Teaching Photography #5: Introducing Technical Control

My niece has spent four weeks photographing on full automatic. She understands what photography is for, she’s developed her eye, she knows how images communicate. Now she’s encountering situations where automatic settings prevent her from achieving what she wants. That’s perfect timing for introducing technical control. Aiming at the Eiffel Tower We won’t teach her everything the camera can do. We’ll teach her three specific controls that close the most important gaps between intention and execution: focus, exposure, and composition. Each one gets introduced because she needs it for something she’s trying to achieve. Week five focuses on focus and exposure. Her camera focuses automatically when she pushes the trigger, but she hasn’t been thinking deliberately about what to focus on. We’ll start by discussing what sharpness does: it directs attention. What’s sharp feels important. What’s blurry feels secondary. Her assignment: photograph a scene where you deliberately choose what’s…