Introduction to Digital Photography
Introduction to Digital Photography is a half day photography course taught by myself Rashad Penn and Guilden Gilbert. We have been teaching photography in the Bahamas for a few years now and have been working during this time on streamlining our teaching technique and ensuring our students get the best lessons and learn quickly.
With the help of Queen’s College Center for Continuing Education(QC-CFE) on our side we have been able to successfully teach hundreds of new photographers from beginners to advanced amateurs and even professionals. Each day I see the work of our former students and am amazed of the work they are producing. They are definitely the next generation of Bahamian Photographers..
Now that the pleasantries are out of the way
I want to get to the nitty gritty of who should really take these classes that we are offering. This is the first in a three part series that we will offer each semester with QC-CFE. After this class we will offer an advanced class in digital photography and then a specialized class that will take the students skills beyond just average. The truth of the matter is that our motives for teaching photography is not only for profit, I mean come on for the price that we are offering this you couldnt even pay for an hour photo session in the United States much less the world. This is just ridiculous.
If you really want to take photography seriously and I mean serious as in you want to produce amazing images no matter what the subject, you want to produce images that you can actually get paid good money for then you need to learn the basics.
Lets get back to BASICS
Yeah I said it, lets deal with the basics. I cant tell you how many times clients come to me asking me if I can fix an image they had taken by another photographer. I mean its just horrific, the images are often so bad that even the untrained eye of a client/non photographer can see it. This is when you know you did something wrong. Usually no matter how bad an image is most people and I mean the majority of persons will not know its a bad photo or even why so these images that are brought to me are literally the worst of the worst.
You see its simple.. you can go out and buy a camera today, put in in automatic and capture fairly good images without even knowing whats going on. The technology of photography has become that advanced that the camera can make all the decisions for you. Unfortunately your camera still cant read your mind, the emotions of your subject or the mood in which you would like to capture and image. This is where many of today’s photographers fall down. They just cant capture an image that projects a feeling or a moment that evokes an emotion. This is because they have no control over their camera
Time to take control
Look I know no one likes the be a newbie and just thinking about taking a beginners class is just beneath so many of you out there. I get it I feel that way all the time. However the only difference is that I never despise a humble beginning. There is a point you have to be honest with yourself and honest with the world around you. Know that you have limits and know that its because you never built a strong enough foundation so now you struggle with basic photography task.
I know about building a foundation and I am reminded about it as of late by the death of a strong influence on my life and a mentor. My martial arts teacher of over 20 odd years died recently but I realize how much he taught me. One thing I can positively say is that Master Duncanson drilled the basics into all his students. We would spend hours performing the same arm block over and over. Day in and day out week after week. In our minds it was the most mundane and repetitive action ever. But when we needed to use that exact same block to defend ourselves or loved ones it was so precise and powerful that the threat was neutralized in one move. NO joke it happened to me and others in altercations just one block that happened without thinking without hesitation ended an altercation before it started
What does learning how to block an attack has to do with photography? Simple its a basic technique and so is this class. Its a strong foundation that is firmly built into your subconscious that when its time to execute it became second nature. That’s what this class is about. Without that basic block I could not perform more advanced techniques like simultaneous block, strike and take down in one move. Its the same with so many photographers skills. They did not build a strong enough foundation in the art of photography so when they try to build more advanced skills they have problems.
Build a strong foundation
So to get straight to the point if you haven’t figured it out as yet. If you want to be able to capture images and become a photographer not just a specialized photographer but open your skill set to more options then you need to learn these basic and simple skills as a photographer.
- Exposure Triangle
- Composition
- Metering Modes
- White Balance
- How to make Bokeh
- How to show movement
- How to capture a tack sharp image
- Depth of Field
- Hyperfocal Distancing
- F-stops
- Camera maintenance
- and much much more
You may be the one who have it in their mind that you will wait for the more advanced classes like off camera flash portraiture, Product photography, Natural light portraiture or others but if you don’t have these skills down to a science and ingrained into your every day life, not only will you be lost in an advanced class but you will slow everyone else down because being the teachers we are we tend to slow down to the bring those without basic knowledge up to some level before we move on with the class.
This is unfair to you because you wont fully understand and its unfair to others who will be robbed of time because we had to explain basics to you. So do yourself a favor. Be honest with yourself. If you cant shoot in full on manual and get the image with proper exposure in 2 – 3 shots then you really need this class.
Sign up and Learn
There is no shame in learning the basics just only shame when you need the basics and its found out that you don’t have those skills. Call Queens College Center or Further Education today and secure your spot for this class and lets build a strong foundation that you can rebuild your photography skills or build a new skill set. Either way after taking this one class you will have the necessary skills to shoot in manual, aperture priority or shutter priority even program priority with ease.
Queens College Center or Further Education
Contact 677-7639
