Digital+Cameras

Some things we talked about in class regarding digital cameras:

Action Shots
 * Remember, the camera will not shoot as quickly as your 35mm. Use the following steps to take better action shots.
 * Hold the shutter button down half way to allow the camera to focus on what you are taking a picture of.
 * Take the picture slightly before you think you need to.

Macro
 * Macros give you the ability to take pictures at a 3cm-10cm distance, while giving you incredible detail.
 * To use this tool, first find the flower button
 * Press the flower button
 * Take your picture
 * Depending on your camera this button may be in many different places.
 * Below are some samples of pictures using the macros setting, remember any of these pictures may be zoomed in on to show further detail, such as the veins in the plants.

Sharing Your Digital Photographs

We talked about two major ways to share your photographs, PhotoStory and online photo services.

//PhotoStory //
 * Please see the additional PhotoStory page for details on how to use this program

//Online Photo Services //
 * www.snapfish.com (Store, organize, share, and order prints online)
 * www.shutterfly.com (Similar to Snapfish)
 * www.photobucket.com (Similar to Snapfish and Shutterfly)
 * www.flickr.com (Similar to Snapfish, Shutterfly, and PhotoBucket)
 * www.mixbook.com (**NEW** Create online scrapbooks!!!)
 * www.stainedglasscollage.com (**NEW** Create collages of pictures)
 * www.tabblo.com (**NEW** Another cool way to share your photos)
 * LALALALALA

Ideas for Using Your Digital Camera

//Fun Things To Do //
 * [|www.befunky.com] (Remember, change pictures into cartoons, change hair, change eyes, add accessories)

//Ways to Use Digital Photography in School // (Click "Edit this Page" and add your own ideas!!!)
 * ALSO, see the section below for great websites with ideas!!!
 * Create an "instruction manual" or "virtual tour" for the year, with pictures and names of teachers, parts of the building - you could even have students help you put this together when you're showing them around (let them take the pictures!)
 * Create a class yearbook, with photos from the year and projects you have made
 * Have students go out and photograph scientific elements you are talking about (ex. types of clouds, shapes, math concepts)
 * In Science, have students photograph changes over time (ex. metamorphosis - think, use the macro to get real close details of what the cacoon looks like)
 * In Language Arts, take some digital pictures and use them as story starters (use some real close images where the original item is unidentifiable to help with creativity)
 * In Language Arts, assign each student a letter and have them take pictures (maybe use photostory) of things that start with that letter. You could also do the same thing with sounds "th", "ou".
 * At the end of the year, use pictures from the year, to have students create a "Welcome to" or "All about" movie or collage about what students will be doing for the incoming class
 * Have students take pictures of key places in the area (or you) and use these to create postcards to send to family or penpals
 * Use an online photo sharing site to share what's going on in your classroom with parents (make sure you have permission from the family first). You could also do this by making a PhotoStory and emailing it out, or put it on your website
 * In Math, or Art, have students do a grid drawing. Using a photograph of themselves (or anything for that matter), grid their picture and duplicate this grid on another sheet. Have them re-create the drawing.
 * In Language Arts, aid in "How-To" writing
 * In Language Arts, create books demonstrating different topics (ex. emotions, parts of speech, literary devices)
 * Have kids use photographs of objects and narrate what they are using photostory (ex. Doing foreign language or ESL activities)
 * Fun activity, photograph part of a student (ex. eyes, hands, hair) and have students guess who it is

Websites About Using Digital Photography

[|Ideas for Using Digital Cameras] (AWESOME page with 5 pages of ideas!!) [|Kodak's Website] (has fun Digital Camera projects) [|Digital Camera Projects] [|Sparta School District Website] (about General use of Digital Cameras and PhotoStory) [|1001 Uses for a Digital Camera] (organized by content area - there are NOT 1001 ideas)

Writing advise here **[|what is a press release]**