SCHEDULE
Digital Camera Basics
Spring 2008


 
WEEK 1
March 24

Syllabus / Schedule / Preface

Problems With Digital: Cost, Planned Obsolescence, Shutter Lag, Latitude, Disclaimer

Camera Types: PNS, SLR, TLR, Rangefinder

Camera Parts: Body, Lens, Display, Shutter Release, Battery, Memory Card, View Finder, Diopter...

Shooting Modes: Manual, Automatic, Automatic with Over-ride, Partial Automatic

Camera to Computer: Transferring, Saving, Naming, Formatting
, Burning a CD

Setting Up Your Camera: jpeg, largest size, best quality, lowest ISO, auto wb, digital zoom off, sound off, adobe rgb (if possible), exposure compensation, turn off date stamp

Project #1 Assigned
Read: 1-32 (story)
and your camera’s manual!

WEEK 2
March 31
Focus: Auto Focus vs. Manual Focus, Focus Points, Focus Lock, Half-Press, Image Stabilization / Vibration Reduction

The Lens:
Digital Zoom vs. Optical, Field of View, Focal Length, Crop Factor (focal length multiplier for SLR cameras), Lens Markings, Cleaning and Changing (SLR's)

Controlling Exposure:
Apertures, Shutter Speeds, ISO, Light Meter, Meter Modes, Histogram, Exposure Compensation, Bracketing, Reciprocal Nature of Photography, Exposure Latitude, Clipping, High Lights, Shadows, AE-L

Recipe Modes: portrait, landscape, sports, macro, night portrait, night landscape, museum, snow, beach, back light, flower, self-portrait, fireworks, text, black and white, natural green, retro, pet, food, etc…

Project #2 Assigned
Read: 33-85 (story)


WEEK 3
April 7

More Shooting Settings: Single Shot, Multi-Shot, Burst, Self-Timer, Remote Control

Flash: Auto Flash, Slow Shutter Flash, Flash Compensation, Red Eye Reduction, 1st or 2nd Curtain Flash, Shutter Drag, Shutter Sync

Composition: Rule of Thirds, Points of Perspective, Triadic Harmony, Shooting Angle, Symmetry

Review Images from previous weeks
Project #3 Assigned

WEEK 4
April 14


Image Components: Formats, Sensors, Aspect Ratios, Resolution, Megapixels vs. Megabytes, PPI, DPI, File Formats, Compressed vs. Undcompressed, JPG, TIFF, RAW, NEF, CR2, CRW, DNG...

Resizing Images: Resize to Email, Compression, Save for Web

Metadata: How to View, Exif, File Properties, IPTC Core, Keywords, Copyright

Review Images from previous weeks

Project #4 Assigned
Read: 87-138 (story)

WEEK 5
April 21

In Camera Effects: Sepia, B&W, Sharpening, Vivid Color, Stitching

Applications: Management vs. Manipulation, Flickr, Photobucket, iPhoto, Photoshop, Elements, Lightroom, Aperture, Picasa...

Expanding: Equipment, Safety, Legal, Business vs. Art, Classes.

Final Critique of Images