Photography Tips

DSLR Photography Lesson with Aaron and his Nikon D300

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Nikon D300 Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D @ f/4 ISO 400 1/200th Strobist: Nikon SB-600 Speedlight with diffuser cap in TTL mode triggered by commander mode handheldAaron used some bargain hunting skills to get himself a used Nikon D300 for a very good price.  He then went and got the well received Nikkor AF-S 35mm f/1.8G lens.  Since I have shot with a Nikon D300 myself for the past year and half I know the DSLR very well.  We started the lesson going through very specific menu settings that I have honed over time via my own experiences with the camera and things I heard from other photography podcasts.  

As always, weather was an issue, but we got really lucky with the rain.  It was raining before the 5:30pm lesson, and poured at 7:45pm, but in the middle there was only a slight sprinkle for a few minutes, so no real threat to our gear.  

Nikon D300 Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D @ f/4 ISO 400 1/200th Strobist: Nikon SB-600 Speedlight with diffuser cap in TTL mode triggered by commander mode handheld

Since Aaron was using his fast 35mm and I was using my fast 50mm, we spent a lot of time talking about DoF (depth of field) and controlling the background in shots.  We did not stick with large apertures though as Aaron was also interested in how to use his 35mm lens for landscapes.  I just had him use f/11 and showed him very steady handholding techniques (since he had no tripod with him) as well as where to set his focus (1/3 of the way into the shot) and in the overcast conditions he was still able to produce some nice landscapes of the harbor in front of The Pier.  

I also stressed the rule of thirds composition guidelines, especially for when using one's camera in portrait orientation.  Basically that means not putting the horizon in the dead center, but rather the upper or lower third of the frame.  

Aaron has an interest in portraits which will probably be the focus of our next lesson.  

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    • DSLR Photography Lesson #2 on The Pier with Henry & his Sony Alpha A230

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    Henry setting up a shot using his Sony Alpha A230 and newly acquired Tamron 70-300mm lens on The Pier in St. Petersburg

    Henry took his first DSLR Photography Lesson with me back in April.  Then he had no telephoto lens.  After the lesson he began doing research into which lens to get and last week his new Tamron 70-300mm f/4-f/5.6 lens for his Sony Alpha A230 came in.  This was all just in time (lens arrival and our 2nd lesson) before his big trip to Costa Rica today.  Rain was definitely threatening out ability to have a lesson out on The Pier, but in the end we were pretty lucky having plenty of time to practice using his new lens outside before the rain returned and we took cover in a very deserted Pier food court.  

    It was very overcast outside, so I had Henry adjust his exposure compensation to give his shots a little extra light.  A number of pelicans and some trash eating birds were our practice subject matter.  His new Tamron lens had a macro setting which we turned on some old screws in a forgotten section of a lower dock.  Macro photography and external flash are definitely linked, and I showed Henry that how you point the light direction makes for a very different photograph.  We found that bouncing the light off the white wall that was connected to the dock produced a very pleasing light fall off across our exposed screw subject matter.  If there is no white wall next to what you want to shoot?  Well, just have an assistant hold a reflector for you!

    The last part of the lesson was a surreal off camera flash lesson inside The Pier itself, mostly in the food court area.  I cannot say I had ever been in a more abandoned feeling public place in Florida before.  Not a single customer in the entire food court.  This was good for us as we were able to take up all the space we wanted to in practicing off camera flash with appropriate white balance in mixed/horrid lighting conditions.  

    I am looking forward to seeing Henry's shots of Costa Rica when he returns. 

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    • DSLR Photography Lesson with Jordan & her new Nikon D3000

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    Jordan was very excited to enter the DSLR world with her Nikon D3000I sometimes get DSLR Photography Lesson inquiries before the student even owns a DLSR.  Sometimes they even call me from Best Buy asking which camera to buy and when can they take their first lesson!  Obviously I always recommend the Nikon D3s, but then it seems no one has a $5,000 budget, so then I recommend them something a bit more reasonable.  Things were alone this line before Jordan and I had our first lesson together yesterday.  She had recently bought a super zoom point and shoot, but was wondering if she should have gotten a DSLR.  Since she could still return the P&S so I recommended Nikon's entry level DSLR, the D3000.  She bought it with the 18-55mm kit lens, along with a couple of other small accessories.  

    The enthusiasm she showed in her e-mails before the first lesson carried over into the lesson itself as she was anxious to learn as much as I could teach her during the 2-hour lesson.  We covered all the things I usually do in a first lesson (using aperture priority mode, set focus mode, ISO, WB for a number of shooting situations, etc) but also how to use exposure compensation to try and stem the harsh midday lighting conditions on a summer Florida Saturday.  

    As we walked along the downtown waterfront area toward Vinoy Park we talked about photography and how she hopes to connect it to all the interesting people around her.  Even though we did get stuck in a bit of rain at the end of the lesson, we still took shelter under some trees to get in some flash portrait practice.  I look forward to our next lesson and seeing what gear Jordan buys between now and then. 

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    • Aperture Digital Photograph Editing Lesson with Kathleen

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    Photo by Kathleen, Editing by Jason - red barn in Ohio before and after using Aperture & PhotoshopMy DSLR Photography students are increasingly wanting to learn how to edit their photographs, in addition to how to use their DSLRs out in the field.  I am of course very happy about this as I highly recommend learning to shoot and edit simultaneously (read here).  I always say that publishing and printing photographs "straight out of the camera" or "getting everything right in camera" are nice myths that never existed, not even in the film days.  Of course one should show skill in the field and produce a very well exposed and composed shot in camera.  I do believe in the common axim of today that one should not think, "oh, I'll just fix that in Photoshop later."  If you realize a flaw in the field, do your best to get it fixed/corrected right then and there.  I often shoot weddings on beaches, if I can pause for 5 seconds to let a person passing by in the background get out of the frame, I will totally do that rather than thinking, "I'll just clone them out at home."  Cloning out the person would take a lot longer than 5 seconds!

    Kathleen took a shooting-based DSLR photography lesson back in early June.  Since then she had been shooting some scenery in Ohio, including old barns (above).  She requested a lesson on editing and since she is an Aperture user as I am, I could show her my exact workflow from importing photographs to producing a finished photograph.  We also mixed in Photoshop (Elements) into her workflow from right within Aperture.  

    The red barn is her photograph.  What I showed her in Aperture was getting the exposure and contrast corrected to remove what I call the "gray film" that coats many digital photographs, especially those taken on overcast days.  Note the overall lack of a dull gray cast on the bottom photo.  This is usually the number one flaw I see in people's digital photographs, the dull gray film coating.  

    Next we gave the image a little pop using the vibrancy slider in Aperture and then started to bring in some details using the definition slider.  At that point we exported the image to Photoshop (Elements for her, CS5 for me) right from within Aperture and worked on selective editing.  We selected the red barn walls and adjusted the contrast just on that part to bring in even more detail and pop without effecting the rest of the image.  We did the same to the roof, but that did not cause much change.  Lastly, we applied unsharp mask (my preferred sharpening method) which brought even more detail, especially in the window shutters.  

    I also taught Kathleen all the keyboard shortcuts that are massive time savers when using complicated, multi-tool apps like Aperture and Photoshop.  She filled a whole notebook page with them.  We have already scheduled our next editing lesson for two weeks from now! 

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    • Photography Tip - always wear appropriate footwear

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    Waterproof trail running shoes make great go anywhere do anything photography gear

    All of my adolescent and adult life I have worn very high quality footwear.  I believe in this strongly.  When I see the flip-flop wearing trend of recent years I just cannot fathom it.  Never in my life have I ever exposed my toes to trauma, or filth, in public.  Footwear is also a key piece of photography gear.  Yesterday I was out trekking in Brooker Creek Preserve.  A sign said that some of the 2-mile trail may be flooded as they want to keep the natural trail grade.  For the first half mile I did not even see any mud, but the middle mile was walking down a track of 2-5inches of water over a bed of what looked like green angel hair pasta.  The trail was not such that one could just skirt around the water the whole time.  Mostly the water was unavoidable.  

    If I had not been wearing my dominant Salomon XA Pro 3D Ultra GTX trail running shoes (they have a waterproof Goretex XCR membrane) I would have had to of either turn back and not get any shots that day, or walk a mile with soggy socks.  I had no idea that the trail would be flooded, but I knew that hiking anytime in Florida's forests in summertime means that flooded paths are possible.  

    Not only do my Salomon's protect me from water, but their cushioning and support help me get through all day wedding jobs as well.  They are one more piece of gear that I have absolute confidence in, which in turns contributes to my overall confidence in my ability to do photography.  When I am doing photography work, I want to have no weak links in either my camera bag or on my person.  Thus, to me, wearing the right footwear for a job is as important as using the right lens.

    What is your footwear of choice for what kind of photography?  I have worn Salomon's for the past seven years and they keep getting better with each new model.

    Tripod DSLR Photography Lesson from The Pier with Cindy

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    Cindy from atop The Pier with her Canon T1i mounted on her new carbon fiber tripod!

    My DSLR Photography students continue to accumulate new gear, which is exciting for me too!  For out second lesson Cindy got a Benro carbon fiber tripod, no small investment.  Coincidentally, this was the second tripod based DSLR Photography Lesson I taught this week.  It's funny how such themed lessons, that are themselves rare, happen so close to each other.  The same thing happened with 50mm lens lessons earlier this summer.

    Despite our 10am lesson time start, things up on the roof of The Pier (5th story) were not that hot as there was a constant breeze and the sun was to our backs.  That latter fact helped us with photographing the downtown St. Petersburg skyline.  Not only did Cindy get a new tripod, she also got a cable release and wireless remote control, two very useful items that are very wise to pair with a tripod purchase, especially the cable release.  

    We actually started out by figuring out how to setup her Benro carbon fiber tripod including locking the legs securely into place and adjusting the ball head, not to mention securely tightening the mount plate to the bottom of her Canon T1i.  

    After shooting from all angles on the roof, we headed down to photograph some pelicans looking into the sun.  We did this because Cindy asked me what happens if on her trip to Alaska next year the whales are backlit by the sun.  Obviously it is not ideal at all to have backlit subjects, but getting such a subject decently exposed is still possible by adjusting the exposure compensation, usually the +/- button.  This will of course blow out the sky and overexpose much of the image, but getting the whale, or in our case yesterday, a pelican, exposed well enough to see details, not just a silhouette.   

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    • DSLR Photography Lesson feedback from Rossie

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    Rossie and I had our first DSLR photography lesson together last Thursday.  Using his great illustrator skills he sent me feedback about the lesson in the form you see above.  It is reposted with his permission.  

    First I want to thank Rossie very much for taking the time to not only provide feedback, but also doing it in such an artistic way.  

    To be honest, teaching DSLR photography lessons makes up only a very small percent of my photography income, but I do it because I really like to meet people with an interest in photography and help them anyway I can to expand their photography knowledge.  

    I know when I started out with my first DSLR (Nikon D80) I thought it would be like a magic wand I could just wave around and produce National Geographic covers one right after another.  In reality, the first time I went out with it I could not even get a pigeon shot in focus!  I learned by going out every day on my own taking hundreds of shots and learning by trial and error.  So now one of my aims with the DSLR photography lessons I offer is to provide the opportunity for people to get a head start with 1-on-1 real world instruction, rather than to have to go through what I did the first few weeks after owning a DSLR camera. 

    Of course I, myself, still often learn from more experienced photographers in the area and online and continue to try and teach myself new techniques and styles.  For example, in the past few weeks I started to use a two-strobe setup for portrait work (in the past I just used a one-strobe setup).  I will be posting some of those shots soon.

    Thank you again to Rossie and for all the comments I have received from other past DSLR photography students.   

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