Photography Lessons

Strobist Classroom Portrait at the Morean Arts Center

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Students of my Morean Arts Center photography class. Four speedlights (all the students) were used to make this group portrait. Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/6.3 ISO 200 1/320th commander mode triggered flashes (1/16th power)In this morning's photography class at the Morean Arts Center I introduced my students to off camera flash.  Since everyone in the class now shoots Nikon (after one coverted from Canon after the 2nd class!) and has a Nikon Speedlight of some kind, I was able to setup everyone's Nikons (a pair of D90 & D7000) to remotely trigger everyone else's speedlights (two SB-700, SB-910, SB-600) using the Nikon Creative Lighting System via commander mode.  That meant anytime anyone pressed their shutter, all four speedlights went off!  

Well, we actually started off with just a two speedlight setup with Anne volunteering to be a great model!  We concluded the class with my suggested 4-strobe experiment.  As you can see in the shot above, one speedlight was on a chair behind everyone, another speedlight under the table, a speedlight in a 43" shoot-through umbrella in front and another speedlight on a light stand to frame left.

I hope our fun strobist experiements encourages everyone to try off camera flash portraits before our next class!

1-on-1 Canon T1i DSLR Photography Lesson in St. Petersburg Florida with Jim

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Jim with his Canon T1i flashing my business card leaning against his Mini John Cooper Works

Jim cashed in his photography lesson gift certificate he received for Christmas this past Saturday.  I met him in the usual downtown St. Petersburg Florida spot for a 1-on-1 DSLR photography lesson with his Canon T1i.  When I saw him pull up in his Mini Cooper, John Cooper Works edition, I thought it would be great to use as the background for the portrait I make of each student as a lesson bonus.  

We began the lesson with me showing Jim how to get around his Canon in manual mode, being able to adjust the 5 settings necessary to make a well exposed and sharp shot in any given shooting conditions.  From there we made our way around the beautiful downtown St. Petersburg waterfront shooting while I offered instructions simultaneously, which I believe is the best way to learn photography.  

We also talked about cars and I enjoyed hearing Jim's story about how he got to drive his friend's Ferrari!

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

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Anne with her new Nikon D7000 in Vinoy Park during our 1-on-1 photography lessonThis morning I met Anne for a 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson in downtown St. Petersburg.  Currently, Anne is also taking my photography class at the Morean Arts Center.  She started the class with an older Canon DSLR, the only Canon shooter of the five students.  When her 18-55mm lens broke, and no doubt with a little suggestion by all the other Nikon shooters in the room, on my advice she invested in a Nikon D7000, a Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens (I own this lens myself) and the Nikkor 70-200mm VR lens, oh and a SB-700 Speedlight too!  

Having made this ecosystem change and wanting more in-depth 1-on-1 instruction, our 2-hours this morning were focused on suring up what we had already discussed in the group lessons and helping her get more familiar with Nikon as well.  In this style of learning, Anne caught on rather fast allowing me to introduce composition tips as well.  As we made our way out to Vinoy Park, I showed Anne the benefits of having a S-curve in the frame and how to use lines in general to move the viewer's eye across a photograph.

Anne is also learning how valuable it is to take just even ten photographs a day, as per the advice I gave everyone in the Morean photo class.  The goal of that is not to make portfolio shots, but to start memorizing the layout of your gear and to make adjusting for correct exposure instinctual rather than requiring concentrated thought.  I look forward to seeing Anne's progress next Tuesday in the classroom.

Sony A57 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson in St. Petersburg Florida with Jennifer

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Jennifer with her new Sony A57 DSLR camera during our first photography lesson in St. Petersburg, FloridaI met Jennifer with her new Sony A57 in downtown St. Petersburg for a 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson getting her prepared for an upcoming trip to Thailand!  I of course have been there twice so in between photography tips we talked a little about what it is like on that side of the world.  

I do not often get hands on with Sony DSLRs, which seem to feature newer technology than Nikons and Canons.  Jennifer's Sony A57 featured an electronic viewfinder, so when you hold the camera up to your eye, you are seeing a digital screen, not actually seeing through the lens.  This means things look underexposed in the viewfinder if your settings are not right.  It would take some getting used to for me to use a viewfinder like that.  It also does not have a moving mirror, so the camera is cable of 10 fps, which is very fast!

Jennifer will be getting an external flash to pair with her DSLR so we will meet up again once she adds to her photography gear collection!

Nikon D5000 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson in St. Petersburg Florida with Joe

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Joe with his newly acquired Nikon D5000 in North Straub Park during our first DSLR photography lessonI first met Joe over a year ago at an event I was shooting for Office Depot.  I have seen him subsequently at North Shore Dog Park where he brings his dog Tux.  His dog looks rather similar to my own beloved Kiki.  They play together very roughly at the park, but they both seem to have a lot of fun doing it!  Joe told me the other day he got a Nikon D5000 and said he would like to take a 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson.  

We met on a pleasant semi-winter Florida afternoon in downtown St. Petersburg where I helped Joe become familiar with his Nikon and how to change the necessary settings for making well exposed and sharp shots using the 18-55mm lens he has right now and giving him some advice on what lens he may wish to get next.  

During the lesson we went on a small tour of the downtown waterfront area starting at the Museum of Fine Arts and its kapok tree before eventually ending up in North Straub Park.  When Joe gets some new photography gear I will be seeing him again in this official capacity, and before then no doubt in the dog park too!

Morean Arts Center Intro to Photography Class Winter 2013

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Practicing using the meter and reading the histogram at my winter 2013 Morean Arts Center photo classLast week I started teaching a new intro to DSLR photography class at the Morean Arts Center in St. Petersburg, Florida.  For the winter class I have five students, up one from the fall class!  It is a diverse group of people though most have pretty much the same photography experience level.  In the first two classes I have spent much of the time teaching each student how to use her/his specific DSLR and getting them all setup and on the same page with being able to change all five settings necessary for making a well exposed and sharp shot in any given shooting conditions.  

We have now moved on to learning how to use the meter to get a pretty good idea of exposure before pushing the shutter, and then how to read the histogram to understand the exposure exactly after pressing the shutter.  One student volunteers to be the subject while the others practice.  The classroom has white walls and a dark gray wall making for two distinct backgrounds for portraits.  

For the third class I think we will be ready to venture outside and make some shots in the field!

Canon T3i 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson in downtown St. Petersburg Florida with Jeannie

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Jeannie with her Canon T3i practicing photographing moving subjects in downtown St. Petersburg FloridaOn a slightly cool Saturday morning I met Jeannie for our first of four 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lessons in downtown St. Petersburg getting her started with her new Canon T3i.  Like many of my hundreds of photography students, Jeannie just got her DSLR after only shooting with small, point and shoot cameras in the past.  She did some reading in a photography book before we met though, and following a suggestion I gave her on what to do before the first lesson, she familiarized herself with how to change aperture, shutter speed, ISO, WB and focus mode on her Canon T3i.  Every first lesson I teach, pretty much for a student of any level of experience, starts with me showing that person how to change key settings on their DSLR camera body.  After all, even if you have full knowledge of the five key things to making a well exposed and sharp photograph in any situation, if you do not know how to change those settings on your camera, it does no good.

The Canon T3i has enough dedicated buttons that the menu is not needed to change any of the five key settings, which is an advantage when it comes to being able to quickly change one, two or all five of those settings as a shooting opportunity arises.  We covered a lot of things in the first lesson, concluding with some moving subject practice.  Jeannie put on her Canon 70-300mm lens and with Saturday morning being very busy in downtown St. Pete, there were plenty of cyclists, etc to practice the moving subject shooting technique on.

Jeannie has already written to me saying she has been out practicing since our first lesson, which is very good, and will help her even more when we meet for our second of four lessons.