Theme or Learning Objective

• Photography as a Themefilm-camera on camera-bag image by Andrii Oleksiienko from Fotolia.com
  
  The topic of photography is too broad for one workbook. A theme or learning objective is the center of each workbook. A photographer who is not in school can develop their own photo workbook to help stimulate their learning. A theme can be technical, like "Depth of Field," or functional, like "Portraits". Each workbook should contain between five and ten concepts supporting the general theme.
  
  

Concepts and Assignments

• The workbook will contain some conceptual information based on the theme. This could be a lighting diagram or a chemical formula. The student will then be given an assignment based on the data provided for a specific concept or as discussed in class. An assignment for a workbook on "Depth of Field" may be to take a properly exposed photo of the same object at each lens f-stop. A second assignment may be to take a picture of an object with limited depth of field. Each concept should have one to three assignments supporting the general theme and learning path.
  
  

Media

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  Photo Workbooks used to be all printed books and assignments were always fulfilled with printed photographs. Today, workbooks can be a digital format like a PDF or E-Book and assignments can be turned in a digital format. Some workbooks may require prints especially those focusing on darkroom technology.
  
  

Timeline

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  A workbook needs to have timelines and due dates. Without a deadline, the workbook is only a wish list. Deadlines are real events for photographers and all training needs to contain reasonable and specific deadlines. Educators will provide timelines based on the class schedule. If a student is creating his own workbook or using a purchased one, he should plan his own timeline and stick to it. This allows a self-taught student to learn at a pace similar to that of a photography course.
  
  

Completion Criteria

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  The criteria for completion of the workbook and specific assignments should be explained at the beginning of the workbook. Of course, one criterion is meeting the assignment deadline. Others should be the size of required prints, the type of paper to be used, file formats and other technical parameters. One criterion needs to be that the images supplied to fulfill assignments are the copyright of the student. Another could be the permission or restriction of using labs for printing.