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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Teaching high school students about f/stops & shutter
Ben Liu, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Lubbock | TX | | Posted: 4:06 PM on 09.21.10 |
->> I am teaching two high school photojournalism classes this semester and I need some help/advice.
This week they need to learn about F/Stops and shutter speeds... however, none of them have slr cameras. they all have digital p&s. what is the easiest way to help them understand these concepts without the SLR? Its a school requirement that they understand this.
Second.... most of these students are enrolled in the class because they have to be, they didn't choose it. They have no prior experience in photo.
So given these two situations, lack of budget (use of P&S cameras) and lack of motivation, how should i go about teaching them?
Thanks! |
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Landon Finch, Photographer
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Ben Liu, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Lubbock | TX | | Posted: 5:07 PM on 09.21.10 |
| ->> That will be perfect for my lesson this week. Thank you! |
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Geoff Miller, Photographer
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Portage | MI | USA | Posted: 5:10 PM on 09.21.10 |
->> When I teach Scouts, I like to use a plumbing analogy. It goes something like this: Let's say that light is like water, and let's say that for proper exposure you determine that you need 1 "gallon" of light. You have three variables that will help you get the "gallon". One is the diameter of the pipe leading to your bucket... this represents the aperture. The wider the pipe, the more light it can carry. The second variable is the valve at the end of the pipe over your bucket... this is the shutter. The longer is stays open, the more "light" that pours out of the pipe. The third variable is the pressure in the pipe... this represent the brightness of the scene. The brighter the scene, the more "pressure" in the pipe.
You can then show how changing one variable will result in the need to adjust one of the other variables in order to get your "gallon" of light. If you cut the pipe size in half, then you'll need to keep the valve open twice as long, or double the pressure in the pipe. etc. etc.
If you want to throw the concept of ISO into the mix, you can say that if you need 1 "gallon" of light with ISO 200 to get the exposure you want, then if you switch to ISO 100 you'd need 2 "gallons", or if you went to ISO 400 you'd only need a 1/2 "gallon". |
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Bryan Hulse, Photographer
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Nashville | Tn | USA | Posted: 5:34 PM on 09.21.10 |
->> A friend sent me a text message this week asking how shutter and aperture works. HAHA! Like I could explain it in a text message when so many books have been written on the subject.
Landon: Thanks for the link, I've already passed it along (via text message). |
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Bradley Leeb, Photographer
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Champaign | IL | USA | Posted: 6:01 PM on 09.21.10 |
| ->> Ben, I teach a high school photography class as well. In addition to the photonhead sim cam, I also used a 50mm 1.8 lens to demonstrate. I walked around the room with lens in hand and manually opened and closed the shutter so they could see it in action and look at the difference between 1.8 and 22. If you've got a 1.4 or 1.2, that would be more dramatic of a movement. For the kids to look at the lens and actually see how the aperture opens and closes was real informative to them. |
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Ben Liu, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Lubbock | TX | | Posted: 6:23 PM on 09.21.10 |
->> Bradley,
That was one of the first things we did but unfortunately it did not interest many of the students. I need to find other ways to motivate the kids.
I have several ideas now. Thanks for everyone's help. |
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Guy Rhodes, Photographer
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East Chicago | IN | USA | Posted: 3:32 AM on 09.22.10 |
| ->> Can you output the live-view of a DSLR to a projector and demonstrate different settings? I know things like aperture / depth of field didn't really "click" (pun totally indented) until I saw one affecting the other in real time through the viewfinder of a pro video camera for the first time. |
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