While we were in Hong Kong at Christmas, it occurred to me that we never take a camera on holiday anymore. Or anywhere. Obviously we’ve got cameras on our phones and obviously I am always snapping all sorts of nonsense to stick on Instagram, but the (quite expensive at the time) DSLR camera we have at home sits in its bag, never leaving the house. There were so many amazing sights on that holiday which could only really be captured with justice by a decent camera with actual settings, that it made me realise that even if I had brought the camera with me, I don’t actually know how to use it.
A shout out on Twitter and a few course providers were quickly recommended. I liked the sound of the Photography Course London’s ‘Intense Foundation of Digital Photography – Level 1’. It looked comprehensive and even better, it was a Saturday course. With all the best intentions, I know that it is impossible to do anything intense after a day’s work, so a Saturday suited me perfectly. I booked up. The course is aimed at ‘complete beginners who own a Digital SLR camera and want to maximise its potential’, so it sounded perfect. I didn’t want anything with post-production as I can learn that from Madge (or make him do it for me…!!)
We had to bring an image along for discussion, so I set off bright and early up to Shoreditch with my camera, my 2 images (I couldn’t choose) and a notepad. The course is set in a small classroom environment, with everyone around a long table. I think there were 11 people; it’s nice that the classes are kept small, because it means that there is time for questions and it doesn’t feel too rushed.
Once we had all talked through our images we got on with the learning. The course itself is very much focused on how the camera works – the basics of getting the camera off the ‘auto’ settings and starting to understand how you can change things to get the best picture. There was a lot to take in and at some points it felt quite overwhelming. I felt a definite dip after lunch and by the time we got to fully manual settings at the end I was a bit at maximum information overload. But there were lots of very helpful and practical set up routines and tips. It was great to learn how to take depth of field pictures, as these are a particular favourite of mine.
There is not that much actual taking of pictures on this course, the focus is definitely on the theory and mechanics, though we did get out a couple of times for some shots in the courtyard.
It was a very cold and rainy day, so it was quite hard to enjoy the outside bits and we weren’t able to be out too long really. By the later point of the afternoon we were losing the light. We also took shots in the classroom, of eachother and of props – trying out the different settings and techniques we were being taught.
I really enjoyed the day. It was quite tiring and it is very intense. I’m glad I took lots of notes but I think I’d also like to buy a good book, to read and practice with in my own time. I’d definitely recommend the course, although if you are looking for a creative photography lesson this is not it. I might look at a follow up session in a few months, once I’ve got some practice under my belt. With a short trip coming up, I should get plenty of chance for that. This time, the camera is definitely coming 🙂
For those interested, the course covered:
- Buttons and functions
- Menus and settings
- Aperture
- Shutter-speed
- ISO
- Exposure
- Introduction to White Balance
- Auto Focus and Focus Points
- Manual Focus
- Exposure compensation and exposure lock
- Basics of RAW
- The light meter
- Metering modes
- Aperture and shutter speed priority
- Manual mode
- Depth of Field
- Freezing and blurring motion
- Basics of composition
- Optimising the camera settings
All pictures here are all as they were taken – no colour correction or post production, all I’ve done is resize them for the internet.
