mleemcc

Hi! I’m a hs art teacher and painter. I started a photo club this year even though I had no idea about photography. I was blown away by the photos the kids showed me, mostly freshmen. This is probably because they have been taking pix forever on their phones. They just showed a lot of personality and a natural ability to compose a pix. I have no idea if they are technically any good. So here’s why I’m here. Where do I begin to learn so I can offer something to my students other than transferable painting skills -composition, color, value, etc. I don’t know how to use the DSLR I purchased other than automatic l settings. A book, videos or just a skill to focus on first would be great advice! Looking forward to learning from you all! Lee

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

Practice so you understand your camera. Search on line for subjects you want to learn. YouTube has many subjects to help you.
Welcome to the forum. Read and Reread that instruction booklet. Ask questions here.

RichardTaylor Loc: Sydney, Australia

Welcome to the forums.

For technical basics the book "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson is very helpful.

Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.

You can teach the kids a lot about painting. Photography?... You need a crash course on the triangle of exposure. Most of the fun of photography is learning about a cameras different settings and what they can do to a photograph. Since your already a painter, you should know about composition. Good luck.

ELNikkor

foundations of exposure will be helpful for you and your students

westitzer Loc: Central California coastal area

Train the eye to see what makes a good photo. You have that experience from your art lessons. They need to see the whole picture, not just the subject. Build an image that leads to the subject. An play with the camera. It's the only way to get to know it.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

Easy. Take hold of camera, bring up to eye and shoot everything. Pixels are free.

Alsweet Loc: Gold Coast, Australia

You are a teacher. Therefore you should believe that education is never wasted! Find a good photography course and enrol in it! This will, in just a few weeks, teach you the fundamentals of light, exposure, optics, composition and camera controls. This, in addition to all the advice given above!

LarryFitz Loc: Beacon NY

I would not use a dslr in your case. I would use equipment similar to what the students have. Find out what setting they have available on their phones. Also check what the year book club use. Keep it reliant too the students.

dragonking Loc: North Yorkshire, UK

Assuming you bought a new camera you should have a camera manual. Sometimes it's a an introduction manual.
Some manufacturers have the full manual to download from their website.
Read the manual but also buy a book or find a website which not only talks about composition but explains what all the controls are for and how to use them.
Understanding of exposure is essential see other posts and there are many websites including Youtube which cover this.
The most important thing though is use your camera to put all you have learnt into practice.
You don't have to do it all at once.
Read about a subject and use it on your camera.
The old saying "Practice makes perfect" is right here.
Alsweet is correct, find a local club so you can speak to experienced photographers.
Don't forget you can also ask questions here, there are plenty of members only too willing to help.

CO

As was already mentioned, learn about the exposure triangle - shutter speed, aperture, ISO settings. Bryan Peterson's book: "Understanding Exposure" is a great one to get. For flash photography purchase his book: "Understanding Flash Photography".

One thing to look at right away is the aperture. All lenses have a sweet spot range where they're the sharpest. If the aperture is stopped down a lot, diffraction can start to soften fine detail. I downloaded this chart from LensTip.com. This is the chart from their image resolution testing of the Nikon 50mm f/1.8G. The horizontal scale is the aperture from f/1.0 to f/32. The vertical scale is line pairs per millimeter. You can that this lens has its best resolution in the f/4 to f/8 range. The aperture settings are one of the things that determines the depth of field along with the focal length of the lens and the camera to subject distance.

Cambridge in Colour has excellent tutorials online. Take a look at the different tutorials they have at this link:

https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials.htm

Most lenses are not the best at their maximum aperture settings. This lens is its best in the f/4 to f/8 range.

Largobob

Although there have been a number of good suggestions given....everyone has missed the most valuable resource. YOUR STUDENTS!

Show interest in their efforts. Ask them to explain what they did and WHY. Have an informal photo contest....let the group make a list of the attributes that made the better images more appealing. Have them teach you! You don't have to be the "sage on the stage."...... I am a retired educator (engineering, chemistry, physics). Over the years, I learned more from my students than I ever taught them. We learned together.

bpulv Loc: Buena Park, CA

I will assume that you have or will acquire a DSLR for yourself to learn on. First, read your camera's manual with the camera in front of you. Try every control and function as you read. Next, the Bryan Peterson book that was previously mentioned is a good primmer. Although you will be tempted, do not use the automatic modes on your camera if you want to learn about exposure. Shoot everything in manual mode until you fully understand the exposure triangle and are comfortable setting your camera. After that, you can use the auto modes, but concentrate on doing things manually until you master the control of exposure, depth of field, capturing motion, adjusting ISO (light sensitivity adjustment of your camera's sensor) and the basics.

I would also suggest that you set the camera in the black and white mode and experiment with controlling the contrast in normal situations and in special situations such as photographing a white object on a white background and a black background. Note how their is detail in almost the blackest areas that can be brought out and similar detail in white areas that can be emphasized without allowing the whitest white tones to become grey. When you understand grey scale reproduction, you should move on to color. This is a throwback to film, but it will help you master the concepts of proper exposure.

One other thing I would suggest. Learn some of the basics about editing digital photographs. It will allow you and your students to apply their artistic talent both when they take photographs and while working with them afterwords. Let us know how it works out.

I also agree that a digital photography course is in order either in a classroom or on line environment. Maybe other UHH members can suggest specific on line courses.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

There are good sources and not so good sources to find what you are looking for. If you learn by trying things, switch the camera to manual and start experimenting with shutter speed and aperture starting at ISO 100, trying to keep your exposure indicator either on the back of the camera, or in the viewfinder, at the center position. Then increase the ISO to 400, and do the same things you did at ISO 100. Then increase the ISO to 1600, and repeat.

You'll quickly realize that adjusting the camera's sensitivity to light (raising the ISO), will let you shoot with smaller apertures (the larger the number the smaller the opening), and/or faster shutter speeds, and in lower light.

That is the essence of Understanding exposure. There are many, many subtleties and nuances to this, but this is the core foundation.

You'll notice something else - as you make the aperture smaller, you will have more front to back regions that will be in focus. When you use the lens at it's largest aperture (smallest number) your region of focus will be very shallow.

The place I would suggest to get a more immersive experience is a local photo club. You'll find many people at your level, others that have been photographers for years and are there sharing their knowledge and experience, and many clubs offer mentoring. They also organize outings, and conduct photo competitions - all of which contribute to the total enjoyment of photography.

This is the camera part.

The other part of photography is what you do with the image once you've taken it. Post processing can be a very big part of the experience. Cameras have limitations, and post processing can make up for some of them. Learning how to be self-critical when you look at an image - being able to understand it's strengths and weaknesses, is something that will come in time. Accepting that an image is ok straight out of the camera is accepting, in many cases, a image that is just "ok". Nearly every image I have seen that has come straight out of the camera leaves me underwhelmed and thinking how much better it could be made with a little TLC.

The photo club idea will be an amazing resource for you.

Good Luck!

anotherview Loc: California

Overall, learn composition and exposure along with the importance of subject.

This approach dovetails with your painter skills. You know composition already, and its practice here differs not from painting.

Understanding the Exposure Triangle will familiarize you with the camera settings for gaining a correct exposure.

You also already know the value of selecting an interesting subject.

A photographer then needs only to practice the taking of pictures while learning from his mistakes and successes. In time, discipline, skill, and experience may culminate in the photographer producing worthy photographs.

Finally, the craft of photography may rise to art in the right hands