Stanford released a photography course, CS 178 - Digital Photography, free to the public. This is a great introduction, detailing both the science and the art of digital photography. Throughout the course there are assignments designed to challenge technical aptitude, artistic style and deliberate composition.
Assignment 1: Bad Photos
Assignment 1: Bad Photos
Modern cameras are extremely effective at handling the technical aspects of photography, automatically detecting ISO, shutter speed, aperture size and white balance. Although extremely useful, this doesn't always fit with an artistic goal. The objective of this assignment is to take 'bad' photos - achieving things auto-mode attempts to avoid. There are 5 requirements to meet, which can be achieved together in a single photograph or across several. Requirements should be satisfied by changing camera settings - rather than manipulating in post, which can still be used to enhance photographs.
• Requirement 1: under/over exposure
• Requirement 2: blurred motion
• Requirement 3: out of focus
• Requirement 4: incorrect white balance
• Requirement 5: broken composition rules
• Requirement 2: blurred motion
• Requirement 3: out of focus
• Requirement 4: incorrect white balance
• Requirement 5: broken composition rules
Requirement 1: Over Exposure (Lisbon, Portugal, 2019)
Requirement 2: Blurred Motion (London, United Kingdom, 2019)
Requirements 3 and 4: Out of focus, Incorrect White Balance (London, United Kingdom, 2019)
Requirement 5: Broken composition rules (Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2019)
Assignment 2: Sports & Action
Capturing a moving subject is one of the most common problems to tackle as a photographer. The first thing to consider is shutter speed, which must be quick enough to stop blur. A quicker shutter speed means there will be less time for light to hit the sensor, making images darker. A higher ISO rating (the sensor's sensitivity to light) will counter this, but also produces a noisier image. Another counter is a larger aperture, which allows more light to reach the sensor in a fixed time. This assignment has 4 requirements to meet and can again be combined within a single photograph.
• Requirement 1: frozen action
• Requirement 2: blurred foreground, sharp subject
• Requirement 3: blurred background, sharp subject
• Requirement 4: show action with a burst (side by side or combined)
• Requirement 2: blurred foreground, sharp subject
• Requirement 3: blurred background, sharp subject
• Requirement 4: show action with a burst (side by side or combined)
Update coming soon!