Nikon D5200

Nikon D5200 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson with Krista in Lettuce Lake Park Tampa Florida

in

Krista lines up a shot with her new Nikon D5200 in Lettuce Lake Park Tampa Florida during our 1-on-1 DSLR Photography LessonHaving recently been to Hawaii, and already planning a return trip, Krista wanted to make sure she could make the best photographs possible with her newly acquired Nikon D5200.  So we met for a 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson in Lettuce Lake Park in the north Tampa area this past Saturday morning.  She had read the Nikon manual for her camera several times already, which is a very good thing to do, but of course the manual does not tell you how to in a practical way make a well exposed and sharp shot in any given shooting situation.  Fortunately, that is exactly what my 1-on-1 photography lessons do so after introducing Krista to her Nikon and showing what buttons are needed to do what for my 5-step process for shooting in manual exposure mode, we left the air conditioning of the visitor center and headed out onto the boardwalk.  

As I showed Krista how to be aware of the sun position for getting the best results, and how to use AF-S (One Shot) focus mode to be able to recompose and not have to center the subject all the time, we were also treated to a good bit of wildlife spotting.  At one of the boardwalk end points using my water bottle I showed Krista how to control depth of field so that if desired the background could be made to disappear (create bokeh) leaving only the intended subject in focus.  I look forward to seeing Krista's photographs from her next trip to Hawaii!

1-on-1 Nikon D5200 DSLR Photography Lesson in St. Petersburg with Lisa

in

Lisa returned to Florida this time for a 1-on-1 photography lesson with her Nikon D5200 in St. Petersburg Florida

I first met Lisa back in October of last year when she visited St. Petersburg Florida and wanted sunset portraits made.  She told me she visits Florida regularly and we stayed in touch in the meantime and thus we setup a 1-on-1 DSLR photography lesson for this morning.  She got a Nikon D5200 in December and had only been using the automatic modes for making her nature and sunset landscape shots.  Lisa did have a lot of photography knowledge though, and really wanted to learn what was essential and how to apply that to actually using her camera.  In this way I taught her my 5-step process for producing a well exposed and sharp shot in any shooting conditions shaping her existing photography knowledge into a system she can use every time she presses the shutter.

We concluded the lesson with a demonstration of how her 55-300mm lens is much, much better than her 18-55mm at producing a photograph with a shallow DoF and very nice bokeh.  It is just about choosing the right lens to produce the desired stye of shot and not forcing something to do what it is not good at.  I look forward to seeing Lisa again on her next visit to Florida and how her photography improves between now and then.

1-on-1 Nikon D5200 DSLR Nikkor 35mm lens Photography Lesson with Janice in downtown St. Petersburg Florida

in

Janice using her Nikkor 35mm prime lens to creatively photograph a motorcycle during our photo lesson in downtown St. Petersburg, FloridaIt was a quick turnaround time from my second 1-on-1 DSLR Photograpy Lesson with Janice just last Thursday to our third lesson this morning.  Time is an issue as this Friday she leaves for a big trip to Europe and is cramming in manual shooting photography knowledge so she can produce the best travel photographs she ever has.  We met at the usual spot in downtown St. Petersburg and started out by reviewing a few sunrise shots she took and brushing up on what we had covered previously.

After that it was off shooting some of the architecture and design details of various skyscrapers in the downtown area, mostly using her Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 lens on her Nikon D5200.  Janice had not used this lens during any of our previous two lessons, but took a quick liking to it for the lens' easily ability to create bokeh and a shallow DoF using its large aperture (mostly f/2).

We covered a lot in our 6 hours of 1-on-1 photography time together and I am confident that if Janice goes through the steps we practiced for each shooting situation she encounters in Europe, she will be very happy with the results.  Have a good trip Janice and I look forward to seeing your shots!

1-on-1 Nikon D5200 DSLR Photography Lesson with Janice in downtown St. Petersburg Florida

in

Janice shoots with her Nikon D5200 in South Straub Park in St. Petersburg FloridaOn a very warm June morning I met Janice for our second 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson in downtown St. Petersburg Florida.  She said she had only taken just a few shots of a rainbow with her Nikon D5200 since our first lesson almost a month ago.  Janice also claimed to have forgotten most of what we talked about in that first lesson, but as I suspected that was not the case.  A little helpful hinting helped her remember a lot of what we practiced in May.

In addition to teaching Janice how to shoot in manual exposure mode, in this second lesson I started to point out more composition tips and just things in general I look for when framing a photograph.  Some of those things were, including foreground objects to help a shot, framing the entire subject with a border to put more emphasis on the subject, etc.

I will meet Janice again next week for a third lesson before she is off for a trip to Europe!

1-on-1 Nikon D5200 DSLR Photography Lesson with Janice in St. Petersburg Florida

in

Janice with her brand new Nikon D5200 during our photography lesson in St. Petersburg FloridaOn a sunny Tuesday morning I met Janice with her brand new Nikon D5200 in downtown St. Petersburg Florida for a 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson.  This was my first time to get hands on with the Nikon D5200 and the most noticable upgrade to this new model is the much improved graphics on the back LCD screen.  Shutter speed, ISO and aperture are all very prominently displayed visually and numerically.  I wish my old Nikon D80 had such a menu system back when I was learning!

Janice had a Nikon D60 for many years, but only ever used it in auto-mode and she did not want to continue shooting like that with her new Nikon D5200.  For someone only ever shooting in auto-mode, Janice was one of the fastest students I have had to pick up on my 5-step system for making a well exposed and sharp shot in any given shooting situation.  She also learned her way around the camera body quickly to adjust the necessary settings as well.  I was impressed!

She has Nikon's great 17-5mm f/2.8 to pair with her D5200 body as well as the Nikkor 70-300mm lens and a 35mm f/1.8 lens too.  During our first lesson we only had time to practice with the first two lenses though.  I think Janice will be able to progress very quickly and I look forward to our next lesson.