Words to Live By: “Have Fun” – Networked Learning #3

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“Great Kid, Don’t Get Cocky!”

Last week I was feeling pretty good about my learning.  I’m still proud of my progress, but this week I overstepped what Vygotsky would call my ZPD and got frustrated. I read about depth of field, focal length and exposure compensation.  On paper it looked easy.  I created goals as looked forward to shooting my husband’s birthday.  Party day arrived and I didn’t get the shots I’d envisioned as I tried to juggle too much at once.  Discouragement set in. I bite off more than I can chew a lot and find myself whining about the outcomes. Needless to say, I often need Han Solo’s advice:

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My Own Han solo

Discouraged by my inability to control shots, I sought advice on the forums.  I needed a Han Solo kind of response and, thankfully, that’s what I got! They didn’t tear me apart, and even had some positive things to say, but the big piece of advice was . . .stop shooting in manual.  Instead, learn the less-advanced creative modes, one thing at a time.  “Why would a beginner want to shoot in manual?” one asked – and it was a GREAT question to which I didn’t have a defined answer.  His point was, that I could trust my camera for more, until I had deeper knowledge and more technical control. Parting words from the most senior member were . . .”remember to have fun!”  In the swarm of information and unrealistic expectations  I was, indeed, forgetting to have fun.  The last couple of times I picked up the camera I’d dreaded it, something that had never happened before.  Without a descent amount of fun, I wasn’t engaging in an authentic way.  They set my sights on reasonable expectations that would provide me  challenge balanced with success, a great recipe for FUN! I went back to semi-auto settings, and was able to have that necessary fun.  I felt renewed in my desire and reassured that I didn’t need to do too much at once.  As a result I was able to sit back, enjoy and engage more with the people I was photographing.

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Thinking as a Learner

Here’s a snapshot of where I’m at in my process:

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Thinking as a teacher

I use online forums and videos to teach, and  frequently think about these learning tools.  Being the learner in this situation, however, has shifted my perspective enough for me to gain some new takeaways and reaffirm other things I’ve known for awhile. From the forums:

1. Guts are required to post publicly.  Every time I posted I felt vulnerable.  The positives that were observed kept me buoyed enough to keep me asking for help.
2. Rapport and trust are built with quick response time. Feedback from REAL people was essential to my process.  I found myself checking the forums just as often as FB or Twitter.
3. Positives are essential to critical assessment.  Even very well-meaning advice can “hurt.”  Positives help soften the blow.

From YouTube:

1. Slow and straightforward is best.  I can tend to be too conversational during the instruction.  Personal is best at the beginning or end, not in the middle of instruction.
2. Shorter videos are best.  More than 10 minutes for a tutorial and I would feel overloaded.
3. No substitute for examples.

Personally, I think I will continue to use theses networks to learn more about my camera and photography. There’s a long road ahead, but I’m confident there are people willing and able to help me along the way. Keep checking my Flickr account for visual updates and remember . . . have fun!

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Knowing What You Don’t Know – Networked Learning #2

Sometimes you have to learn a little to get a glimpse of the depth of your ignorance.  That’s My experience as I learn my Canon Rebel T2i.

creating need-to-knows

To start I watched some overviews of my camera.  I waded through several videos – the first has been the most helpful (straight-forward and geared for beginners), the second is an example of something that was over my head (too conversational to be helpful to a new learner).  I quickly realized that I needed more background in photography basics.

With these, I got a list going of things I needed to know:

• vocabulary: ISO, shutter speed, aperture, exposure, f-stop, white balance, focus point, Av, Tv, exposure compensation, AE lock, focal length, depth of field
• Where do I start?  Which one of these should I learn to control first?
• What kinds of pictures would be best to practice with?
• Where should I go to find help & feedback?

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Grappling with the basics

I searched YouTube for basic photography videos.  This series was particularly helpful as the videos were short enough to not overwhelm and had great examples to demonstrate concepts.

I started experimenting with ISO, shutter speed and aperture using objects from my desk , going back to the Canon T2i videos to review.  It was fun to see the images change as I changed exposure settings.

I also learned how to focus the camera on a specific point.

For example, the bird is in focus here . . .

and the paper weight here:

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Embracing my ignorance

Searching photography forums, I found Digital Photography Review, a massive site with an extensive network.  I signed up and got ready to ask – “Where do I start?”  I was surprised at my inner conflict as I did this.  Why was I having such a visceral reaction to something that should be no big deal?!  You see, I haven’t been true beginner in quite a while.  Most of the things I learn these days are for areas in which I already feel semi-successful.  Not so with this.  I was literally at the beginning, a Kindergartener learning to read.

This comparison to a Kindergartener  was freeing . . . I was able to embrace my ignorance and swallow my pride.  After all, no five-year-old walks into Kindergarten feeling foolish for not knowing how to read.   Choosing to adopt this attitude was my first big hurdle – without it I wouldn’t have been able to engage with willing teachers.

I’ve been surprised that: 1) many people were eager to teach and 2) they were welcoming and encouraging.  This is not the intimidating experience I anticipated!  Sharing/verifying my thinking with others on the forums has been a huge benefit to my learning!

I was also directed to another resource, Cambridge in Colour, that has become my favorite reference for digital photography explanations.  It provides bite-size written tutorials with visual aids and examples.  I’m able to learn a bit, play around with that new information and double check that I’m on the right track back in the forums.  Getting a cycle of learning starting to flow has been awesome.

After My Second Learning Cycle

(Getting the hang of white balance.)

  

After My Third Learning Cycle

(Working on manual focus and shutter speed.)

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Updated Needs to Know

Basic Learning:

• ISO
• shutter speed
• aperture
• white balance
• focus
• use still or slow-moving objects for practice

Currently Learning:

• exposure compensation

Next Steps:

• depth of field
• focal length

A Picture’s Worth – Networked Learning #1

I love pouring over pictures, especially family pictures – always have.  As a kid I spent hours studying our family photo albums, fascinated by life before my memory.

(Two of my favs – baby me with mom and baby me with dad.)

Recently, my family’s been on an ancestry quest and so delving into century old photographs is a new favorite past-time.

(My great-great-great grandmother, Anna Fox.  I’m sorta, kinda named after her, but that’s a long story.)

And then there are the millions of pictures I take of my kiddos.

(These are from an attempt at a home photo shoot last year.)

All things considered, I have a thing for pictures, and when my in-laws gifted me a shiny new Canon Rebel, I thought for sure I’d sit down and become a photographer.  Not so.  Life happens, school happens, work happens . . .and so I use it as a glorified point and shoot, with quick edits in iPhoto later on.  Every so often I happen to snap a good one just by clicking a million, and I’ve only had the other lens on once for about five minutes.

  

(Here are a few examples of edits using iPhoto.)

The Networked Learning Project for CEP 810 is the perfect kick-in-the-pants opportunity to actually do some real learning about my camera, lighting, composition, etc.  I’m excited to see what I can do within a few weeks.  The goal of the project is to track our learning progress (the “learning” piece) as we attempt to learn via YouTube and Help Forums (thus the “networked” piece). Posting some of my pre-learning examples in this post, so I can track my progress.

Here goes nothing!

-Anna