Mitchell’s Beginners’ Digital Photography Workshop will teach you how to use your camera and understand its functions, which are the keys to capturing photographs that will last a lifetime. If you have a camera, love to take pictures, and would like to understand all the tools it has to offer, or if you are unclear about the various functions and programs, F-stops, shutter speeds, when to use which settings, and how to process your files, this two-day intensive workshop is for you.
We will not only clarify all the mysterious buttons and options on your camera, but you will learn how to see creatively and answer the question, “why don’t my pictures look like that?!” You will learn the time-honored rules of composition, lighting, and space, and then apply those rules through assignments during the workshop. We will also talk about vision, and how to “see” photographically. What makes a good photograph? You will, by the end of the workshop, know how to not just “take pictures” but “create images.”
Our next weekend workshop will be held on October 11th and 12th, and costs 880 RMB, 800 RMB for members.
Technical topics covered:
- Camera buttons, dials and key menus
- The Photographic Trinity: ISO, shutter speed and aperture
- Autofocus options
- Metering and Exposure
- Exposure Modes: From Auto to Manual
- Lens choices
- Iphone/Android apps to help your photography
Creative topics covered:
- Light-Available/Natural, Golden, Artificial
- Foreground and Background
- Rule of Thirds
- Point of View
- Leading Lines
- Natural Frames
Workshop Timetable:
Day 1-Morning Session (9:30am-noon)
- Introduction to the course
- Technical topics covered
Day 1-Afternoon Session (1:30-5)
- Finishing up anything missed in the morning session/more shooting
- Creative topics covered
- Homework Assignments and Questions
- Optional group shoot around the hutongs
Day 2-Morning Session (decided by class)
Meet at a predetermined location choice of the participants to shoot
Day 2-Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm)
- Basic workflow and editing techniques using Lightroom
- Final Critique / Questions / Feedback
Photo Equipment
Additional gear is helpful, but not required, a famous photographer once said, “Gear is good, Vision is better.”
A camera manual is required since the instructor cannot know the details of every make and model camera out there in order to troubleshoot technical problems. If participants don’t have manuals (or they are in Chinese), you should be able to download one from the manufactures’ website.
Participants are encouraged to bring their own laptops, it is understood that some will not have one, but it will speed up class time if those that do have it can edit, view, and work on their own images. A minimum of a flash or hard drive will be required to get images off the instructor’s computer after editing and viewing.
Adobe Lightroom is optional, but will be used and demonstrated during the workshop for basic workflow and editing. You can visit https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/tdrc/index.cfm?product=photoshop_lightroom and download a 30 day free trial.
Mitchell Masilun
His stills and videos are published globally, with a client list encompassing Fortune 500 companies, embassies, stock libraries, network news stations, international schools and NGOs. His images have also been published in four books and he is currently working on a documentary on Kashgar’s Old City and The Sounds of Beijing.
Previously, he was a photojournalist working in the Chicagoland and Central Ohio areas, with images circulated nationwide through the Associated Press, The Chicago Tribune, and The Atlanta-Journal Constitution. Mitchell is proficient in Chinese and travels extensively around China and Asia.
For more images from the instructor, please go to www.1world1eye.com
For any questions regarding the content of the workshop, please contact Mitchell at 1world1eye (at) gmail.com
