Lesson 1: Remove Lens Cap

So, today I went to my photography course. All in all it was good. There were about 10 of us which made for a good group. We met in the Green Bar in the Royal Festival Hall on Londons Southbank. We spent an hour going through the details of ISO, Shutter Speed and Aperture and how and why to set up the camera using the A and S funtion on our cameras. Whilst I had no problem actually setting the camera according to out tutors instructions I have not grasped why we are doing it. So I dont know what it means to have high aperture or fast shutter speed. I know what effects I want and largely by taking a million pictures by purely twiddling with the settings I can sometimes achieve this, but it is fluke because I have not set the camera specifically, I have just twiddled knobs. Fail.

Example below of the focus being on the bottle with an out of focus background and then a shot with focus on both nearground and foreground.

After an hour of theory we went outside for some practical. Will told us what to set our cameras to in order to achieve certain effects. This shot below is taken with a fast shutter speed (possibly) so that even though the subject is jumping he is not blurred when we take a shot giving the impression that he is still.

Then we experimented with a slower shutter speed giveing a blurred effect when the subject is moving. Each picture shows a gradually slower shutter speed than before. The bag always remains in focus.

Then we were allowed to go off and spend time experimenting. This is where I realised i hadnt absorbed a signgle thing that was taught to me. Cue knob twiddling.

 I like these ones because the people are in focus even though they are moving and the cars are not.

Abby Road rip off...

More slow shutter speed...

I just liked this angle...

So here I experimented with the aperture....possibly. All of the wal is in focus, right to the farground.

The farground is no longer in focus, what setting this is I have no idea.

The next two shots illustrate this better. One is in focus, one is not.

More shutter speed experimenting.

Here I experiemented with a item in the nearground in focus with an out of focus background.

And then I added some shutter speed wizardry.

 Then it was back to the classroom for some lessons on composition. We talked about leading lines, a frame within a frame, the golder rule of thirds and angles. We were then sent out on mini missions to take pictures which included leading lines. Here are my attempts...

Then it was out again to take a shot which epresented a frame within a frame. Again, my attempts....

He liked the colours of the leading lines shot I took with the beach huts and said he really liked the pisture of the black and white picture with the people walking in front.

So, I appear to have good ideas for shots but I still do not know how I am achieving them. I know its probably a case of practice, practice, practice but I thought I would have more of an idea than I do. I do not think that this was the tutors fault as everyone else seemed to be totally clued up by the end of it!

I have another course with a different company to attend on September the 10th. Maybe a second go at being taught it will mean it sinks in. Between now and then I will read up and try to work this out on my own.