Ideas for my Photography class??? please...

[lucsaunders]

Hi,

I just started teaching a digital photography course to adults, most of whom have no knowledge of photography. I am teaching them the basics of composition, aperture, shutter speed etc. but would love some IDEAS of possible assignments that might be good to give out.

For example somebody recently suggested I get them to make a calender with their images. That kind of thing is brilliant because it is open to all levels and gives them something to structure their work around.


Any other ideas of how to liven up my classes would be much appreciated

Thanks in advance

Luke

 

[bigtwinky]

Define making a calendar? This might involve a little too much photoshopping or post production work that some novice photographers would want to do.

How about coming up with a theme and having them shoot around that, chose their top 3 images, and present them in front of the class? You can have them shoot around a single word such as "orange" and seeing where people take it (colour, fruit,...) or even having a list of popular sayings and having them interpret that (wathching paint dry, kill 2 birds with 1 stone,...).

HOWEVER, I would see things like the above, or a calendar, fit for a final term project, not an ongoing learning project.

For that, I would keep it simple as 1 project on the various elements you are teaching. Talking about aperture? Have them take the same picture (ex: a statue) at varying apertures and distances, keeping a constant proper exposure in manual shooting mode. Have them keep track of their settings for each shot as they shoot.

Shutter could be with various moving subjects, who are at various speeds, taken at various distances. You know, all the elements that impact a shutter speed and motion blur.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Show them a rule or two of composition, and have them shoot around that.

 

[CSR Studio]

Since they are new to photography, I would keep it simple. Like take a photograph showing depth of field, take a photograph highlighting the rule of thirds, take a photograph showing a slow shutter speed, fast shutter speed, movement, that sort of thing. Then get into light. That way they can see what everything means and what it does.

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

A calender (on it's own) sounds like too general of an assignment to me. You might end with each student submitting 12 images that are all over the map, with rather little technical merit.

I'd suggest something more specific like; three shots with shallow DOF, three shots demonstrating the rule of thirds, three shots with a slow shutter speed etc.

Or maybe you could give them an assignment for some tricky situations and see how they handle it. A silhouette for example, or a back lit subject or portrait at night (in a dark situation) etc.

 

[lucsaunders]

Thanks for the quick reply guys.

I agree that specific tasks related to what I have just taught make sense

and I love the idea of working around common sayings etc.

Thanks again

Luke

 

[skieur]

I gave the students assignments that they could shoot in the immediate area, so that I could see their mistakes as they were working. Topics such as portraits (each other), texture, macros and extreme close-ups, etc.

skieur

 

[EllBell]

:smileys:

Youu could make a photo colage with sections from different themes

:smileys:

 

[Sisco]

Since they are new to photography, I would keep it simple. Like take a photograph showing depth of field, take a photograph highlighting the rule of thirds, take a photograph showing a slow shutter speed, fast shutter speed, movement, that sort of thing. Then get into light. That way they can see what everything means and what it does.

The best idea.they can put into practice what they are being taught, keeping it simple and moving them forward.

 

[table1349]

Years ago one of the best assignments we received in a college photography class was each person being give a single simple object. With that object we had to produce a 12 shot minimum portfolio. My object was an egg. Took a bit of thought to create seveal different images with the egg as the focus.

 

[bhee321]

one picture that i had to take for a class while we were learning about shutter speed.. i had to take a pic of a stoplight with all 3 lights lit. also how to make ghosts..