Details with Lesson 1

Since we had technical difficulties with people receiving the email, here is the body of the email with the details.  I will add a link tomorrow to the actual assignment once I have a friend post the PDF to her server.  Sorry for the hassle!  Update 06/07/10:  We now have a shared folder via Google documents to post online.  I've sent everyone invitations and from this point forward, all weekly lessons will appear there via a link once it is posted to group members.  Thank you all for your patience as I work out the kinks and sorry for the multiple emails, sites, etc.  Let me know if you have any difficulty accessing it or if you don't see your invitation to view the folder.  Thanks to G for the suggestion!

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Hi there, everyone.  I am really excited to start this class with all of you.  Before we begin, please remember to look for the Facebook invitation to join the group "Melissa's 12-Week Photo Class."  From talking to others, most prefer to be on FB, though we have at least one member that I am aware of with limited FB access.  I will make sure that the participant has full access to both receiving the information posted there and also I can post her questions, comments, photos, etc., on her behalf to make sure that everyone has full access to all of the information.  If anyone else has limited FB access or would prefer to use the blog, kindly let me know so I can make sure that no one is left out from receiving and providing communication to the group.  I don't want anyone to not participate because of this, so I will post in both places if need be.  :-)

The other "housekeeping" update is that I have found our first professional photographer who can offer guidance and constructive criticism to the group, Vanessa Kearns.  Even better, she was in the original group that went through this same 12-week class, which I think is fabulous, especially when you see the photos from her photography Web site.  Please take a look atVanessaKearnsPhotography.com.  If this class is your first experience taking your DSLR off the "auto" setting, I hope you will feel inspired to see her work.  

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Okay, on to the lesson -- Aperture Basic Training.  Learning to set your aperture value can immediately change your photography from good to great and it can help you achieve those great photos where the background is blurry and not in focus while your subject is.  That background blur is called bokeh (pronounced like bouquet), from the Japanese word boke meaning blur or haze.  For those interested, here is a wiki page on bokeh.  Anyway, the lesson is very easy reading, along with a very easy assignment, and you will find it attached to this email here.  You can access it as long as you accept the invitation to Google Documents.  Let me know if you don't see your invitation in your email box.

Assignment #1

1. Read the attached document After you accept the invitation to Google Documents that was sent to your email, click here for this week's lesson (5 easy pages but the last page is questions and answers that came out of the first round of the class years ago).
2. Before lesson #2 is distributed next Sunday, please take three or more photos showing three different aperture values as outlined in the assignment on page 3.  Personally, my recommendation is to follow their suggestion and do it outside.  I found it helpful to have a little bit of distance between me and the object I was photographing -- I would guess I used the distance of 6 - 9 feet.  If you have any questions about the assignment or aperture, let me know.  I may or may not know the answer, but I can try to find out what I don't know or we can ask Vanessa.  :-)
3. Post your results on the group FB page!  When posting your results, please provide ISO, shutter speed, aperture value and what camera/lens you used to take the photo in the description or comments section of the photo.  This information is found in the EFIX or meta data stored in every digital photo.  If you don't know how to find this information in the EFIX of the photo, let me know and I'll walk you thorough it.
4. Lastly, please follow the links to view this short video.  I think it goes along with the lesson pretty well and can provide further understanding. Adorama Digital Photography One-on-One: Understanding Aperture Values

• Extra Credit:  If you are so inclined, view this link, too:  It covers Depth of Field, which we will talk about further down the road, but it complements this lesson.  Adorama Digital Photography One-on-One: Depth of Field.

Good luck and I can't wait to see your photos.  

Melissa