Church Encounter

It's always a good thing to take along your camera where ever you go, even on your way to work.

On a recent trip to Leonardtown Campus, I had my handy and portable Canon PowerShot riding shotgun with me. Always looking for a good photo opportunities, I noticed the Christ Church steeple just off Buds Creek Road, Route 234in Chaptico. I decided to stop and take some photos. It was a beautiful morning with some stratus clouds beginning to appear against the blue sky. The church is an older structure with red brick siding with a white roof and steeple. The grounds were littered with old grave stones bounded by a rusty steel black picked fence.

I parked the car, and with the engine still running, jumped out into the cold wind to snap a "few" photos. Not feeling real adventurous because of the cold, I composed a couple shots, then decided to run back into the warmth of the car. That's when I made the discovery I accidentally locked myself out. The reality hit real quick, what do I do? The car was still running, didn't have a phone and there was no one around. Next, came the realization I would have to walk to the nearest phone, which was at the intersection down the road. I walked down the road about 1/4 mile to a General Store and called 911 St. Mary's County Police. The dispatcher assured me they would send a unit to unlock the door. I went back to the church and waited. All I had was my camera, so I started snapping more photos.

After about an hour of patiently waiting no one came. So I walked back to the store and called 911 again. The 911 operator said they had some higher priority emergencies they were attending too and they they would answer the "lock out" call as soon as they could. I told them I would wait in the store where it was warmer and I could grab a cup of warm coffee. After about a 1/2 hour a unit arrived and took me back to the church. The police officer was able to quickly open the door because the door was not shut all the way. The officer was proud of his home made door opener. I was just glad to see the door open. I thanked the officer, and parted. After a 3 hour commute I finally made it to the college.

This experience taught me a lesson. Always carry your camera...and your car keys!

Landscapes

This week we talked about landscape photography one question that came up is what is the definition of landscape photography? According to Wikipedia the definition is "a genre intended to show different spaces within the world, sometimes vast and unending, but other times microscopic." That covers a broad range of photography. Typically, landscapes don't focus on human subjects, although as I showed you in the classroom, limited human activity can enhance a landscape photograph. So there is no real definition of landscape photography. Popular "landscape" photos include mountains, lakes, waterfalls and even industrial sites. In any case, your landscape photograph should capture the beauty or unique character of an rural or even urban area. Good luck. The PowerPoint for this week's class is posted below

Landscape

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Week 8 Portraits

Not sure how much time we will have in class today. We got behind last week because of the power outage. Today we will focus on Adobe Photoshop Elements V6. Just in case we don't have time to talk about portraits I have uploaded the powerpoint.

Week 8 Portraits

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Basics of Digital Photography

I've been receiving numerous e-mails and phone calls regarding the content of the Basics of Digital Photography class. Typically, my classes consists of equal instruction on basic camera operation, photo taking techniques, post editing process and photo sharing opportunities. The class runs 10 weeks so we cover a vast range of subjects hat give you a basic understanding of digital photography. Our classes consist of 1/2 point and shoot and the other 1/2 entry level digital SLR owners. So, the format is geared more for the beginner but also very useful for the photo enthusiast. Why? Because all of the content is updated with the latest technology, equipment, techniques and trends which is the nature of the digital technology.

We cover a majority of the manual settings. Some students will not have the manual settings, so I have to relate the same manual technique back to a pre-set mode on their automatic camera. We focus on exposure techniques such as shutter speed, aperture and ISO as well as basic camera functions including white balance, file format and size, metering modes, exposure bracketing and focusing. The activities I assign help you familiarize yourself with your camera.

It will be impossible to learn everything in 10 weeks but I want the students to walk away with a good comfort level with their camera's features, motivation to actively take more photos, a good eye for composition, a portfolio that you share with your friends and the photography community and respect for photography. If I can have you viewing your environment through the eyes of a photographer while driving down a road then I've accomplished what I've set out to do.

Visit my Faculty Web Site for more information on this course

Digital Photo Taging Experiment

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More About Focal Lenghts

A common question I get is why doesn't my lens display a narrow depth of Field? I want to get the effect of a blurred background. I tried the largest apature I have and it still doesn't give me that effect.

That's probably because the shorter the focal length of the lens, the greater the depth of field. Say you use a telephoto lens at 200mm to photograph to objects 5 feet apart. If you focus on the first subject, the rear subject would be out of focus. Thus, you have created an effect that isolates the subject and blurs the background.

However, if you used a lens with a focal length of 55mm at the same distance with the subjects in the same location, the subject in the background will be sharper. You are unable to get the desired effect of blurring the background to isolate the subject. You would need a telephoto lens to get this effect.

If you ever decide to upgrade your camera, I would consider upgrading your lens first. A lens of 70-200mm will give you more flexibility with Depth of Field while giving you more perspectives to choose from. Perspectives are affected by the lens-to-subject distance.

The Puffer

I heard about a cheap alternative to buying an external flash called The PUFFER on the Digital Photography Show Podcast. Invented by Gary Fong, The Puffer clips on to the hot-shoe slot of digital cameras with a pop-up flash defusing the flash thus softening the light. Often when using the camera's pop-up flash you get a harsh shine on the subject. With this inexpensive gadget for under $30 (including shipping), you can take better portraits, shots of people at events and closeups of objects. You can purchase the Puffer on Gary Fong's web site at
http://store.garyfonginc.com/puf-01.html