Vinoy Park St. Petersburg - Lisa with her Nikon D3100 & Tampa Bay in the backgroundI found out during our first DSLR Photography Lesson that Lisa is a very interesting person with many unique interests. One interest she wanted to increase her knowledge on was photography and specifically how to better use her Nikon D3100 to photograph all the details and textures that catch her eye. We met at the usual downtown St. Petersburg spot on a great Florida spring afternoon.
Living in Ybor City Lisa is never short of interesting places and things to go out and photograph. I told her that my default settings for just heading out the door in usual Florida weather and walking around are: f/5.6 ISO 200 (lowest for my DSLR) WB-sunny AF-S. After going shooting in any type of situation it is a good practice to return your DSLR to these settings before storing it in your camera bag.
Lisa was a fast learner and my pop quizzes asking her to tell me from memory what her D3100 was currently set to were all passes. Knowing without looking what your camera is set to is key for catching a shot that has only a few seconds of opportunity. Then of course being able to change the necessary settings in under five seconds is also key.
Linda and I ended up in Vinoy Park where its seawall offers a chance to use S-curve composition. Having an S-shaped line composed in your frame gives the viewer's eye something to follow throughout your image. Most often you see roads used as S-curves.
I look forward to seeing what photographs Lisa produces in Ybor City and later on her trip to Costa Rica!