My Photo School - Online Photo Course Week 1

I've been taking part in a My Photo School Photography course for a week now, and have submitted my first assignment. Here's how I got on.

Each week throughout the 4 week course, there is a new topic for you to take part in. This week's topic was Lenses, Apertures and Depth of Field. There was a 20 minute tutorial video to watch, in which the tutor, Sue Bishop, talks us through how different lenses, apertures and depth of field can effect the over all photo. She shows some of her own stunning images, and explains how she took them and what makes them stand out. She is keen that your images are unique and different to the norm, especially in heavily photographed locations.



Underneath the tutorial video window is the assignment brief, where it is explained exactly what you need to do for this week's task. It is clear and easy to follow. This week, my task was to go out and practise taking landscape photos with wide angle and telephoto lenses, and to experiment with depth of field to learn how this effects an image. You can also use compact and bridge cameras for this by zooming them fully out for the wide angle shots and zooming them in for the telephoto tasks. Most now have some degree of aperture control too. I use a Canon Powershot G12 for most of my images. Sometimes I borrow an Olympus E-30 but I'm still getting used to using that effectively.

What's great about this course is that you can do all the tasks under your own steam when you have time over the week, as long as you submit them within 10 days. I watched the tutorial video early in the week and spent the rest of the time getting out when I could to take some photos.

I had to submit three photos this week, one using a telephoto lens, one using a wide angle lens and one demonstrating depth of field. It's really easy to upload photos, you simply type in a name and the details of your shot, then click browse to choose your image. Click the red 'submit' button, and you're all done!



In next week's entry, I'll fill you in on my feedback from this week as well as letting you know how I got on with week 2's task.