Nikon D40x

Nikon D90 & Nikon D40x DSLR Photography Lesson in St. Petersburg with Chris & Paul

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Chris & Paul showing good shooting form with their Nikons during our photography lesson in St. Petersburg FloridaI met Chris and his father-in-law Paul on a pleasant overcast St. Petersburg evening to help them both get off auto-mode on their Nikons.  Each of them had a few lenses and had been shooting for awhile, but they thought it was time to learn how to take more control over their DSLRs and that is exactly what my DSLR Photography Lessons are designed to do!

In addition to teaching my four step process for getting the exposure and focus right for any given shooting situation, I also teach several habits of the pro-photographer than anyone with a DSLR should emulate as well.  This starts with safely changing lenses, putting everything in the same place in your camera bag every time, always leaving your DSLR on until you put it away in your bag and of courrse how to properly hold your DSLR to maximize stability (see above stances).

Once again I did not have to be the model during this lesson as Chris & Paul took turns being the subject for each other as we ended the lesson with a little flash portrait practice using the scenic St. Petersburg harbor as the background at dusk.  I look forward to seeing how their photographs improve as they put the skills we covered to use to take more control over their shots!

DSLR Photography Lesson with Libby at Florida Botanical Gardens

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Macro photography especially requires you to check and change your settings constantly

My second DSLR Photography lesson with my youngest student, Libby (1st lesson), was my first time to have a lesson at the Florida Botanical Gardens, which turned out to be an excellent location.  We focused exclusively on macro photography this time, in particular, flowers.  We must have photographed ten different kinds of flowers in two hours, as well as different colors of some types.  We ran out of time before we ran out of subject material.  

Now with a DSLR you really need to have a dedicated macro lens to get the best macro photography results.  Unlike point-and-shoot digital cameras that are jack-of-all-trades, if you simply turn the settings dial on your DSLR to its macro mode (if it has one), this will not magically transform it into a camera capable of making a macro shot.  Therefore, I have no idea why camera makers have these "presets" on lower-end DSLR cameras.  

Libby did not have a dedicated macro lens, but we made due with what she had (17-50mm kit lens).  Besides having a macro lens, to be able to make a macro shot like you see in magazines you need a sturdy tripod and excellent lighting, like a ring flash of some kind.  Macro photography is hard.

However, it is great for getting a photographer to become obsessed with checking and changing settings, which I always tell my students to do.  You might be photographing a white flower in shade and next trying to photograph a purple flower in direct sunlight.  Significant settings changes are required to shoot in such varied conditions.  I bet Libby's thumbs were getting sore from changing aperture, ISO and exposure compensation so much!

I had a very good time exploring the gardens with Libby during our lesson and look forward to bring more students to this exciting new DSLR photography lesson location.   

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    • John's Pass Village DSLR Lesson with young Libby

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    John's Pass Village has convenient statues like this pirate for helping with a DSLR Photography Lesson

    Libby is my youngest DSLR Photography student to date.  She is a teenager with aspirations of a career in photography or journalism, or perhaps photojournalism?  Her parents told me she carried a camera (Nikon L100, superzoom model) with her everywhere she went.  I always like to hear things like that.  I was even more glad to hear that a generous family friend gave her his old Nikon D40x just the night before!  She did not have a lens that could autofocus on the D40x, so I let her use my Tamron XR Di II 17-50mm f/2.8 lens for the whole lesson.

    Her L100 had basically no manual functions so we started from the very beginning, which was an explanation of what aperture is and does.  In my own photography work, the setting I adjust first on my D300 is the aperture.  From that aperture foundation, I then base all the other settings the scene requires.  I try to instill this practice into all my DSLR photography students as well.  

    During our lesson at John's Pass Village, I revealed to Libby how shooting a shaded flower actually produces a better exposure than shooting a flower in direct sunlight.  Then if you add a bit of well placed flash into the equation, you can really bring out a flower's detail.  Of course, the best thing to do would be to just shoot the flower in natural sunrise or sunset light, but when that is not possible, shading the flower with your own shadow is a useful trick.  

    I had a very good time listening to Libby's plans for the future and seeing her excitement for photography.  I look forward to our next lesson and seeing what she has done with the skills she learned at John's Pass Village.