Digital Camera Masterclass: Class 1: Term 1

A few familar faces tonight, plus a handful of new students too. This year for the first time in about 5 years, I have scrapped the standard Digital Camera Class, and combined what were both the seperate Beginners and Improvers group and rolled them both into a ‘Masterclass’ which caters for a introductory to intermediate level. We started off with a PowerPoint presentation which introduced some of the basics to the course. We talked about the various flash settings on the camera. How to use Macro mode, and how to use the White Balance settings on most digital camera.

Other things we discussed were how to look after your equipment, the right bag to protect your camera, and cleaning bits and pieces.  A personal favourite of mine is the LowePro range of bags, but generally anything that cushions the drop of your camera from waist height is ideal. Sadly most bags that come with compact cameras aren’t even bags, they are more like cloth covers, and only tend to protect against dust.

Next week we will have a practical session in the classroom, where I have asked the students to bring in their cameras and some interesting leaves or autumnal items, such as pine cones and conkers! 

Microsoft Publisher Class 1: Term 1

First class of the new academic year. Also, this is the first night of a new course – Microsoft Publisher.  Albeit a small group, we had a good session on Microsoft Publisher. I started off the session with a introductory PowerPoint presentation all about what Microsoft Publisher is.

Microsoft Office Publisher, formerly Microsoft Publisher, is a desktop publishing application from Microsoft. It is an entry-level application, differing from Microsoft Word in that the emphasis is placed on page layout and design rather than text composition and proofing. The current version is Microsoft Office Publisher 2010 for Windows (no version exists for the Macintosh), released on June 15, 2010.

For tonight’s session we started off with a general look at the interface that the program uses, and how’s very similar to many other Windows applications.

As a nice easy exercise, tonight we looked at how simple clipart can be constructed.  So using various shapes and lines, the group constructed some pictures of there own choosing. Rachel created a nice shaded grey cat, Huw did a man, and Lesley did a wonderful daisy and caterpillar, and Pat did a wonderful collection of balloons!

Next week,  we’ll be looking at creating some birthday cards!

Enrol in Classes as soon as possible!

 

For those new, or for those of you who are going to pluck up the courage and come back and haunt me…..errrr I mean continue your learning,  then please enrol as soon as you can. This will ensure you get a place on the classes you want to do!  You can enrol by either calling into the Palmerston Education Centre, or by contacting them on 01446 733762.   For further advice click here.

The three classes I am teaching this Academic Year 2010-11 are:

Mondays 7-9pm:  Microsoft Publisher

Tuesdays 7-9pm: Digital Camera Masterclass

Wednesdays 7-9pm: PC Maintenance.

Enrollment is done on a first come – first served basis, so book now to avoid disapointment.

All classes commence the week beginning Monday 27th September 2010.

 

See you there!

Chris

New Course Outlines Online – Academic Year 2010-11

From the main screen on http://www.christopherjthomas.com simply click on Nightclass Information, and you can read the updated information about the three classes that I will be teaching this forthcoming academic year.  For those who are new, and for those who have forgotten, there’s even a map showing where we are for classes! ;)

There is a slight change in the format this year, Monday sees a new class which is all about getting the most out of Microsoft Publisher. Tuesday nights session is a mixture of what was our Digital Camera for Beginners and the Improvers group. The decision to merge the two groups were because having taught the two classes for the past 6 years or so, Digital Camera’s are no longer the novelty they once were, and the majority of people have one, or know someone who has. This being the case, the format was re-jigged to create a class that catered for a mixed ability level of student, something where everyone could benefit!  Wednesday’s format will continue in the format that it has done so in the last two years, although sold as a 10 week class, its actually three terms, of 10 weeks. It’s just easier for most to pay in 10 week blocks rather than having to cough up the full whack of a 30 week course in one hit!