WELCOME!

At Mount Douglas, we offer a photography club for any student that wishes to participate no matter what her/his photography experience may be. Everyone is welcome. No experience or camera is necessary. It's a basic opportunity to learn a bit about photography, have fun and take images. 

So if you want to learn more way about photography things, sign up for an actual photography course where you'll be able to explore & learn way more about photography. 

Therefore, note we currently offer three photography courses (Photography 10 & 11 (an introduction to photography) and Photography 12 (a continuation on more advanced topics)). Go to those sites to learn more about what they can offer you!

Photo Club!

What does it take to join the club? Nothing but an interest in photography is all. Everyone is welcome. Bring your lunch and come check it out. Having a camera is not required. 

    when & where:  

    why:  Because photography is awesomesause. 

    who:  Anyone who’s just a little or a little too much into photography.

    how: It’s run/guided by the club and what they want. I do what you want! 

Scroll down, as there are some terrific photography related links to check out! 

Of course, ensure you thoroughly visit the relevant/similar Photography 11 links too! 

Photography TIPS

1. Sign up to receive updates on Joe McNally’s blog. It’s totally motivational and he has great ideas on lighting. Chase Jarvis’ blog is great too. They’re both FREE!

2. Shoot. Shoot some more. Post your favs. I will too. You can’t get good images without taking shots in the first place. Explore. Shoot. Get frustrated. Figure it out. Try different things. Have fun. Discover. It’s all about learning.

3. Fill your frame with your subject, make it obvious what you are shooting. Also, it is also good to make it challenging for the viewer to figure out what it is. This is called having staying power in the image. It makes your viewer look longer at your image.

4. Don’t put your object bang in the middle... unless it really does look best. Centre is boring. Usually. 

5. Get down to their level, change perspective, stand (carefully) on a chair - move. Take a shot from a perspective that hasn’t been tried before - it makes things interesting. 

6. Don’t say the “s” word (aka “smile”) AND candid shots are really great. People don’t have to always smile in shots. Natural shots can be awesome. Get your subject to be comfortable with you. Use jokes. Funny ones. Not like mine. But more importantly Talk. Communicate, Chat. Build a connection... explain the shot you are looking for. 

7. Use the rule of thirds across the image - like the lines used in tick tack toe. And then break rules. Put key points where the lines cross. Photography is based off paintings.

8. Don’t cut off hands or feet - it’s awkward. They could be holding a gun or a lollypop, or worse, both. Why so serious? 

9. Play with lighting. Try different things... like window lighting... use of lamps... using flash off the camera will most likely result in harsh, straight on flash which almost always sucks. Play. Use slowsync or the night flash easy function (it’s the same thing). 

10. If taking nature shots, place something in the picture that gives perspective (a tree, car, telephone pole, person). It helps to have something of reference that the viewer can use to figure out the magnitude of the scene.  

11. Play with aperture to isolate the key subject. Small no’s - small depth of field... and vice versa. Sit on your couch. Shoot items close to you with space behind them. Shoot at different apertures. Learn your camera.  

12. Learn your camera. I forgot the importance of this one. I should have said this first. You must learn what the buttons do. 

13. Have fun. Shoot what you are interested in. Find interesting TEXTURE. Use COLOUR. Find PATTERNS. Look at the LIGHTING. Use LINES and THREE interesting POINTS to create a TRIANGLE in the image. Look for BALANCE. Try SYMMETRY. Evoke EMOTION. 

14. Have fresh batteries... hopefully rechargeable ones! Limit your environmental footprint.  

15. Check out the links below to come up with ideas? Still life, portraits, colour themes... pets, food, snow, anything... potatoes and gravy (my favourite), the salt and pepper shaker, an ornament...

16. Hold your camera steady - elbows in, gently squeeze. Blurred shots still? Increase the ISO setting so you can have faster shutter speeds. Keep the ISO as low as possible however (as it produces more grain) so to have the cleanest images. Use a tripod. 

17. Look around you... make something mundane interesting. 

18. Use the macro mode... small point and shoots are great for that. Explore the detail in the small.

19. Take your camera everywhere. Make a goal of shooting 36 things a day... one roll of film... That’s pretty ambitious. Don’t worry about them being good or bad... just play. 

20. Critique your images. But take it easy. I read one time that over 900 rolls were shot for just one National Geographic assignment. Insane! Published pictures are professionally printed and adjusted (or manipulated) to get the most out of an image. Focus on learning, not comparing. 

21. Visit the links below and learn. Get ideas. Some of the greatest shots were preconceived beforehand. Learning never stops. I can’t understate this one... the far majority of many great shots were thought of before the shutter was pressed. 

22. Shoot friends, family, document your life and of the important things. Basically, have an open attitude to learn, to grow, to accept constructive criticism, to want to improve, to learn from others, to embrace mistakes and to challenge yourself to see the world differently. We are all still learning. I know I sure am. 

23. TECHNICAL. Ya gott’a know it. The last thing you want to be doing in the “field” is struggling to get the picture you want b/c you can’t figure out yer camera.

24. Got one of yer own? Send me it!