Photography Tips

DSLR Photography Lesson with Chris at St. Petersburg Saturday Market

in

Chris (Topaz Adjusted) photographing some crafts at the St. Petersburg Saturday Market

The return of sunshine to Saint Petersburg brought with it a first DSLR Photography Lesson with Chris, a new Nikon D90 owner, as well as Tamron XR Di II 17-50mm f/2.8 lens owner, and even a new Nikon Speedlight SB-600 owner.  Does some of this gear sound familiar?  That might be because I also use the same Tamron lens and Nikon Speedlight for a majority of my professional photography work.  Chris took my advice to buy the D90 body only, eschewing the kit lens package, and going right for a very quality, and affordable lens in the Tamron 17-50mm.  

Chris had some photography knowledge and was fairly well practiced with adjusting settings on his D90, he even asked for homework before our first lesson!  I can tell you teachers really love to give homework, so I was happy to oblige.  So our lesson got off to a fairly in-depth discussion of photography techniques and theory.  

Taking a break from the Saturday Market crowds to photograph some sun thirsty flowers hiding behind some bushes.

The time passed by very quickly and we had just a little time left to practice off camera flash portraits.  This is something we will practice more in our next lesson for sure.  Chris is already well on his way to making photography a regular creative outlet and pursuit.  I look forward to assigning him some more homework!

An eventful 2nd DSLR Photography Lesson with Kelley in downtown Saint Petersburg

in

As we were setting up to practice off camera flash, this woman offered to be our model!My second DSLR Photography Lesson with Kelley was most unusual, which made it most enjoyable.  We covered a wide range of photography skills, from manual focus of a staged action, to fast moving action, to street photography, to actual model shooting!  The latter happened while we were setting up near Central Avenue to practice some more off camera flash portrait shooting techniques.  A group of three people walked by, including the above woman, and she offered to be a model for us!  This saved me from having to do all the posing for Kelley's practice so I was very thankful.  We both liked this so much, that are already booked third lesson will focus on seeing how many of these "street models" we can get!

Behold, Kelley brought with him the new Canon 100mm f/2.8 L macro lens!

The big news was Kelley's purchase of two new lenses, both Canon L series lenses, the 100mm macro IS lens, and the 35mm f/1.4 prime lens!  Such investment in high quality lenses will secure at least ten years of great images produced using them.  There was rather a dearth of pleasing macro subjects, but we did stumble upon a few scraggly blossoms to get a tiny bit of macro practice on.  

Kelley proved to not be shy in asking a second woman to be a street model for us.  I was impressed.  Once we get the kinks ironed out of the off camera flash situation with his kit, we will be right back into the street model genre for our third lesson next week.  I like Kelley's ambition and commitment to unusual types of photography.

Andrea's 3rd DSLR Photography Lesson - Ft. Desoto with her dogs!

in

Lilly & Mindy were the models for this DSLR Photography Lesson at Ft. Desoto Park in Saint Petersburg

This was my first time to teach a DSLR Photography Lesson at Ft. Desoto Park, a nice change of scenery on a finally warm, true Florida day.  This was my third lesson with Andrea (1st, 2nd).  She was not alone during this lesson as she brought her dogs, Lilly (above left, very energetic, a good kisser) and Mindy (above right, contemplative, purposeful).  During our first two lessons Andrea showed me some photos she made of her dogs, and I suggested ways to improve them, but there is nothing like actually practicing it during a lesson.  

Photographing a fast running dog in harsh Florida sunlight can be a challenge.  I stressed to Danielle that dialing in the right settings is important, but just as important is positioning yourself with your back to the sun as much as possible and trying to photograph your dog from a non-straight-coming-at-you angle since it is more of a challenge for any DSLR to get a focus lock on a subject coming directly into the lens.  To also compensate for the strong sunlight we set our exposure compensations to -0.7.  

 Making a portrait with two dogs can be quite the challenge, and you never know when someone else will pop into the shot!

In the end Andrea was able to get an especially good shot of Lilly running and a nice portrait of Mindy resting in some shade.  Our fourth lesson is already scheduled and we will focus on much easier subject matter - landscapes, with an eye on composition.

Andrea is absorbing a lot of photography knowledge well, all things considered, and it was real fun to have her dogs with us during the lesson!

DSLR Photography Lesson with Kelley in St. Petersburg

in

Kelley with his brand new Canon 7D after practicing some off camera flash work.This morning Kelley and I caught a break in the weather to fit our first DSLR Photography Lesson into nicely.  The first half of the lesson was actually in warm Florida sunshine.  Clouds did roll it, but once again the rain held off until after the lesson.  Of course the wind took no rest and batted us pretty well, especially once we ventured out to the tip of Vinoy Park.  Kelley was one of the most advanced students I have taught to date, although we did brush up on some aperture, DoF and shutter speed basics first.  Soon though we were off into the exciting world of off camera flash with his Nissin speedlight and Canon 7D!

Not exactly a sitting duck, but this docile pelican was perfectly placed for nature photography practice.

Kelley works in graphic design & video, and his company bestowed upon him the title of company photographer as well.  So he wanted to learn how to produce photographs similar to ads his company used in the past.  He came to our lesson the most prepared of any student so far with a list of questions, samples of shots he wanted to learn how to make and even some printed out examples of my own photographs to ask how I made them.  I was impressed with his enthusiasm.  

By the end of the lesson Kelley was using me as his model to practice off camera flash shots with for future model & product shots.  I had him take the exact same shot without flash just to see the huge difference one small speedlight placed off camera can make.  I always like presenting these reveals to students.  I still get excited about using off camera flash myself!  

Kelley and I already booked our next lesson, and there is the possibility he will have bought new lenses by then too!  Naturally I always get really excited about new gear purchases, even if they are not for me, so I am looking forward to seeing what Kelley brings.  It was a very fun lesson.  Thanks!

Andrea's second DSLR Photography lesson at Sunken Gardens

in

Solid proof of a DSLR Photography lesson in Sunken Gardens, which lately is more sunken than garden!

Andrea's schedule changed allowing us to have our second DSLR Photography Lesson this week.  After having explored downtown Saint Petersburg in our first lesson, for the second we went to Sunken Gardens.  We started out reviewing some photographs of her dogs she had made in her backyard and what camera settings could have been used to improve their sharpness.  Later we put this to practical practice with me taking on the part of running dog!  

Another focus of this lesson was finding what light helps us get the best exposure, focus lock and color saturation.  Often photographing the flower in most direct sunlight is not as good as photographing the one next to it in shade.  We also added a new setting to our photographer's toolkit -- exposure compensation.  A flamingo was standing in direct sunlight, and with the usual acceptable camera settings, there was no detail in the feathers.  So I had Andrea adjust the exposure compensation on her Nikon D3000 to -0.07 and then in the next shot we could see details in all the flamingo's feathers and more of the feathers' pink color.

We have already booked our next lesson (thank you Andrea!), and thankfully Andrea will be bringing her dogs as we will go to Ft. Desoto's Dog Park and Dog Beach, which means I do not have to do anymore running!  

Andrea's Birthday Present DSLR Photography Lesson

in

Andrea got a Nikon D3000 and my DSLR Photography Lesson as her birthday presents!

The second lesson in a row that was given as a birthday present!  Not only was Andrea given a 2-hour DSLR Photography Lesson with me for her birthday, but even better a Nikon D3000!  Andrea loves to travel abroad, often going to Central America, but has traveled in Asia a lot too.  Part of the reason why she wanted to make the jump to a DSLR camera and to learn how to use it, was to be able to better make photographs on her travels.  This also was one of the main reasons for getting into photography for myself, I wanted to have photographic records of my international travel that I could look back on years later and relive my travel experiences and share them with others.  

Andrea practicing the underhand lens grip that is best for getting a steady shot, but do not forget to lock that elbow in too!

I found Andrea's Nikon D3000 to have responsive menus and fast action for zooming in and around images on the back LCD.  My first Nikon, the D80, had considerable lag making reviewing images feel like your camera is stuck in molasses.  Andrea, with my coaching, practiced switching settings on her D3000 for action shots to landscapes.  We covered a lot of settings for a first lesson and with continued practice I am sure Andrea will be able to setup a landscape shot right after shooting action in no time.  Andrea mentioned a possible trip to Ecuador this summer so I hope our lessons together can enable her to come home with some amazing photographs!  I look forward to our next lesson and further helping her toward reaching that goal.  

DSLR Photography Lesson with Julie in Saint Petersburg

in

With each DSLR Photography Lesson you also get one portrait included!

Julie received her DSLR Photography Lesson as a gift, which is starting to turn into the most popular way for me to get new students.  A person's significant other sends me an e-mail or gives me a call asking if they can give a lesson as a gift, I say absolutely, boom, a lucky person becomes the recipient of a fairly creative gift idea if I do say so myself.  

Julie really likes to take pictures, and has taken quite a few good shots, but I began to teach her today how to make photographs by taking control of her DSLR, a Canon XTi.  Like many of my students, she was using the various preset modes on her DSLR, but was not satisfied with the results "sports mode" or any of the other modes produced.  So we went right into aperture priority mode and said good-bye forever to the little icon of the guy running on the XTi mode dial.  

During this first lesson we mostly focused on the meaning of aperture and how to set it for photographing still or moving objects.  Added in was making sure to use the correct focus mode and the right ISO, and of course white balance too.  Lastly, we briefly touched on the virtue of external flash, which is how I was able to make the above portrait of Julie in broad daylight.

Julie absorbed a lot in our first lesson--I was impressed--and is ready to go out and practice on her own before we have our second lesson.  Now, will her significant other give her the second lesson as a gift too or . . . ?