What I Wish I Learned My First Day in Photography and Video Class (Ages 15 - 18)

This class will be focused primarily on DSLR cameras, mirrorless cameras, and basically cameras with interchangeable lenses, meaning a camera where you can attach and detach different lenses.  Some of the methods I’ll teach can be used with cameras on phones, tablets, pocket cams, and camcorders as well.  I’ll discuss the importance of switching their cameras over into manual mode and how that can best serve them.  We’ll dive in heavily on the aperture, ISO, and shutter speed, what these three settings are, how they work, and why they’re so important to taking awesome photos and videos.  

I’ll also focus, pun intended, on lenses, how they work and how to choose the right one, or ones, for the job.  We’ll also discuss some basic camera terminology, different types of software available for editing photos and videos, and share some tricks and tips that will help students build confidence in their photography and videography skills. 

Besides just talking about the camera and settings I show the class where they are on my camera and how to adjust them before helping them find and explore the settings on their cameras.  I’ll also show examples of some of my videos and photos so they can get a clear understanding of how the settings mentioned above work.  There will also be a couple of cheat sheets that I’ll provide for them, little reminders of what we’ve gone over, that they can save to their phones or print out to carry with them so if they’re out and about taking insanely cool photographs or amazing videos and need a little help they’ll have it.

I use my DSLR to shoot videos as much as I do photos and almost everything that I go over will be interchangeable between the worlds of photography and videography.