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1.1: Digital Photography Basics Course Introduction

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    Do you...

    • Have a digital camera or smartphone?
    • Shoot photos?
    • Share photos with family, friends or the world?

    Do you want to...

    • Learn the basics of digital photography?
    • Shoot better photos?

    This course is for you!

    The lessons in this course are designed to help you master the basics of digital photography. Complete them carefully and thoughtfully. Take the time to review your work critically, and reflect on what you are learning. You can even do the lessons multiple times to practice the photo composition concepts.

    In each lesson (after the Introduction), you’ll have opportunities to shoot digital photo series that demonstrate the concepts you're learning. Many lessons have links to Internet resources where you can learn more. It's important to use these resources. They'll give you more details and examples to help you understand the concepts.

    You’ll also be responding in writing whenever you see RECORD YOUR FINDINGS. Don’t simply write the information directly from the words in the lessons. While it’s okay to use the vocabulary words you're learning, it’s important for you to be able to describe the concepts in your own words. In addition, when an activity contains an online resource, some information from that resource MUST be included in your response to show that you've learned from the resource.

    During the course, you’ll create a collection of your photos. You can download and keep them on a computer, flash drive, online in Google Drive or Dropbox, or online at an image/photo-sharing site like Flickr, Picasa, SnapFish, or PhotoBucket. It’s important to organize them by topic, so you can easily find the photos you need to assemble your digital photo portfolio at the end of the course.

    Unless otherwise noted, images used in this course are licensed through Creative Commons and are available at Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/). For complete information on Creative Commons licensing, see CreativeCommons.org.

    Creative Commons license icons

    Some of the images used in this course have been edited to have the appearance needed to learn and practice the course concepts.

    Cover photos: "Self Portrait" (Paul Wolfenden; https://www.flickr.com/photos/joeshl...ik/6916248255/) edited into "thetechdog" (taken by the course author).

    Chapter Summary

    Chapter 1: Digital Photo Basics Course Introduction

    Chapter 2: Your Digital Camera

    • Open the Box
    • Shutter Speed & Aperture
    • Auto, Semi-Manual, & Manual Shooting Modes
    • Special Scene Modes
    • Resolution & Compression

    Chapter 3: Basic Photo Composition

    • Steady Camera
    • Rule of Thirds
    • Level Horizon
    • Fill the Frame
    • Distracting Backgrounds

    Chapter 4: Direction & Movement

    • Direction of Movement
    • Framing
    • Point of View
    • Leading Lines
    • Freezing Movement

    Chapter 5: Light and Shadow

    • Quality of Light
    • Direction of Light
    • Silhouettes
    • Light & Shadow

    Chapter 6: Flash

    • Flash Modes
    • Flash & Distance
    • Flash Glare
    • Fill Flash

    Course Final: Digital Photography Portfolio

    References

    Image Reference Attributions

    [Figure 1]

    		 Credit: FrankGuido; March 10, 2014
    Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/fdotguido/13093861383/

    [Figure 2]

    		 Credit: FrankGuido; March 10, 2014
    Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/fdotguido/13093861383/

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