Julie with her new Canon 430 EX II Speedlight & her Canon 60D during our photography lesson at the Dali MuseumI chose the new Dali Museum as the location for the fourth of four 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lessons with Julie, who since our last lesson got a new external flash, the Canon 430 EX II Speedlite. I was glad to hear that Julie has been regularly practicing her photography and even had a chance to make maternity portraits of two of her friends. She told me that photographing people is hard! I cannot disagree, but I also think photographing people is the most interesting and one of the best ways to really push yourself as a photographer.
We started this morning's lesson with more 50mm lens practice using the great tree in the rear ground of the museum. The tree has ribbons all tied to it with messages (see third photo from the top here). Julie really liked the tree. It makes for a very interesting subject both from an abstract shooting standpoint and also as a prop when making a portrait.
Then Julie attached her 430 EX II to her 60D and we went over to the Mahaffey Theater where I showed her how the angle of the light from the flash effects how portraits turn out. Even in those outdoor conditions, although in the shade, it was very apparent that being able to bounce the light off of a side or rear wall produced the best results, as compared to pointing the flash directly at the subject.
Julie is interested in learning off camera flash so I look forward to seeing her for another four lessons over the summer. I will be looking forward to it!
