Joe with his new Nikon D5100 during our photography lesson in downtown St. Petersburg, FloridaOn a beautiful March afternoon in St. Petersburg I met Joe and his new Nikon D5100 for our first DSLR Photography Lesson.  He had previously owned a Nikon D40 and also had film SLR experience.  During our lesson he wanted to convert some of that past knowledge into the DSLR world, along with what I could show him from my years of experience using Nikon DSLRs.  Sometimes small things like just showing how to move the focus point from the center to anywhere in the frame can really help out.  My experience with virtually every DSLR made in the past four years allows me to show people how to do practical things like moving focus points with their specific camera, part of the benefits of taking a 1-on-1 lesson.

Joe has an 18-55mm lens and a 55-200mm lens, the standard kit lenses.  For such lenses I told him that with the 18-55mm I would want to use f/11 as much as possible and for the 55-200mm f/5.6.  Often subject dictates lens, lens dictates aperture, and aperture is what I base all my other settings on.  In this way one can have a starting point for making a well exposed and properly focused image.

We ended the lesson with using Joe's 20-year old speedlight, which amazingly worked just fine mounted on the D5100's hotshoe.  Using the speedlight in a neutral light setting the benefits of having fill light, even on camera, could be seen.  

I look forward to seeing Joe's photos from his Nikon D5100 as he continues his DSLR shooting skills.

Debbie with her new Nikon D5100 during our photography lesson in St. Petersburg FloridaIt was on a crisp and sunny President's Day I met Debbie with her new Nikon D5100 for our first DSLR Photography Lesson together in downtown St. Petersburg.  Debbie had a Fuji bridge camera before that she had extensive experience with photographing people.  However, she was mostly using it on auto-mode, and likewise, when she got the D5100 she was staying in auto-mode.  DSLRs do not work well at all in auto-mode, they like to be told what to do.  The very first goal during my 1-on-1 photography lessons is to get people off auto-mode and to start taking more control over their photographs.  

Even though Debbie already had photography knowledge, I added some organization to that with my 4-step method of getting the settings right for any given shot and also helping her just get familiar with changing those four things on her D5100.  We started out using aperture priority mode, but it did not take long to find the limits of using it in the harsh mid-day Florida sunlight.  Aperture priority mode was a good starting point for making a landscape shot of The Pier and Tampa Bay, but it was choosing too slow of a shutter speed.  By switching to manual mode and doubling the speed from 1/100th to 1/200th the results were much deeper blues in the sky, more details in the clouds and just an overall more dynamic image.  That is the power of taking control of your DSLR.

Debbie gets to travel often for her work, giving her lots of different photography opportunities.  I look forward to seeing her images taken in aperture and manual modes!

Shaye with her new Nikon D5100 in Vinoy Park St. Petersburg FloridaI met new student Shaye on a very sunny Florida autumn (but still hot!) afternoon for our first DSLR Photography Lesson.  She recently got a Nikon D5100, making the leap to the DSLR world.  I introduced Shaye to all the photography vocabulary and concepts I view to be the minimum to start making good photographs on purpose.  I told her not to worry though, there are only four:  aperture, ISO, WB and focus mode.  Then, if the light and subject do not change, not even all of those settings need to be adjusted that often.  It is true photography is a complex art, but the number of things one has to balance to be good at that art are not as numerous as one might think.

We made our way out to Vinoy Park for the last quarter of the lesson and were treated to some very close swimbys by a pair of dolphins.  Despite trying to predict where they would surface next, we were unable to capture them in frame.  Two years ago I was at the exact same spot and was able to make a dolphin surfacing shot (see here).  

I covered a lot of photography topics during our 2-hour lesson and Shaye showed good understanding of how to start putting them all together in order to be able to make a satisfactory photograph in any given shooting situation.  She has only one lens now so through our discussions during the lesson it seems the next best lens for her would be a 50mm f/1.8 lens.  I always get excited anytime someone gets new gear, even if it's not me!

I look forward to seeing how Shaye applies the techniques I taught her today as she photographs her dogs and children.  

• More information about DSLR Photography Lessons with Jason
• Browse past lessons with Jason's dozens of photo students
• Read Jason's photography tips

Scott with his Canon XTi and Taryn with her brand new Nikon D5100 - St. Petersburg DSLR Photography LessonThis was my first time to teach a DSLR Photography Lesson to a brother and sister.  Taryn lives in St. Petersburg, but her brother, Scott, now resides in Amsterdam.  So while her brother was back visiting, and since she got a brand new Nikon D5100 as a mother's day present this year, all things fell into place for our lesson this morning, including massive humidity!  Scott had had his Canon XTi for awhile, but still was mostly using it in auto-mode.  Since he lives and travels around Europe so much helping him during the lesson get the most out of his DSLR will hopefully allow him to one day return to the U.S. with a fantastic European photograph portfolio.  

Photographing a great egret in downtown St. Petersburg during our DSLR Photography LessonWhile practicing how to photograph moving subjects and how to make a flash portrait in the shade, Scott used Taryn as a model and vice versa no doubt allowing for numerous outtake photos for each to have a laugh over.  We later came across a great egret that was too busy hunting its lunch (lizards) to be bothered much by the siblings getting some wildlife photography practice.  I instructed them to get down at eye level to the bird and to also remember to use portrait orientation for some shots, especially when its neck was elongated upwards.

It was a very fun and interesting two hours.  While Scott is soon to return to Amsterdam, I may see Taryn again for a future lesson.

--Professional Model DSLR Photography Lessons now available!

Jeni got a Nikon D5100 for her birthday replacing her old D50If my memory is correct, this was the first instance of a same day lesson, by that I mean I received a contact form inquiry from Jeni via my website when I woke up this morning, and then by 6:20pm this evening we were having our first DSLR Photography Lesson.  She received a brand new Nikon D5100 for her birthday this week.  She had a Nikon D50 previously, so she was not entirely new to the DSLR world.  However, like a majority of my past students, she was mostly only shooting on auto-mode, or one of the other preset modes.  I of course told her she will never use any of those again!

While teaching Jeni how to produce a photograph with bokeh, we made the unfortunate discovery that her Quantaray 70-300mm lens could not be autofocused by her D5100 as that DSLR lacks an in-body focusing motor.  So we manually focused that lens to produce one example of good bokeh for her to take note of in her notebook.  The notes she took should serve as a great reminder when she next goes out to shoot by herself.  The first lesson especially covers a lot of photography settings, so I would advise any future student to take notes as well.

We finished the lesson out at Vinoy Park just as the sun was setting behind the Vinoy Hotel itself.  Jeni is very interested in portrait photography, and has even done some for her friends already.  Since I am a big believer in strobist photography, I strongly suggested that the next piece of photography gear she invest in be an external flash.  Still, just using her Nikon D5100's pop-up flash we were able to practice making sunset portraits with decent results.  

Jeni has three young daughters so she has plenty of portrait volunteers to practice on at home!  I look forward to seeing her put to use the photography knowledge from our lesson!

--Professional Model DSLR Photography Lessons now available!