Welcome to Photo 400
Beginning Digital Photography
Spring 2010
(course codes:
22410 and 22412)
Instructor Betty Sederquist has published her photos in books, magazines, brochures and many other publications for more than 30 years. She has been teaching photography at Folsom Lake College (formerly a part of Cosumnes River College) off and on since 1989. She leads photo tours to Alaska and Ecuador (Amazon/Galapagos) and will be leading trips to Africa and Alaska in the summer of 2011. She also teaches private workshops. Although she has been using Adobe Photoshop for more than 16 years, she finally went nearly all-digital with her photography in 2003 and has hardly looked back.
Order some GREAT hand-picked books about photography at substantial discounts from amazon.com. (And yes, Betty gets a small commission.) Lots of good references here.
Looking for a great digital SLR? Here are some favorite cameras.
Above: Capturing that special moment takes lots of work and some luck. This Native American dancer was dancing for his family and friends in the village of Kake, Alaska. Post processing in Photoshop took care of the distracting background.
The perfect bicycling shoes, photographed in Seattle. The red was added later.
Here are some handouts that were the beginnings for the an early outdoor photography class manual, Outdoor Photography, One Road to Better Images. The book is now out of print and precedes the digital age, but there are lots of good ideas here anyway.
- Camera (definition)
- Equipment and other camera basics
- Bracing your camera for sharper images
- Exposure: depth of field and shutter speed
- Glossary
- Lenses basics
- Film basics
- Filter Basics
- Landscapes: some philosophies and techniques from great photographers
- Portraiture
- Flash
- Flower and Close-Up Photography
- Night and Low Light Photography
- Wildlife Photography
- Some Slide Show Tips
- Publishing Your Photographs
Here are some links to all kinds of photography web sites you might enjoy. Originally developed for this class several years ago, this huge page has gained world-wide attention on the Web. Much information is here, from mini-courses and sources of supplies and equipment to workshops and portfolios.
For digital photographers, here are many important resources and fun ideas!
The following files are .pdf files, which means they retain their original design format. You must have a free program called Acrobat reader to view these files. You can download the program from Adobe.com. You then install the program as a plug-in in your web browser folder.
Photo Log form for keeping track of f-stops and shutter speeds for those who are working with film (digital cameras do this automatically).
Here's a .gif version of the same thing. Quality isn't as high and sizing may be different from the class handout, but at least you can quickly print it out without having to use Acrobat Reader.
