Photography classes are a great way to enhance your skills as a photographer and to learn some new techniques. I try to take a new class or seminar each year. I just started a new 6 week class on nature photography and over the next weeks I will share with you some of the tips that I have taken away from the class.
In our first class the instructor gave us an introduction to the class. He first described his take on what comprises nature photography. For him it is wildlife, panoramic scenes, and basically anything outdoors that does not involve the 'hand of man". In the introduction we were given some guidelines on photo ethics. A good photographer will respect the earth and leave the area in the same condition he found it. Here are some of the points the instructor made.
- Be concerned for the safety and welfare of the subject
- Do not dig up plants
- Don't trim or snap plants
- Do not expose nests or handle babies
- Do not lie! Make your shot be authentic.
The instructor also stressed the importance of knowing your camera. He suggested sitting around at home and just taking photos of anything using all different settings just to get to know all the features on your camera. In fact we have a homework assignment to photograph a ruler to learn how close our camera can focus. We will be doing this using each of our lenses. We will then photograph the ruler outside with a zoom lens using both the shortest and the longest focal length at a F8 setting. This will show us the difference in the backgrounds with each focal length. Taking the time to learn the camera in this manner will help us to use the right settings when we are out in the field.
I am really looking forward to our next class next week and next Thursday I will again give you some tips from the class.
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