Nikon D700 DSLR Photography student Barbie in downtown St. PetersburgI was first contacted by Barbie back in December. She sent a very enthusiastic e-mail. However, due to various circumstances, we were unable to have our first DSLR Photography Lesson until just today. Her enthusiasm never waned over those three months and resulted in today one of the most enjoyable lessons I have had in the nearly two years I have been offering 1-on-1 photography lessons in St. Petersburg. Barbie was just like I expected her to be from her impassioned e-mails. It is always nice to be around an enthusiastic person.
Barbie was given a very generous present late last year, a Nikon D700! The D700 is a pro-level DSLR and definitely not the usual camera one first ventures into the DSLR world with! So it is understandable to be a little intimidated by its complete lack of auto-exposure presets, labyrinth of menu settings and just overall physical girth. However, the ergonomics of the D700 are excellent allowing for quick changing of all the major settings: aperture, ISO, WB and focus mode, all of which have their own dedicated button or switch in the case of focus mode.
As of right now Barbie has just one lens, the Nikkor AF-S 70-300mm f/3.5-5.6G, so we mostly practiced making photographs with bokeh and photographing moving subjects, two things that lens is best suited for. I expect Barbie will soon be putting those skills to use to make action shots of her golden retrievers.
Barbie is already booked for three more lessons. I am sure with her enthusiasm and strong motivation to be able to photograph everyone around her, we will continue to have fun and knowledge filled photography lessons.