Teaching a Basic Photography Class

When I was in highschool we learned a method called photo FAST and has stuck with me ever since. Our instructor was Rich Iceland.

F - focus
A - aperture
S - speed
T - think

I teach so called "adult" classes, to Police Officers.

Not the best students in the world!

Anyway, I had to decide what it was that they really needed to know. I could talk about apertures and guide numbers and technical matters... or I could teach them how to take the pictures they are required to take, the way they are supposed to taken.

I settled on practical, without ever mentioning shutter speed or aperture or any of the things that photographers think about.

I used prints of case file photographs, showing the good, the bad, and the ugly of what gets sent to us from the patrol units. The blurry shots, the black shots with no flash, the case file consisting of a board shot and an arm...

This was the information my "students" needed. None of them have the inclination to quit their job and become a pro shooter... but they want to do their job properly.

I kept it simple, and talked about what they need to accomplish, not the specific aperture to use. The only technical part was about close-up shots, and they still haven't got that right! (G) The rest of the photos we have been receiving lately are much better quality. Same cameras (there are about 5 kinds in use by patrol) but used more effectively. I specifically avoided anything camera specific, and concentrated on how to perform the task.

I did have a couple officers ask detailed technical questions after class... and that was fine.

So, do you want to teach cameras, or how to take pictures? There is an overlap, I understand, but the two are not the same thing.

--
Crime Scene Photography

You would be doing the students a great disservice if you don't start at the beginning and work forward.

How does a camera work?
How much light do you need to take a photo?
How does the light get into the camera?
How can you control the amount?
What effect does controlling the light in different ways have?
Controlling it with the shutter has what effect?
Controlling it with the aperature has what effect?
When would you choose to control it one way over the other?
How do you hold the camera?
What is a tripod and when is it used?

Once they learn how the camera works, have them take pictures. Creative arts; i.e. composition and special lighting effects should be at the end of the lessons.

Good luck.

Mmm. INteresting one. personally I would probably start with the aspects of a good photo. My order would be something like this:

• what makes a good photo. (tells a story, draws attention to that, and avoids distractions. You can say that in many ways of course). Show lots of examples.

• then I would go into some of the ways you can do that; draw attention to your subject (motion, composition, converging lines, narrow DOF, etc etc). Again, show examples, and explain why they are good.

• Then I would go into basic techniques (exposure, aperture, etc).

• Then I would use these lessons learned to help do the previous (eg use narrow DOF to draw attention to a subject).

• Then since it's a basic course and you are time-limited I'd give them lots of bullets. Bullets to use as a starting point, bullets to explore.

At each stage of course there should be assignments; and you can briefly discuss in class.

I am sure you know lal this; hope the flow helps give you ideas.

Mike

"Common errors".

Even the best make them.. like me, and even you. Here's an example:

http://www.pbase.com/digirob/image/65239222

that lady seems to have some kind of little halo thing over her head. A typical example of what I said, avoiding distractions (lesson one).

I'm not at all criticising: just pointing out we all make mistakes, and a quick course can really benefit from pointing out common errors (use your own and you won't be seen to be pointing).

Hope that helps!

Some of the aspects of good/great/artistic photography, will NEVER be learned by the average Joe. Much of it is in the eye; either you got it, or you don't. Some people never understand the quallities which make up good composition. Some people, instinctively do.

So, you can sit someone in front of an Ansel Adams or other reknowed photographer, and explain all the reasons the photo is good, and they won't get it. Or, they will get it immediately. However, what good is it to explain how the DOF is sharpened for the landscape or DOF is shallower for the portrait,; etc., if they have no clue as to what that means and how to achieve the desired result.

Teaching someone the artistic/vision side of photography before they are thoroughly familiar with the inner workings of the camera and how a picture is taken and what different things a photographer can do to effect the outcome, is like teaching someone how to go into a bank on a raceway, before they understand the clutch and gas pedals.

Suppose you had a 10 year old with a first camera; wouldn't it be great if they could learn, by seeing and doing, how dialing the f-stop sharpens or unsharpens the DOF, and how a fast shutter speed stops action and a slow one is hard to hold! Teach them how to make art with the camera after they are no longer thinking about how to hold it.

Surely you need to teach basic composition AND basic techniques.

Just teaching techniques straight away leads to lots of well-exposed in-focus pictures of lined-up people with their feet cut off. But teaching both basic composition techniques and basic technical aspects gets the most out of what there is.

Not all of us are Ansel Adams; very few are. But I am sure everyone can learn to take a decent picture. Not art - just a decent image. They just need to be told what a decent picture is.

Sorry your idea of theory first can be a problem , I have done this and speak from several years experience.

For now think of the busking musician who gets into a group and jams, from this comes a tune . To suggest that this melody requires formal understanding of a stave is really going to be more destructive than help.

I am not going to bore with the conceptual models of how each learns but suffice to say that way back in your youth as you crawled over the patchwork mat and tweaked those pretty baubles .... what you were really learning was hand eye co ordination ......

How many kids give up the piano because they wanna play and see if it fits them not be slapped cross the knuckles because their hand geometry is not that of Chopin.

Who said anything about theory. I'm talking simple mechanics. You need light to take a picture. The light gets into the camera with the aperture and shutter. You can chnage the equation, but keep the same sum of light. Open the aperture more . . . this happens. Slow down the shutter . . . this happens. There is no theory here.

The world is full of millions and millions of P&S camera owners, who can do nothing other than point it and shoot it. (I'm sure you've seen many of their photos, from their travels and backyard parties . . . fairly pedestrian uninspiring snapshots) Teaching them all of the vagories of the "rule of Thirds" and composition, etc., will be meaningless if they have no idea how to blur the background or sharpen the DOF.

GovtLawyer said:

Some of the aspects of good/great/artistic photography, will NEVER
be learned by the average Joe. Much of it is in the eye; either

Click to expand...

(snip)

I would love to start at the beginning with baby steps then "raise them", as it were, with all the proper instruction. If I were teaching a semester-long photography class that met daily, then I would accomplish most/all of your sugestions with good results.

Unfortunately, this isn't a photography class -- it's the yearbook class, and being an elective (at this particular school) it meets two days a week. And because it's the yearbook class, the students aren't necessarily full-on interested in photography. Certainly they are to some degree, or they would not have elected this class, but photography isn't the drive.

Also, I'm merely serving as a guest lecturer that will have probably 3-5 hours max spread out over several weeks.

Regrettably, I can only teach a few things, and those things need to provide an immediatte and direct impact on the YB effort. That will probably translate into composition, maximizing existing light, situational awareness (avoiding blunders like telephone poles growing out of peoples heads), level horizon, making group/individual setups more appealing, etc.

To make matters worse, most of these students will be using P&S cameras that often lack any manual control. Understand F-stops and shutter speeds, while certainly necessary for a proper detailed class, probably won't help these guys too much under the circumstances.

Thanks for all the input on this!

--
dpreview & pbase supporter
http://www.pbase.com/digirob

I didn't realize your teaching would encompass so little time. If their P&S' have sports/portraits/landscape modes, have them use them. Otherwise, I guess you can't dwell on the camera basics.