Wednesday, March 14, 2012

The Fun of Photography

NikonI recently bought a new camera at Wolf Camera (Greenville, SC) and I am ecstatic! (This is not an ad for Wolf Camera and I’m not being paid for this!) I bought a Nikon D3100 DSLR camera. At first we priced them at Wolf Camera and Best Buy but the better buy was at Wolf Camera which surprised me. At Wolf Camera, included in the price was a telephoto lens but this was not included with the camera at Best Buy. Also included with the camera and lens were 4 free photography classes. I love my new camera!

I really enjoyed the classes that Wolf Camera offers because I have learned so much from actually seeing and doing with a real person. In fact, the instructor said that these classes were free for customers and I could return as many times as I wanted to them. There are 4 classes that are repeated over and over. Even adults sometimes need to hear the same things over and over before it sinks in, especially when there is so much information to learn.

Wow! The customer service that is offered here is phenomenal. Whenever I have a question about getting my camera to do what I want, there is always someone there willing to answer my question. I have never gotten any camera from Wolf Camera before but I can promise you that it will definitely be the place I go for my camera needs. Again, this is a great example of how customer service can really make a difference in a business! This would be another great lesson for the classroom!

I have some hiking and camping trips coming up and I can’t wait to use my camera to take many photos. Instead of a camera bag, I bought a diaper bag to hold my camera. There are plenty of pockets and I’m hoping that someone seeing it in my car might not want to risk breaking in a car for a diaper bag where they might for a camera bag.

I am doing the Photo A Day Project again where I take pictures each day and choose one for the photo of the day. I am also using assignments given by Today’s Posting and I really like how these assignments are helping me learn about my camera and about taking photos. I am learning to look at things differently and from different perspectives. This would be great lessons for the classroom. The lesson could be short and to the point but I believe students would learn a lot. Maybe instead of a photo a day, there could be a photo a week and students could share their best photo for the week.

Students could also use photography for projects and this would be a great way to assess their learning. Students who have trouble writing would be able to take photos to get their points across. Then they could explain the connection between their photo and the information they feel is important. Students might even find out that they have a knack for photography!

It seems like the more I practice and the more I learn, the more fun photography is!

Do you take a lot of photos? Do you use them or photography in class? What kind of projects would be great to do in a classroom? Please share!

2 comments:

diane said...

Since you asked... Here is a Pinterest board I created for a friend who has a HS photography class http://pinterest.com/dmcordell/photography-projects/

I also have some resources on this wiki http://usingdigitalimages.wikispaces.com/ and have done a few SlideShares on the topic http://www.slideshare.net/diane

Often I Skype with photography clubs, if you want/need someone to interact with students.

Photography is a wonderful, lifelong passion!

Heather Loy said...

Pat I know you'll absolutely love your Nikon and look forward to seeing your fabulous new photos. BTW, I've already been enjoying your flickr photostream from your many travels!

I have always had an interest in photography. I took a wonderful class at Midlands Technical College last summer and immediately after the class bought a Nikon D5000 (I used a borrowed Nikon D300 for the class). People ask me why I took the class and I said I wanted to KNOW what all the buttons and wheels on the camera do and how to take a photo w/o using the auto buttons! I've taken three classes from Midlands Tech and plan to take their intensive certificate course this summer!

We have another teacher at my school who is a professional photographer. He and I have talked about offering a photography club in the near future!