My Kit

Nikon D80
Sigma 18-50mm F/3.5-5.6 DC
Nikkor 28-105mm F/3.5-4.5D IF Macro
Sigma 70-300mm F/4-5.6 APO Super Macro II
Sigma 58mm DG UV Filter
Hoya 58mm / 62mm HMC UV Filters
Sandisk Extreme III 1GB/2GB SD Memory Cards
Nikon Coolpix S200
Velbon Delta Tripod (but soon to inherit my Dad's old Manfrotto which has much more options positioning wise for photography)
Kowa TS-501 (just a baby I got to supplement my bins, but will probably upgrade once I'm more au fait on the old digiscoping)

Course Overview

For those of you who don't already know what I'm going to be up to :

The course is designed to be studied over a ten-week period, with approximately ten hours of study each week. There are two pieces of work that must be submitted during the course, however, to get the most out of the course we advise that you also take part in the weekly photo assignments (not assessed), and if you miss a week, that you are able to find time to catch up (for example, spend 20 hours the following week).

The course is a creative mix of practice, learning, sharing and reflection:

• Practice: each week you do a practical photographic activity that broadens and strengthens your photographic experience. Together these activities form the basis of your portfolio that you’ll draw upon for your end-of-course assessment.

• Learning: each week you learn about different aspects of photographic techniques, as well as relevant aspects of the technology behind digital photography.

• Sharing and reflection: each week you share your work within the T189 online community of photographers. You’ll steadily develop your ability to reflect upon your own and others’ work, and to write about your increasing visual awareness.

The course will:

• teach you the key principles of capturing digital images and manipulating these with Photoshop Elements (version 5, for PC)

• equip you with basic skills to navigate technological developments in digital photography

• teach you how to critically evaluate your own and others’ work in the spirit of continuous technical and artistic improvement

• encourage you to experiment with the principles of digital photography and imaging as part of a supportive online community

• help you to develop a portfolio to be proud of.

Software

The image editing software is Adobe Photoshop Elements (version 5 for PC), which will be provided (and is yours to keep after the course has finished), and by the end of the course you’ll have a good grasp of it. (There is no requirement to use this particular software if you already use an alternative photo-editing package).

You will learn

The course will introduce the full range of basic aspects of digital photography including:

• ‘ways of seeing’ and the elements of composition

• the basic principles of capturing light information digitally (e.g. sensors, memory, file types)

• the digital workflow (capture, organise, edit and share)

• how to control exposure

• how to control focus and Depth of Field

• digital colour management – an introduction

• how to print and project your images

• how to technically and creatively improve your own or others’ images using Photoshop Elements.

Just under a month to go

Well, here we are, the course is going to start soon. I'm really psyched up for it and ready to get cracking. I can't wait for my pictures to start improving, particularly the photoshop side of things which I've barely touched on.

At present I'm a shoot first, ask questions later kind of person. I'm always seeing things I want to photograph, especially when it's totally inappropriate!! (Like I'm in the middle of an important conference call).
I'm hoping to put more thought into the picture beforehand. Currently it's point and shoot, look at results, change some settings, shoot, see results, lather, rinse, repeat and still never actually come out with the photo I want.
I particularly want to improve my ability to judge exposure before taking the first shot - not that important with digital you might think, but as my favourite type of photography is nature, and more specifically birds and insects, getting a good shot quickly is key.

I'm posting what I think is the best photo I have ever taken. The reason for this is to have some tangible measure of my progress, and also to show the original as I'm hoping to improve it further once I'm up and running on Photoshop.