Photography class!

I have been trying to "learn on my own" with this Digital SLR camera and I still feel really clueless. As I was paging through the community ed classes last month I stumbled upon a "Shoot Like a Pro" class. So I bit the bullet and signed up. It is a 3 session class with get this...homework! EXCITING! I had my first session last week and absolutely loved it. There are only 5 others in the class so it feels like a one on one atmosphere because you can blurt out questions whenever you have them. And trust me I have many.
I walked out of class thinking I learned SOOO much. And then I tried to apply them for my homework and got frustrated. But kept trying and trying. It only led to the kids getting a bit annoyed with me but I finally caught on. And now I really feel like I understand things better. Can't wait for the next session this week!

Here is a few shots from my assignments.

Assignment 1: subject standing at one side of window with photographer standing on other side. (This one was all about getting proper lighting indoors - without using a flash)
I had Jason stand in until I got it right.

So here is the real shot. We tricked her into looking for birds and airplanes out the window.

Assignment #2: Have subject sitting in a chair opposite a window. Photographer standing with back to window. (Again, working with natural lighting).

Here is my wonderful stand-in again :)

And the 2 shots I will submit for review...(They didn't want the subjects looking directly into the lens so that is done on purpose)

Assignment #3: This was the toughest one. Since they didn't help us figure out what setting to use like the first 2. So I had to figure out the Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO settings to use appropriately. The purpose is to show Depth of Field. (try to get subject up front in sharp focus while background is blurry and show depth in the picture)