Photography is both a craft and an art form. The Rincon 2016 Photography Workshops are designed and structured to provide avid photographers with the essentials to take their creativity to a new and hopefully more rewarding level. The first four classes, two each on Exposure, then Composition will focus on use of critical skills -- without delving deep into the intricacies of the craft.

 

The prerequisites for Exposure are:

• A camera that has adjustable settings for shutter speed, aperture and ISO

• Comfortable working knowledge of how to change shutter speed, aperture and ISO settings

• User’s manual for your camera. If you do not have one, you can download it in pdf form from the manufacturer’s website

• Most important is your desire to significantly enhance your photographic skills

 

Not required:

• A DSLR camera. Many point and shoot cameras meet the above prerequisite

• A camera with the ability to change lenses

• A zoom lens

 

Following is a brief outline of the material that will be covered in the first two workshops: Exposure and Composition.

 

Exposure 1: Pre Class Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to familiarize you with, and get you comfortable thinking in exposure equivalents. My expectation for the first class is that you will have taken time to do the exercise and are comfortable with the basic concept. The assignment will be given as a handout at the January 18 regular class meeting.

 

Exposure 1: Bare Basics - what you really need to know

• Lens Aperture

• Why so many?

• What's the difference which one you use?

• Camera bodies

• Manual mode

• Aperture priority (A, AV)

• Shutter Priority (T, Tv)

• Automatic mode

• ISO/ASA

• Effects of Over / Under Exposure

• Camera metering works most of the time

• Grey card -  substitutes

 

Exposure 1 Assignment: Equivalent Exposures

Click on link to view exercise

 

Exposure 2: Taking Control - making it creative

Assignment Review

• Depth of field -  Function of aperture

• Equivalent Exposures

• Applying Equiv. Exp. in Tv / Av

• Mix and Match: Aperture - Sutter Speed -  ISO

• Histogram

• Bit depth

• Capturing in raw vs JPG vs tiff

• Polarizing filter

 

 

Composition There Ain't No Rules!

But there are some useful guidelines

 

 Composition 1: Traditional compositional elements

• Compositional 3rds

• Leading lines

• Framing

• Depth of field

• Focal length

• Sense of motion

 

Compositional2: Elements that add impact

Assignment review

• Significant compositional elements often overlooked

• Seeing Light

• Non standard natural lighting and effects

• Shadows and highlights

• Background

• Foreground

• Negative space

• Balance

• Sky, and too much sky

• Color vs BW

• Angle of View