Carol with her Nikon D60 during our 1-on-1 photography lesson in downtown St. Petersburg, FloridaIt was another afternoon time 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson in downtown St. Petersburg on a fine December day with Carol and her Nikon D60. She had her D60 for awhile, but like many of my photography students, was only using it on auto-mode. Having other recent experience with the Nikon D60, I confirmed again that its meter can easily be tricked into producing lackluster results. This was apparent when making the exact same shot in manual mode and aperture priority mode back-to-back. Thus, I am more convinced than ever that even my beginner students should start out learning how to shoot in full manual mode.
While teaching Carol my field tested 5-step process for making a well exposed and sharp image in any shooting conditions we visited the St. Petersburg marina area, the Museum of Fine Arts and ended up in North Straub Park for a little natural light portrait practice in the shade using a 200mm focal length.
I look forward to hearing how Carol now loves manual mode and never has to return to auto-mode again, I hope!