LLU Basics of Photography class

[kiranhk]

Hi,
I registered for the following class offered by Leisure Learning Institute.
I was wondering if anybody else has taken this class before and how it is.
here is the description from their site..

Basics of Photography— A One-Day Workshop
Want to learn how to use your camera but don't have a lot of time? Participants will learn how a film or digital SLR camera works, how to understand aperture and shutter speed, how to select the right film or resolution, composition, color harmony and 15 ways to improve your photography. NOTE: This class is intended for students who have or are planning to purchase a film or digital SLR camera that can be manually operated. Please bring your camera and camera manual to class if you have them. Class size: 5-25+2.
Kathy Adams Clark has been a professional nature photographer since 1995. Her work has appeared in many national magazines and books. Every Friday her photos appear in Wonders of Nature, a nature column in the Houston Chronicle.
$40 + $5 for class fee & handouts
Greenway Plaza Area: Richmond/Kirby
N1605D: 1 Sat 9:30-3:30pm Jul 15
N1605E: 1 Sat 9:30-3:30pm Oct 7



http://www.llu.com/1000.htm#Photography

[suzyjazz]

It's very good. I went from a 2 MP digital point-and-shoot to researching cameras and photography online to taking this class and deciding I wanted a dSLR. Previously, I'd been intent on a non-SLR prosumer. Days later I ordered the 300D and felt pretty comfortable with it right away. I knew nothing of photography prior to starting my research. The research I did laid the foundation for knowing some of the terms which helped the class sink in better and not be so overwhelming. Not having a camera in my possession with all the controls was a little bit of a frustration, but other people in the class showed me their cameras and it helped. And I'm glad I didn't buy one before the class. It familiarized me with the functions of an SLR and I was ready to go by the time I got my camera.

[kiranhk]

thanks Suzy.
I am more of a "TODO" person, so i bought the DSLR in Dec 2005 after having been shooting with P&S. i have put in lot of time to learn some of the basic things abt an SLR. so i dont usually look lost when talking abt SLR's terminology. I used to borrow my BIL's film Minolta SLR and shoot.

but i always liked to know how exactly the pro's do things. so i registered for this class and thought i would learn a bit atleast, from the pro's.
Its not always intelligent to experiment and learn on your own.

thanks a lot again.

[suzyjazz]

Kiran, it sounds like the class will be somewhat of a review for you then. I hope it's still helpful. I would not recommend taking the Basics class *and* the Advanced class. Honestly, I felt the advanced class was way too much re-hash. I was disappointed. Let us know what you think of your class. I don't know if she ever logs on, but the instructor has an account on this forum.

[kiranhk]

thanks suzy. I will be attending the class on Sat July 15. i sure will post my comments/opinion after i come back.

[Rick Eubank]

I thinks it's a good idea for you to take this class regardless of your background because you may pick up small tips that can get you out of a jam when taking pictures. I am a pro and still attend photo seminars with other professionals and still have a lot to learn even though I have been in photography for 25 years. You also have a chance to meet others and share ideas. Good luck with class.

[kiranhk]

Ok. Here is my opinion of the class that i attended on Sat July 15. But got time to post abt it only today :( sorry abt that.

Its a great class for anybody who is beginning to get into SLR photography. lot of good things explained and most of the people are starters and many among them didnt even know their camera controls :(
But i also want to mention that if u r somebody who has been experimenting with the SLR camera and reading abt photography tips/techniques and SRL stuff on the internet then this class might not be as much help as you expect it to be.
All that being said this is my personal opinion and below is the breakup of the 1 day workshop i attended and what i think could have been changed/improved (lot of you might disagree)

the Class is divided into 4 parts
1) the Basics
bit abt camera (canon, nikon, pentax etc),shutter speed, aperture/fstop, metering, depth of field, storage, histogram.

Basically in this part all the basic concepts like shutter speed, aperture, DOF will be explained and will be asked to play with these setting on our camera. this part is the 2nd best part of the whole class in my opinion.
I felt here that the time given for explaining the metering concept was not much. she explains abt spot meter, center-weighted and evaluative metering and says when to use what. but the imp what i didnt like is that during all the time in the class she kept showing her photographs and whenever somebody asked what metering she used -- for all she said spot metering. even though there were many instances you could say that it can be evaluative or center-weighted. I felt that basically she didnt want to prolong the discussion...
There was no mention abt white balance, probably it is not as important :(.

2) Equipment
Camera and handling, what to choose-- Tv, Av, P, M, metering systems, Accessories, tripods, lenses, flash

I personally feel that for a beginner there should not be too many choices. so all talk abt what kind of lenses to buy, tripods, flash etc will just be waste of time. Beginners usually always start with kit lens/cheap lens and after learning abt how things works then they move on to accessory buying decisions. in this part most of the time was spent in discussing abt lenses, tripods, flash etc. when i dont know abt Tv, Av, M, metering, white balance etc why do i spend time in researching abt accessories. there may be very few people who have $ to burn and who buy equipment before actually doing anything with their existing stuff. so i think this part of the class should be taken out and the time utilised for a little deeper info on the basic stuff.

3) Composition and Getting better photos
composition, picture communicate, patience, indoor photography, people photography.

this was one of the best part of the class. she explained very well abt how to compose and frame your subjects. ways in which u can frame, different angles of taking the same picture etc. But while explaining the Indoor Photography the pictures which she showed were very good examples in a indoor/house lighting. when i asked abt white balance(even though i have not yet started playing with WB i have got lot of C&C on forums abt WB) and how it affects the indoor lighting pictures, she just said she always keeps her camera on Auto WB and it is not so imp, which i found it a little surprising. probably you guys can throw some light on this. Also as i said in my Part 1 above all the shots that she showed she kept saying she used spot metering, i dont know what to make out from this :(

4) Beyond the Basics
action photography, Night photography, filters, Avoiding-- lens flare, eye shine in your subjects, Gadgets-extension tubes, extenders etc, color harmony.

I think even here there was too much time spent on accessories which could have been utilised in a better way. she explained quite well abt night photography, but i was not happy with the time spent on Exposure. some of the photos she showed and explained how she under exposed related to that photgraph, but she didnt explain in what situations you would under/over expose your shots.



So bottom line is "Its a Great class for beginners"
many of the people in the class were absolute beginners and some of them even had a high end P&S camera. there were also some beginners like me who had been experimenting and reading stuff on the net. so personally i felt it was worth the money and time:)spent.

As explained above i would love to have it made a little better so that beginners like me learn more from pro's like you "

[Abel]

Kathy Adams Clark is actually a member here on the forum as well...

ive taken her beginners class as well when i first started and it was great for understanding the basics of SLRs etc.

[aggarcia]

I have taken several of Kathy Adams Clark's classes. One must remember that the class must appeal to a wide range of people to fill seats. Most of the people in the classes have very varied experience levels. Kathy does an excellent job getting across as much information as she can in the alloted time. She will even tell you that she is not end all expert and learns from her students. I have taken class from other instructors and Kathy is by far the best I have had. At the end of the class I still feel that it was worth the money.