Week 4 Photography Class Assignments

This week was the final week of the photography class I'm taking, and we focused on white balance.

We had to take a photo in unnatural light with a bad white balance and then with a good white balance.

Bad white balance - SOOC


Good white balance - SOOC


Then we were assigned to take pictures in natural light with two different types of white balances.

First white balance - SOOC


Second white balance - SOOC


For our final assignment, we were to go on a photo walk and make a mosaic of some of the pictures we took while on our walk.

The leaves are really starting to change, and the colors are beautiful!

Week 3 Photography Class Assignment

This week we're experimenting with ISO (film speed) in my photography class. We had to take a picture of a flower, one at a low ISO and one at a high ISO. There aren't many flowers that are still blooming around here. Most have gone to seed, so I shot some clover "flowers" instead.

I adjusted my shutter speed when taking my pics so that the lighting wouldn't be too dark or too light, but I kept the aperture the same to keep some continuity in the photos. Both of these images were shot manually.

f5.6, 1/125, ISO 200


f5.6, 1/500, ISO 800

Week 2 Photography Class Assignments

I'm so sorry for the extended absence. This past week has just been extremely busy, and I just haven't had time to blog. In fact, I finally submitted my photos for my photography class assignments tonight, too.

This week our photography class focused on shutter speed. I'm actually pretty proud of myself because I shot 2 of the 5 photos for the class using completely manual settings. They may not be spectacular, but I'm especially proud that I was able to adjust the shutter speed and ISO so that the lighting wasn't too bad.

Here are all my shots SOOC (with the exception of the "watermark").

Moving Water
f5, 1/320, ISO 3200 (Shot completely manually)


f5, 1/10, ISO 100 (Shot completely manually)


Daylight action taken at slow shutter speed to show motion
1/30


Low light action taken at slow shutter speed to show motion
I actually shot this at night on a tripod with a 15 second exposure for the shutter speed.


"Shoot Where You Are"
f4.5, 1/200, ISO 3200 (Shot completely manually)


I spent more time this week taking pictures in my bathrooms than ever before, trying to catch drops of water on "film" (How do you change that saying for digital cameras? "On memory card???" Doesn't have the same ring to it.) and adjusting my camera settings so that the lighting wasn't too dark. All in the name of photography!

Week 1 Final Class Assignment

f/5.6


"Contemplate Your Shot" - I knew I wanted to take a pic of one of my kids outside for this shot, and the Youngest is one of the most cooperative. I didn't want a "Stand over there and I'll take your picture" shot though, so I had him bring his hat outside and had him pretend he was putting it on. However, he didn't just pretend, he kept putting it on and taking it off, teasing me and laughing. I think this keeper was the third shot I took. I did tweak the color, brightness, and contrast just a little bit in editing because the original looked a bit faded.

Photography Class Assignments

Remember when I mentioned that I'd signed up to take an online photography class this fall? Well the class has started! Hooray!

This week we are studying and experimenting with aperture and f-stops.

Below are this week's assignments that I've completed so far.

f/4


Same shot at f/11


See the difference in the backgrounds?

f/5.6 (optional assignment)


f/5


Same shot at f/16


I still have one more required assignment to complete before Monday and two more optional ones.

Photography Class

I've been wanting to take a photography class for quite a while. I've looked at the class offerings at our local community college as well as our town's park and rec classes. Usually the photography classes weren't really what I wanted. Most of them had to do with learning how to upload your pictures onto your computer and email them or share them online with others. I already know how to do that. I want a photography class about composition, lighting, shutter speeds, f-stops, etc. Although I've read a number of photography books, I really want to take a class that tackles these topics.

Lo and behold, Faith at Simplicity: My Life in (Mostly) Photographs is offering a photography class this fall for SLR photographers that will teach how to use the manual settings on your SLR camera.

I'm so excited! I've already registered for the class and paid the extremely reasonable fee of $22. Be sure to click on the button above if you're interested in registering for the class or want more info.