Emily & her Canon XSi - f/5.6 ISO 200 1/160th SB-600 handheld off camera; processing in Color Efex Pro 3 & Topaz Adjust 3
Emily got her Canon XSi about a year ago. She knew her way around her camera pretty well, and she even took about 6 weeks of classroom photography lessons. However, once you are out on your own with your camera, that is a whole other thing, which is why I offer 1-on-1 private DSLR Photography Lessons where we actually learn and shoot at the same time.
Emily had a lens I had not had any hands on experience with yet, the Tamron 10-24mm ultra wide. John's Pass Village does not have many sweeping landscapes, but having an ultra wide angle lens is still great for photographing all its colorful shop fronts.
We covered many of the usual things I do with a student on her/his first lesson, like controlling DoF (depth of focus) using aperture and focal length, positioning yourself with your back to the sun whenever possible, and some basic composition techniques like the rule of thirds.
Emily also had an external flash, so we ended the lesson with some portrait practice. I had Emily use her flash and not use her flash for the exact same portrait to show the different having an external flash can make.
Emily is new to Florida so it was fun to see excitement at seeing dolphins, etc. I look forward to showing her more of what Pinellas County has to offer and helping her make even better photographs with her Canon XSi.