Digital Photography II with E.K. Waller

This 5-week, 3-hour class is a continuation of Beginning Digital Photography I.  This class is for those students who have a basic understanding of their camera and it’s functions, but are looking for more challenging photographic situations to build a deeper understanding of the fundamentals of photography.  Students will work with shaping and controlling natural light more effectively, will learn on-camera flash and fill card techniques, and will focus on composition and content of the photograph. 

We delve deeper into photography, artistically and technically, first by shooting Portraits, with available light and with fill light, paying attention to the quality of light, and to environmental aspects.

We then explore the nuance of shooting Night Photography, both realistically and creatively with motion blur and abstract techniques, as well as shooting scenes that look like daylight, with a twist. 

Both the Photo I class, and this Photo II class have been leading up to producing the great photograph: Pictures That Tell A Story, which is the basis of all great photography.  This is our third assignment and challenge!  We will discuss picture content and how you can build a great photo, or confuse the viewer with too much information. 

The last assignment is concerned with technical aspects of using On-Camera Flash.   We will explore mixing flash with ambient light, combining frozen action with blurred movement, filling the shadow areas using a fill card, and direction of light.   

 Composition and light are emphasized throughout the class along with a focus on subject and meaning. The objective of these sessions is to learn to think photographically, in an artistic framework. Samples of each assignment will be shown and student’s assignments will be critiqued in class.

Requirements:  A 35mm camera with manual capabilities and focus is required!  You must be able to remove the lens and attach other lenses, set the f stop and shutter speed, independently, and be able to focus manually. Without these features, you won’t be able to control depth of field, create action effects or get the full use of your camera.  Bring camera (and instruction book, if you have it) to first meeting.  It is encouraged that you read your instruction book for your camera.

Digital shooters will need a computer to view and edit your files.  You will shoot jpeg file format (no raw files), edit them and copy to a thumb drive to bring to class for critique. 

Film cameras will have the lab scan your film to jpeg format when you process your film.  You then need to edit them and submit on a thumb drive for critique.

This class is limited to 15 students.


E.K. Waller has a passion for photography which spans decades of shooting for advertising and editorial clients.  She specializes in the intricacies of food, product and people photography and has infinite patience for arranging the perfect composition, lighting and camera angle.  To balance that, she loves to focus on capturing the essence of a person in a portrait, and also loves to scout and wait for the “decisive moment” in her fine art “street photography”.  E.K. has taught photography and photoshop at Santa Monica College since 2004.  She has an extensive background shooting with large format cameras (4x5 and 8x10), digital backs on medium format cameras, and small format (35mm) film and digital cameras.

Registration
Pre-registration is required for this class or workshop. Please call 323-938-2420 and speak to the receptionist for registration. (Online registration is not available at this time.) You will receive an email confirmation within the week before the class. Please call or email us at edu@samys.com if you have any questions regarding this class.

Refunds & Cancellations
Enrollment is limited, therefore your commitment is important to us. If you must withdraw from a workshop, we provide this refund policy: A $25 administrative fee will be charged on all cancellations. If you cancel 24-72 hours prior to the start of the workshop, we will retain 50% of the total workshop fee, unless we are able to fill your spot. If you cancel 24 hours or less prior to the start date of the workshop, we will retain 100% of the workshop fee unless we are able to fill your spot. No refunds are given once the workshop begins.

If you miss 1 - 2 classes of a workshop, you may sit in on those missed classes during the next session as long as space permits.

On occasion we may cancel a class because of low enrollment and/or unforeseen professional conflict on the part of the instructor. Should this be the case, al monies will be refunded in full. We do not take responsibility for non-refundable airline tickets, so please buy a refundable ticket if you are coming from outside of Los Angeles.