What did we learn today?

Last week welearned to:

• Turn on the camera
• Load batteries and memory cards
• Frame a pictures
• Adjust the camera for flash and for various kinds of pictures (portrait, landscape, close-ups, etc.)
• Take pictures
• Review Pictures on the camera
• Delete unwanted photos

Today we reviewed the following:

• Framing a shot by hand and by camera LCD panel
• Using the shutter half way down (for focus, balance, and speed)
• Things to avoid (including cluttered pictures, distracting backgrounds--remember the pole coming out of the top of the head?--red eyes, off kilter pictures, pictures out of focus, bad composition --remember the empty space over the heads of the group shot?--poor lighting, using or NOT using flash, the law of thirds....
• Downloading pictures using the USB cord and the Windows Camera Wizard
• Organizing pictures in a folder
• Using the computer to play a "slide-show" to family and friends

Next week (Monday, October 2) we will cover repairing salvagable pictures. We will be using Picasa, a free photo editor from Google, to rotate, adjust colors, crop, and resize images. Students in the Creative Explorers will be invited to "check-out" one of our digital cameras to take home and use in taking personalized pictures (and not just school photos). Return them the next day to download your pictures. We will also play with the "self-timer" feature to take our own picture of ourselves. If time permits, we will explore Flickr, Bubbleshare, and other online phote sites.