Digital Photography for Beginners – Lesson Two

Could Try Harder!

I approached last week’s class with some trepidation, a little worried that my efforts with the alphabet project would earn me little more than a ’could do better’… I was right!  I had fulfilled the brief, but clearly it was quantity as well as quality that was required.  Ok, so I admit my shots weren’t particularly creative either, lol, but in my defence it was a very busy week.  Anyway, above we have a capital T (just in case anyone was in any doubt!) and I did also manage a capital N, I, O and X.

So the first half of the class was spent reviewing each other’s photographs.  Kathy and Juanita (2 of my classmates) in particular, had produced some beautiful examples of letters formed in bark, with branches of trees and wrought-iron work, to name but a few.  The exercise did exactly what was intended, to open our eyes and to start ‘seeing things’!

The second hour looked at composition, in particular of groups of people; balancing light, height, colour of hair and clothes etc.  Each of us had to practice setting up shots of the others, both formal and informal, again which we reviewed, and then Carole gave us some tips: such as looking for an upside down V shape for groups of 3 (as demonstrated by one of Juanita’s photos of myself, Angela and Kath below) or perhaps a diamond shape for groups of 4.

Our homework then was to take group shots of 2, 3 and 4 people, using what we had learnt during the lesson, to review at next week’s class.  This week I have a plan!

Look out for my next blog post to find out how I get on!

If you want to find out more about Carole Niven’s photographic classes, visit her website.