Veteran Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: San Jose, Costa Rica |
All answsers so far are quite interesting, but i do feel most of them concentrate on the technical side of photography, or "how to get the most of our gear".
Thinking for a split second about someone who knows nothing from photography and wants to learn (at least, the basics), I would do my best to teach and make them understand the following concepts, even before touching a camera.
1) What is photography? The recording on visible two dimensional media of some special moment in life, captured by a light grabbing device that when properly used, will produce the desired results.
2) Types of photography: Not all pictures are created equal nor all pictures pursue the same intent. Sports, action, documentary, photojournalism, boudoir, glamour, portrait, wedding, special events, nature, landscape, forensic, advertising, etc. This lesson could take at least three to four hours (I guess). The point is to make your students understand that when anyone says "photography", it will most likely mean something different for each one present in the room.
3) The music comes from the performer... not from the instrument played! While using a good quality instrument is very convenient for the desired effect in producing a certain photograph, your students must understand that the final magic occurs when the photographer, after learning all the technical aspects to control and having the necessary experience, trips the shutter in that precise moment that grabs the intended moment in life.
4) After the first three concepts have been covered, then I would start with the technical stuff. First, by going through a good collection of examples (photos) that needed certain different controlled technical situation (by the photographer) and is not an obvious "accidental good shot". Show pictures where its obvious that shutter speed was controlled, aperture, sensitivity, perspective, available light, flash, fill in lights, tripods, depth of field control, contrast control, etc. After most of this concepts are well explained, teach your students that unlike "slide film" back in history, the story with each photograph does not end there. It may and will continue at the "darkroom stage" which is the postprocessing. For this, let them know there are different tools for the trade and depending on what they are looking for, then so is the tool needed. For God's sake, make them understand that by purchasing a full Adobe Creative Suite license (at $3500 or so), does not make them instant experts in image post-processing.
5) After all the mentioned theory is well explained, then let them touch the cameras. Program a series of "standard" picture situations and let them experiment with the camera settings, but tell them to look and try certain effect or look in the photograph. Have them experiment with portraits, landscapes, some action, perspective, group photos, etc. It would be interesting to get some "examples" somewhere, and tell them: "I want you to produce a picture similar to this one". Have them figure out the technical details, guess the focal length used, aperture and shutter speed used. Let them figure out where and what kind of light was used, etc. Do this experiment with portraits, sports, pets, babies, etc.
At first, try the "replication" experiment with pictures that are most likely produced "out of the camera" without any or very little post-processing. Only after this matter is well covered and fairly dominated, have them touch the computer and let them play with photoshop or your choice of image processing software.
Then... the sky is the limit. Your photography course could end up in ten to 12 weeks or continue for years as a photography community club.
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