Strobist hibiscus photo with various Color Efex Pro 3 filters applied to it (original photo by Teresa)Teresa once again made the journey down from New Port Richey for our second DSLR Photography Lesson (the 1st). One of the best benefits of the Canon 7D over its less expensive Canon family members is its ability to trigger a flash off camera with no additional accessories. Now, perhaps setting the 7D up to trigger a Canon brand flash is easier, but with Teresa's Nissin flash we had a heck of time making it work despite having all the settings on the 7D and Nissin correct. What we discovered is the 7D must be in manual exposure mode for it all to work. This is strange, but actually ok since I prefer to shoot in manual mode for strobist photography anyway.
We had to use yours truly as the model for the first part of the lesson, and used the covered walkway in front of the Museum of Fine Arts as the location. I actually like that location a lot and have shot actual models there before. Using the flash off camera allowed Teresa to use her favorite lens, the Canon 70-200mm f/4 because the flash could be positioned close to the subject (me) while allowing her to be the necessary distance away from me to use the 70-200mm lens at its full 200mm focal length. I have spared you by not included the closeup shot of my face in this post!
A hibiscus bush in bloom was our last subject matter for the day (see above). After taking a few strobist shots of the flowers with me acting this time as the light stand, we went to the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce (of which I am a member) and used a conference room there for practicing editing. Teresa had gotten my favorite filter editing app, Color Efex Pro 3. I showed her the selected filters I use on almost every single photo I take, indoors or out (see this post for detailed info on my editing process).
In this way the three-hour lesson went by very quickly. We already have another three hour lesson scheduled for next week with more shooting and editing on the itinerary!