Shutter School is Coming . . .

--If you drool over professional photographer blogs, but are too embarrassed to post your own photos...
--If you dream of capturing bright blue skies and vivid green grass, but have never switched out of automatic mode...
--If your scrapbooks are cleverly designed, but the quality of the photos distracts from the pages...
--If you wish you had captured that spontaneous moment earlier, but forgot to bring your camera along...

Then welcome to Shutter School!

Shutter School is an online photo challenge which hopes to inspire you to pull out your digital camera (any kind) and learn to love your lens.

How it works:
1. Every 10 days (or so!) a new lesson will be posted on our personal blogs, Dancing Commas and Mommy's Treasures, as well as on the Shutter School blog. The lesson will focus on a single photography skill (either a camera mode, a style of photography, or a hint about composition). Along with a list of tips about that skill, a directory of other photography resources will be listed for you to gain an even better understanding of the concept.

2. We'll ask you to comment on the post to take attendance. (We want to know who is playing along with us!) Also, please feel free to share your own hints or other resources that you find. Let's learn from each other!

3. Your homework is to spend the next 10 days practicing that skill. Carry your camera with you. Pull out your manual to figure out how the skill applies to your particular camera. . . and snap away! You'll be amazed at the options available even on your point-and-shoot camera!

4. At the end of the two weeks (or as you go along), you will want to post your best images to our Flickr group: "Shutter School" and if you have one, to your own personal blog.

5. To complete the lesson, we'll post some of the photos that best employ the lesson's technique.

Gather your supplies and join our Flickr group, so that you'll be all ready when the first lesson is posted on June 10! (hopefully my new camera will have arrived by then)

Be sure to leave us a comment below or on our individual blogs so that we'll know you want to learn with us---I think it will be fun!

-Jana and Linda