Amanda Quintenz-Fiedler - Ten Photo Assignments: to develop your photographic skills (Rocky Nook)

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Editor: Gerhard Rossbach
Copyeditor: Jocelyn Howell
Layout and Type: Petra Strauch
Cover Design: Anna Diechtierow
Printer: Tallinna Raamatutrkikoja O
Printed in Estonia

ISBN 978-1-933952-79-6

1st Edition 2011
2011 by Amanda Quintenz-Fiedler

Rocky Nook Inc.
802 East Cota St., 3rd Floor
Santa Barbara, CA 93103

www.rockynook.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Quintenz-Fiedler, Amanda.
Ten photo assignments : to develop your photographic skills / Amanda Quintenz
Fiedler. -- 1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-933952-79-6 (pbk.)
1. Photography--Problems, exercises, etc. 2. Photography--Technique. I. Title.
TR162.Q85 2011
771--dc23
2011023008

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No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of the copyright owner. While reasonable care has been exercised in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Ten Photo Assignments

to develop your photographic
skills

WITH PHOTOS BY
Bobby Sanchez
Chuck Place
Dan ODay
Glenn Rand
Jesse Strigler
Judith Preston
Kevin Osborn
Mercury Megaloudis
Michael Penn
Randy Sullivan
Robert Bradshaw
Sam Rivera
Steve Dutcheshen
Tom Flory

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While many of the images in this book illustrate a specific concept or portion of an assignment, others are included simply to inspire you. A variety of photographers have contributed stunning images that we hope will motivate you to get out there and start shooting!

Steve Dutcheshen. Courtesy of the artist.

Weve all had moments when we saw the perfect photograph and werent able to capture it: the look of surprise on a childs face when they open the perfect present, the unexpected instant when the groom dips the bride for a heros kiss, or that thrilling apex of a motocross jump when an athletes legs stick out behind him as his bike seems to hang suspended in the air. These are moments you can never get back; the second they happen, theyre overunless you have the presence of mind, training, experience, and know-how to snap that frame perfectly when it counts.

In some circumstances, you may have time to fiddle with dials, evaluate the histogram, and try to recreate the shot you want, but the purpose of this book is to help you gather the tools you need to get it right the first time, every time, and always get the shot.

This book will turn you into a better photographer by leading you through a series of practical assignments that will help you better understand the capabilities and limitations of your equipment, the theories and practices of a good photographer, and how you can see the scene in front of you and ensure that you get the perfect shot. Each of the five sections in this book has two assignments to help you learn by doing.

Dont get me wrongreading this book wont be some quick fix for a couple of issues you have. This is a book about doing. You have to work your way through each of these assignments, be honest with yourself about whether or not you understand them, and determine when you are ready to move on.

In order to get the most out of this book, you also need to have proper equipment to get a full understanding of the processes, techniques, and controls that you are able to employ as a photographer who knows what youre doing. This means that you must have a manually adjustable camerapreferably a digital SLR with interchangeable lenses and fully manual controls for aperture, shutter speed, and focus. You can still get a lot out of this book with a point-and-shoot camera (one that has an attached zoom lens), but it must have a manual operation mode that allows you to change the aperture and shutter speed; otherwise, you cannot apply the knowledge in these pages to the exercises.

If you want to be a better photographer who is in control of your images, you have to make the decisions; you cant let your camera do it for you. If you dont have a manually adjustable camera, this book wont be very helpful, so either go out and get one now to take the next step, or wait until youre able to get one to proceed with these assignments.

If you are ready to work toward becoming a better photographer, follow these simple guidelines and you will quickly see yourself evolving as an image-maker:

1. Do the work! If you dont work your way through each individual assignment, you are only letting yourself down. You cant learn these skills without applying yourself at every stage along the way.

2. Do the assignments in order! This book is designed to build on concepts from one stage to the next. The more carefully you follow the layout of this book, the more you will be able to apply what you have learned to expand your knowledge base.

3. Be thorough! Sometimes these assignments might seem like overkill, but trust me, when you repeat a process or look at it from a different perspective, you will solidify your knowledge. Dont shortcut your success.

4. Be honest with yourself! Sometimes the best way to learn something is to do it again. And again. If your results dont seem to match the examples provided, try to figure out where you went wrong and do the assignment again if need be. You are only hurting yourself if you skimp in this process.

If you want to be the best photographer you can be, you have a lot of work ahead of you. But even though this process might be difficult at times, it should also be fun and rewarding. At the end of the day, you are going to see a difference in your photography. So what are we waiting for? Lets get started.

Septa R8 Michael Penn. Courtesy of the artist.

Your knowledge, experience, and skills will be your most important equipment to make a great image. In fact, the first thing you should do when you get a camera (or now that you are reading this, go back and do) is read the manual. Even though the information discussed here will help you refine, clarify, and even circumvent some of the standard functions of your camera, you should understand those functions before trying to bypass them. At this point, I will assume that you have a good working knowledge of your specific camera.

As you grow and learn throughout these exercises, you may find that you are limited by your photographic equipment and its inherent shortcomings. Anything mass-produced may not be perfectly calibrated out of the box. Whats nice about higher-level cameras is that often you have the ability to either manually adjust the equipment itself or perform tests on the equipment to be sure you know what is really happening.