Rosa is the second student now to take six DSLR Photography Lessons with me (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th). She had some trouble photographing friends and family indoors, despite getting a very nice new lens, a Tamron 17-50mm VC f/2.8, the successor to a lens I use myself. So to simulate indoor shooting conditions we came up with the idea of shooting in a mall. I was a little concerned about breaking out DSLR cameras in a mall, but early in the lesson a security guard walked right by us and paid us no attention at all, which was a relief.
We started out trying to get the best results from the new fast lens she bought by shooting at f/2.8 with no flash and a somewhat high ISO of 800. These settings, combined with firm camera holding technique, allowed Rosa and I to get acceptable sharpness in our shots, like the one featured above.
This lesson was also a first for teaching photo editing also. Rosa brought her laptop and set it alongside my MacBook Pro on the table above and I showed her how I would go about editing some of the portraits she took. She had Adobe Photoshop Elements. It was my first time to use it, but since I am experienced with the full version of Photoshop, I was able to figure things out eventually. As important as it is to learn about aperture, ISO and white balance, I think it is equally important to learn editing skills too. I look forward to having another hybrid shooting/editing with Rosa soon.