Syllabus

• Everything there is to know about the class, the rules and regulations, grading, etc. regarding this course.
  

Projects

• Cutting & Protecting Vivitar 285HV Gels
  Get perfectly sized photography color correction gels for a Vivitar 285HV and learn a fairly cheap and convenient way to protect them.
  
• Confessions from a top selling photographer
  A set of eight secrets from top selling photographer Yuri Arcurs. Some new stuff in there. I always recommend knowing the rules (thirds, negative space, contrast) before breaking them. Some good stuff in there.
  
• Wi-Fi SD Card Photo Uploader
  This sounds like a sweet idea. An 2GB SD card that also automatically uploads your photos to either your computer or your favorite photo service (like my favorite FLICKR). Not too expensive either at $99. An CompactFlash adapter available soon (thank goodness) for those of us with a larger camera. I need one NOW!!!
  
• More Light Photography Video
  More sweet light writing demos from LichtFaktor, check out the masters at work, try it and have some fun.
  
• Differentiate
  You know what they say...to be special, you've got to find a niche. Well, this guy shoots eerie photos of people jumping inside bedsheets to give them a ghostly look. Just in time for halloween...I guess.
  
• Protest the hero
  This guy recently featured on strobist.com has got a nice little video that goes over stuff he does at his shoots. I liked the tips on grunging up your models with corn syrup/food coloring and sunflower oil. He even does makeup.
  
• Rules of Portraiture Photography
  These are really good rules of portraiture that may apply somewhat to model photography as well.
  
• 100 photographic tips
  Digital Photography School has a list of 100 photographic tips. Surprisingly short, some good stuff in there.
  
• Five Skills of Great Photographers
  Understanding how to get a correct exposure is just the tip of the iceberg. To capture great images, you need to learn to master these five skills.
  
• Twelve essential photographic rules
  I've talked about the sunny 16 rule and Danielle mentioned the camera shake rule. Here's some additional photographic rules that will be pretty handy in the field.
  

• Painting with Light
  One of my students just hooked me up with a link to this article which deals with how to get neat effects with long exposures even on cheaper camera models/flashes. Great stuff.
  
• Slow Sync
  An excellent technique for capturing motion. Slow sync combines a slow shutter speed with your camera's flash for some dynamic shots. DPS (Digital Photography School) has an article with some excellent examples and a link to the how to for the technique.
  
• Lighting setups for model photography
  A site with some visual descriptions of lighting setups for model photography. Sometimes seeing is better than hearing or reading.
  
• Great tips for a self portrait
  Since you have a self portrait assignment, here's some tips on what you can do to get good focus on a shallow depth of field. Always focus on the eyes, control your enviroment by adding a background, etc. Read on.
  
• How to capture good blur in motion photography
  One of the assignments in my digital photography class this semester is to capture motion. Here's a few tips on how to do that effectively. The keys are: anchor your camera, adjust for a slow shutter speed, a remote or timer can be useful to prevent camera shake at the beginning of your shots.
  
• Prime vs. Zoom Lenses
  A good article detailing the differences between a prime and a zoom lens. I agree with the author on a lot of things. If you're getting started, a 50mm prime lens forces you to think about framing your subjects carefully and gives you a nice, shallow depth of field. But I wouldn't shoot a concert or some event where adjustments have to constantly be made between the subject/background.
  
• Tile photographs into HUGE art
  The rasterbator is a tool to help you create huge posters by tiling smaller printouts into a huge cluster of pages. Something you can do in other programs, but may be more convenient with this tool
  
• Digital Photography
  Digital photography has become an indispensible tool of graphic design. This lesson shows you the basics of photography. From the inner workings of the tools to tips on how to take good pictures.
  
• How to photograph bugs
  Popphoto.com has an excellent interview with Christopher Badzioch, an expert in photographing creepy things. He offers some excellent hints on getting the most out of these buggers.
  
• Avoiding Flash Blowout
  Digital Photography School has a great article on how to avoid flash blowouts when using point and shoot cameras with the built in flash. A lot of great tips there.