gals, but it as a big relief to stop.
--
Regards,
Baz

 

[Ron Rosenzweig]

Hi Rob,

At some point Photoshop will have to be addressed in any digital photography instruction situation. I personally feel that Scott Kelby's
Photoshop Book For Digital Photographers is the best for newbies as well

as an excellent reference for the professional. The books come in different flavors depending what version of PS you have.
Good Luck. Let us know how it goes!!

Best Regards,
Ron

 

[Bob Topp]

Thanks, AperturePro,

for the reference to Farzad's book. I picked up a copy and have spent about a week fooling with the spot metering techniques and have gained a real appreciation for the capability. Previously I wouild spot meter only to narrow the meter's field of view, but did not understand the need/ability to compensate it for creative control. I do wonder how much the OP will be able to integrate into beginner lessons, though.

Regards,

Bob

 

[malc_s]

Sorry,
thought you were teaching an adult ed class

Not sure where to get the materials, but...

One thing to watch out for is the typical Adult-Edder that attends
these courses. They typically show up with a plaid shirt, and have
a front-hind pushing out from under their belt. Most often, they
have an old camera, and a ham radio walkie talkie that goes off as
though it has Terrets syndrome during the class.

Try to get a nice diverse class. A great place to look for books is
http://www.amazon.com .

--
Just learning, but gettin better all the time. Please dont call me
phat.

 

[Lee Kupfer]

Find a copy of Kodak's 'Joy of Photography' and find a source for student's to get it as well...follow the book, give assignments, discuss it in class and have them enjoy their discoveries all the while learning the basic's of photography from the most recognized name in photography, Kodak.
--

 

[kciuk aka Ken60]

I think that the greatest danger here is that the tutor has an amazing amount of knowledge and interest in the subject and its technicalities ...

The students however are often not that interested to start with and though may see the mountain of technical things they require as passage to perfection, are not as inclined to wade their minds through this .

The art is perhaps one of motivation, excitement and maintaining their interest and reason for applying those distracted brains to the subject.

Much of the craft and technicalities of photography can be witnessed via cause and effect , more so now than ever with digital .... a tethered laptop can display this in seconds without the old need for hours of processing.

Though some may have digi point and shoot, and others DSLRs it is really true that even quite basic cameras these days have menu driven access to white balance, EV compensation, film speed , and even settings like Sport that serve up the faster speeds and wider apertures.

I concur with the post that mentions discussion on the difference between a good portrait and a casual snap .... this is as much a matter of mental attitude as it is of technical ability and equipment.

Remember those ( hey im old ) televised science lessons where the first few seconds of the session began with an amazing BANG ! and then followed with a discussion of why the chemicals mixed had reacted that way.

The good thing about youth is that they have powerful and developing opinions..... the challenge here is to persuade them to make these visually.

The greatest hill you have to climb is allowing yourself to be free of your knowledge and all the things you see as obvious ...and review this amazing art that we pursue from their standpoint. I say this because some of the loveliest captures I have seen have been made using point and shoot digitals in just that mode .... however the images use of colour harmony or discord , background vibrancy or neutrality , pose and expression have broken ground often never travelled by techno maniacs with DSLRs costing thousands.

OK I am sure the knives are going to be out here for me in this gear related techno forum .... but be prepared to see the kids amaze you at just what can be achieved without being able to fathom the need for micro lenses or in depth knowledge of pixel pitch.

Above all HAVE FUN ! if nothing else sow seed, the germination process may bear fruit long after you have gone.