If you were brought up with 35mm film in a Nikon F-series, Minolta, Canon, Leica, Pentax, 120 film in a Hasselblad, Rollei, or chromes out of your 4x5 camera, then you will feel at home with the instructor, Nicholas Hellmuth. His photos with traditional 35mm cameras have been published by National Geographic. His photographs of ancient art and architecture with medium format and Linhof have been published in coffee table books in Japan.
Being nervous or afraid of digital imaging is natural. However today’s digital cameras insure fabulous color, impressive resolution, and ease-of-use (if you know which cameras to select… that is where Nicholas’s tests and evaluation results are a great help for you).
Your photos from digital cameras available now, in 2003, will exceed the quality you get from whatever traditional camera you use today (unless you are using an 8x10 studio camera).
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| We have normal classroom course in the summer in addition to on-line courses the rest of the year |
We routinely print our digital images 15 feet long. Can you do that with your 35mm or medium format film?
Here are results from a new camera, without a user manual (that’s how it arrived). So no software, no nothing. Just took the camera out on location in Guatemala, walked around Antigua Guatemala and took snapshots.
These are raw prints, straight from the camera into the printer. No tweaking (no cheating in Adobe Photoshop).
Of course it helps to know which camera this is. Because otherwise you might buy the wrong one. On that subject, were you aware that you can save $12,000 off the price of a medium format digital back if you know which brand to buy. That’s right, one back costs $12,000, the other costs about $24,000… but they have the identical CCD sensor inside! Why pay twice?
Then, of that over-priced camera, they have another model for their entry level at about $11,000. But essentially the same chip, in a different camera, is under $2,000. Strange no one else tells you this. FLAAR is a non-profit research institute, so they test cameras to determine which of the lower priced models gives comparable results to the hyped high-price brands.
This course by Dr Nicholas Hellmuth patiently explains every kind of studio lighting: HMI, strobe, flash, tungsten, and will surprise you with the two kinds of lights which digital cameras like the best: HDI (HQI) and fluorescent. They sure don’t teach this in photography school nor in textbooks.
All the advantages of this course is because FLAAR is an institute dedicated for over 35 years to photography technique and equipment. So in this course you learn what to buy, why, and how to use it. Explore digital photography, understand which camera, lens, lighting is optimal for your personal needs, then master the techniques of the digital era with a patient instructor who has not only the experience, but the complete range of digital cameras to provide realistic tips, help, and discussion.
Once you sign up you get a direct phone line and personal e-mail so you can contact Nicholas.
Then you get over 30 info-packed chapters of his new textbook (not sold at Amazon.com, or actually anywhere; Nicholas’s information is available only to individuals who take his course via the Internet (Feb 26 through April, 2003) or in person (summer 2003 in Guatemala).
You can take this course in the comfort of your home via the Internet, or in your office, or on vacation. Any time day or night or weekends. You never have to set foot at BGSU. Everything included is $800; includes Nicholas’s textbook in electronic format in full color.
You will acquire full understanding of digital jargon, resolution, pixels, what software is better than Photoshop. You receive practical knowledge which will enable you to improve your photography both to satisfy clients, impress your friends and relatives, and to accomplish exhibit-quality results for your portfolio.
Sign-up form (quota is limited so you might consider signing up now) Syllabus in PDF format, course Abstracts in PDF format.
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| The HP5000 is part of the equipment available at the FLAAR facilities. |
Course appropriate for intermediate through advanced though actually no prior experience with digital cameras required (after all, that is our job to provide you).
You do not have to own a digital printer, though this course will explain which large format printers are best to print photos, including on silk, on ceramic tiles, on canvas, or on museum quality photo paper to win exhibit prizes. Also includes tips on how to make giclée prints can canvas from your photographs. FLAAR has an Iris 3047 giclee printer as well as eight other wide format printers.
If you are confused with all the dials, controls, monitor menus, features, buttons, and arcane functions on what is supposed to be an entry-level digital camera, this course introduces you to a camera which has one main control (the take-a-picture button which is the same one as on a normal camera). That’s it, click and you get fabulous results. If you are clever you can ignore all the silly buttons and dials. Take a photo in Raw mode, you capture 100% of the detail and you end up with the photos on this Adobe PDF download.
