Digital Camera Masterclass Class 9: Term 1

Brrrrrr it was cold! Snow and ice and the ground, but 5 brave members of this years group ventured out into the winter elements for our annual trek to the Cardiff Winter Wonderland. I’ve been taking the Digital Photography Class here for about 5 years now, and it’s the ideal place to practice taking night shots with your cameras, be it pics of the fantastic ice rink, or the huge ferris wheel, to twinkling lights on the various fairground attractions that are also on the site.

We met on the steps of Cardiff’s Museum and had a good walk around taking various photographs of the wintery/Christmasy sights and sounds. Use of the flash on the camera wasnt required, as it tends to make the images look a bit stark, so by turning it off you get the brightness of the glow of lights, and other vibrant colours. The downside, depending on the settings on your camera and the lighting conditions, the use of a tripod is highly recommended!

After walking around the Winter Wonderland, we headed off across the frozen city centre, down past the Hilton Hotel onto Queen Street, then across past the Castle and down St. Mary Street, where there was a very nice display of Christmas lights adorning the road.

For a full gallery of pictures that I took, click the link below:

Cardiff Winter Wonderland Nightclass Adventure

Next week, back in the warmth of the computer room, we will have a look at the photographs the group took, and I have been informed that the school has reinstalled Paint Shop Pro on the computers, so we might get time to do some of the exercises I had planned to do last week!

Keep warm everyone!

Microsoft Publisher Class 9: Term 1

We’re getting close to the end of term, Class 9, and it will nearly be Christmas….where does time go?

Tonight’s class, following a seasonal festive theme was to create a formal looking ‘Christmas Carol programme’.  The programme was to have at least 5 different Christmas Carols in it, and subtle and matching graphics.

I didn’t expect the students to have to type up the carols, so they researched the lyrics off the Internet, using Google search. They then simply pasted them into their publications.

Here is the front cover from the Christmas Carols programme that Huw created. Join us next week for the last class of the year! Ho ho ho!!

PC Maintenance Class 8: Term 1

Tonight’s class covered a few things. The first thing we discussed was troubleshooting printers. We first discussed the three main categories of printer. They are Inkjet, Laser and Dot Matrix – click each of these links for detailed information.

We discussed allsorts of various problems that occur with printers, from them not being switched on, to temperamental Deskjets that ruin reams of paper!

Next on the agenda, was the topic of Preventative Maintenance, where we discussed the types of things that we can do to prolong the life of our computers. Simple things, like cleaning them both internally and externally. We then looked at a series of photographs showing how a computer is put together. Back in the summer I had replaced the case on my own PC and had taken pictures whilst I did this. This proved useful because is showed step by step the installation of various parts of the computer.

We finished off the session with a look at Computers Viruses, and the different types that can be out there, and how they are spread.

 

Download tonight’s presentation for yourself below:

• PC Maintenance Class 8 Presentation

Next time, we are going to be looking at the more serious side of the Internet, were we’ll be looking at phishing, spyware and malware.

 

Digital Camera Masterclass Class 8: Term 1

What a disaster…..a few practical lessons, and when it comes to using the computer – we couldn’t!  The computers have been replaced with newer ones, which I’m not complaining about, and they have really nice flat screens too, but the software we use, Paint Shop Pro, wasn’t installed on them, but instead the Adobe suite of packages, including PhotoShop.

I’ve used Corel Paint Shop Pro, as it’s current version is titled, for several years now, and have compared it to the Adobe products, and it is easier, clearer to understand, more intuitive and simple!  To teach Photoshop would go against the grain, so I had to have a word with the centre staff.  My lesson for the night was scuppered, and instead we had an informal discussion about how to take photographs in the dark, in view of us visiting the Cardiff Winter Wonderland next Tuesday evening.

Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 and the recently updated X3 Ultimate Edition.

Anyway, putting this glitch aside, we had a reasonable lesson, taking about next weeks visit to the city.  The most vital thing that will be needed is a tripod. In low light conditions, a tripod is required to ensure that the photographs are not blurred.

Here are a selection of hints and tips which I have found on the Internet:

• Night Photography
• Best Family Photo Tips
• profiPhoto News

For those in class…..don’t forget, on the steps of the museum, Tuesday 30th November at 6:45-7:00pm!  Wrap up warm, it’s going to be chilly!