Photography Lessons

1-on-1 Nikon D60 DSLR Photography Lesson with Carol in downtown St. Petersburg Florida

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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!

1-on-1 Nikon D90 DSLR Photography Lesson with Raegan in downtown St. Petersburg Florida

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Raegan with her Nikon D90 in North Straub Park during our 1-on-1 DSLR photography lesson - St. Petersburg FloridaThe first true afternoon 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson of the fall was with Raegan and her Nikon D90, meeting at 3pm which would be unthinkable most months of the year in Florida.  She has had her D90 for quite sometime and had even taken other photography lessons in the past, but was still looking for a better way to tie together aperture, shutter speed and ISO.  Of course, that is exactly what my lessons aim to do from the get-go.

Since Raegan did have some photography knowledge to start with, and was already shooting in manual mode, I described to her my 5-step process for making a well exposed and sharp image in any chooting conditions in a bit more detail at first than usual.  In particular shutter speed limits, with those of course being in general 1/60th for still subjects and 1/500th for moving subjects.  Knowing those two limits is the key to eliminating blur and camera shake.  

We ended the lesson with a little flash portrait practice in North Straub Park along with a few composition tips that make a big difference in the final overall look of a portrait.  

I hope now that Raegan can confidently photograph her children in focus when they are sitting or moving, or both!

Behind the scenes at my Morean Arts Center photography class in St. Petersburg Florida

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The four ladies of my Tuesday morning photography class at Morean Arts Center in St. Petersburg, Florida.Last Tuesday I began my first ever classroom teaching of photography at the Morean Arts Center in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida (see Morean's full list of classes offered).  Before that I had taught hundreds of 1-on-1 photography lessons out in the field, very close to where Morean is actually.  I was not sure how it would be to teach photography from a mostly indoor setting and also to a group instead of an individual, but as of the second class today I am pleased to see that it is going surprisingly well.  We were able to do quite a bit of practice shooting from right inside the classroom today, which was good as it was raining a portion of our lesson time.  

The classroom covered in photographer gear and notes!The four ladies taking the class always have relevant questions to ask so having a whiteboard is very useful for getting into camera setting details as you can see in the above photo.  On the whiteboard is my five step process for shooting in manual exposure mode along with some suggested indoor settings.  Next week I think we will venture outside more, weather permitting as everyone is getting a good grasp on the ergonomics of using their DSLRs and how the process works for getting a good exposure in any given lighting condition.

Nikon D80 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson in St. Petersburg Florida with Frank

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Nikon D80 moving subject practice in downtown St. Petersburg FloridaMy first 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson of November 2012 was on a very pleasant morning in downtown St. Petersburg Florida meeting Frank and his pristine Nikon D80.  His DSLR was pristine because it had been sitting in a very safe case for a couple of years.  My lesson with Frank was to make sure his D80 keeps seeing the light of day!

For awhile now I have been starting out my photography students right in manual mode.  For a long time I had been starting them in aperture priority mode, but have changed my own teaching methodology.  I mean, shooting in manual mode only adds one more thing to the list of settings for making a well exposed and sharp shot in any giving shooting condition, so why not just go right to the real stuff?

Besides teaching the technical details of exposure, in a first DSLR photography lesson I also teach ergonomics, as in where the buttons are to change settings on that particular student's camera body, how to change lenses safely and how to stand and hold the camera to insure the most stable shooting position.  All these things to me matter just as much as knowing you should use AF-C for moving subjects rather than AF-S.

I hope after our lesson Frank enjoys using his Nikon D80 to make beautiful photos of Florida and it only stays in the case between locations!

Nikon D7000 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson in St. Petersburg Florida exposure & composition

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Shooting in an urban environment with a Nikon D7000 during a 1-on-1 photography lesson in St. Petersburg FloridaLong-time dog park friend and current 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson student, Mari, has had two weeks to practice since our last lesson, and she certainly has been doing her homework as she is now showing a good grasp of how to shoot in manual mode on her Nikon D7000.  After she read my photography tip on default daylight settings something seemed to click and now she can consistently adjust her exposure settings (aperture, shutter speed, ISO) to produce the exact kind of results she wants, be it a neutral, over or under exposed image.  This allowed us to start to really focus more on composition and "seeing" shots as we walked around downtown St. Petersburg.

Mari will soon be getting a new telephoto lens so our next lesson will no doubt feature birds, hopefully in flight!

Nikon D7000 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson in St. Petersburg Florida manual shooting

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Photographing downtown St. Petersburg waterfall with Nikon D7000 during 1-on-1 photography lessonFor our second of four 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lessons I met Kathy in donwtown St. Petersburg and continued where we left off the other day on helping her shoot in manual mode with her Nikon D7000.  This time we went into the city to practice making urban and architecture shots.  It also allowed us to stay in the shade of the tall buildings and avoid the still very hot Florida October afternoon sun!

As this was our second lesson together, each time we would go to a different spot I would quiz Kathy on what settings should be changed in order to get a well exposed and sharp shot.  I wanted her to get into thinking on her own how exposure works.  Instead of just telling her that when her shot came out dark to change the shutter speed from 1/200th to 1/125th, I asked her what she thinks the new shutter speed should be.  Thus, in this way even when I am not there she will know how to adjust her shots.  The goal is not to make a perfect shot the first time, every time, but rather to be able to within one or two shots, get the exposure perfect.  This allows a photographer to make a great shot in any conditions and not try to memorize which settings for which kind of shot, which would be impossible to do anyway!

Lessons resume with Kathy next week as she practices on her own over the weekend.

Nikon D7000 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson in St. Petersburg Florida with Kathy

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Kathy with her Nikon D7000 during our first DSLR Photography Lesson in St. Petersburg FloridaOn a sunny October afternoon I met Kathy for our first of four 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lessons with her Nikon D7000 in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida.  She had a Nikon D70 for many years, but only used it on auto-mode.  Then when she got the D7000 a few months ago, she was using that on auto-mode also so during our lessons I will help her leave auto-mode behind for good.  In fact, within thiry minutes of our lesson today I had her shooting in manual mode for both still and moving subjects.

The Nikon D7000 has two convenient dials for quickly changing aperture and shutter speed, and a top LCD for quickly checking all important settings (aperture, shutter speed, ISO, WB, focus mode) at a glance.  I advised Kathy to not hunt all around the camera for checking settings, but instead simply just refer to that convenient top LCD display each and every time.  

I was also able to help clear up a misconception many of my students have concerning focus and focus mode.  Many come to me thinking they have to manually focus shots in manual exposure mode, or that auto-focus is only used for certain kinds of shots.  Of course focus mode has no effect on exposure and auto-focus is pretty much always used.  Manual exposure mode is very useful, manual focus mode is hardly ever used anymore.  

I look forward to my next lesson with Kathy which is already set for tomorrow, same time, same location!