Course

I had a great time during the course. It's a good one as well. There were quite some options and I seem to have picked the right one, I even heard some bad comments about a school near me, supposedly they aren't good at all. I see that I know a lot already, but it does help me a great deal. It's a class with 14 students, just one male (we all kept taking his picture during assignments) and there is a big variety in age and experience. The course I am taking is the first semester of the 4 year program and there are 4 that are interested in getting the degree. I have to say, I was shocked when the teacher was telling us that we do get grated and we have to do 2 exams in order to pass this class and get our paper. Even the 4 that want to get the degree were in shock. Well, I will not get worried about it now, even though it's been a longgggg time since I was to study like that. There is quite a bit of theory we're going over as well. I did enjoy the day a lot. I also loved being back in Amsterdam. It makes it a long day for me but it's a great place to take the course. Just to walk around and we were all outside having lunch on a terrace. Soooo nice.

So let me summarize a little on what I have learned or what got my attention again (it may be a little tricky for me to explain all this in English):

1. When something or someone is further away that I would like, I tend to use my 18-200 mm lens. Zooming as much as I can. Great feature, or so I thought. When you actually walk closer to the person or object, it causes you to get the feeling you are right there, involved if you wish when you look at the picture. When you use your zoom, it creates more of a distance when looking at the picture.

To prove my point (or the teacher's really)

THE guy, taken with 135 mm. It felt really close to me.

But when I see this one I feel I am actually closer and right there. This ons is taken at 18 mm and just getting as close as I could, trying to get the same image as when I shot with 135 mm. I was up in his face, haha. (Of course with portrets there is a reason not to be in your models face, some one feels way more at ease when you are further away. So this point may be proven better with an object instead of a person.)

Again, taken with 135 mm

And with 18 mm, trying to get a similar composition. (I really thought I was a fan of being able to zoom in with my 200 mm. But now I am excited to have learned to get in closer and what it does to a picture.)

2. It was suggested that we take a couple of days where we will set our lens to a specific distance for those days and see what one can do with it, never touching your lens. So I can set it to 35 mm for a couple of days, 135 mm. I think it may teach me a lot.

3. Shutter speed. I never really worked with pictures where I'd capture movement. In photographing sports I always followed the sportsman and the pictures were always clear and beautiful, a great series even, like you see a movie. But what fun is it to take a photo of a biker on his bike without setting the shutter so that you can actually see him riding his bike? The way I have been taking pictures I made a statue out of my moving biker. So I actually practiced this today on the baseball field. What gets tricky though is, when I set my shutter to a slower speed, more light gets in and so I need to change my Aperture.

I also learn a lot from all the photographers on line and especially the Fledging Photographers. I read comments, I read people's tutorials, I take part in challenges and it helps a great deal. Just to read Jenna's comment on Anna Mae's photo of her family digging in for dinner, it was totally about using Shutter Speed and I was reminded of the photo during class right way. Also Jenna's blog about the Histogram is a great help. I knew of it, just never really paid attention to it during the picture taking. Well, it comes in handy once I start to play with Shutter Speed and there fore my Aperture. So thank to you all for sharing and answering questions and talking and showing, let's keep up the good work and we can all get good.