Photography Tips

DSLR Photography Lesson with Amy & Annette

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On the left Amy with her Nikon D3100 & Annette on the right with her Olympus E-510Very rarely do I teach anything other than 1-on-1 private DSLR Photography Lessons, but Amy asked if she could take a lesson with a friend who was also at a similar photography level so I said ok let's give it a try.  It worked out pretty well I think.  It was a beautiful sunny late morning in downtown St. Petersburg and the waterfront was pretty busy, but we mostly stuck to photographing the usual things I have first time students shoot, like the big tree next to the art museum, an imaginary car hood emblem, before moving on to photographing myself as a moving object and then finally some landscape and portrait practice out in Vinoy Park.  

Annette arrived a little be later in the lesson so I had Amy setup Annette with the settings we were about to begin shooting with.  Amy showed a very good memory in remembering them all clearly (f/5.6 ISO 100 WB SUNNY AF-S).  Annette could find her way around her Olympus E-510 pretty well so things moved quickly as we switched between different practice subjects.  

It was also interesting to hear about Annette's motorcycle racing hobby!  I look forward to seeing her new and improved shots of her husband zooming by at 150mph and to my next lessons with Amy & Annette (or perhaps individually). 

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    • DSLR Photography Lesson with Patti & her Nikon D3000

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    Patti showing good DSLR camera holding technique of her Nikon D3000, though she said it was uncomfortable . . .

    I started off this week with a morning lesson with new DSLR Photography student Patti in downtown St. Petersburg.  The weather was about as ideal as you can get in Florida, just warm enough, minimal humidity, and a decent breeze all around.  As you can see in the portrait above, there was not a cloud in the sky either.  

    Patti had taken a photography 101 class recently, so she knew her photography vocabulary pretty well and also her way around her Nikon D3000.  So during our first lesson I showed her how to put all those definitions and menu knowledge to practical use in a variety of common shooting situations.  We practiced good camera techniques as well, including just how to best hold a DSLR (left palm under the lens barrel, elbows firmly against one's sides) and how to set the focus and recompose using the rule of thirds.  

    I also showed Patti how to really pay attention to stray objects getting into the frame because not all DSLRs have 100% viewfinders, which means just because you do not see any tree branch poking into the right of the frame in the viewfinder, does not mean the camera does not see it.  Check your review screen on the back of the DSLR carefully to see if any intruders made their way in.

    Not only was it a photography lesson, but it was also a bit of a sightseeing lesson as Patti is still somewhat new to Florida and lives in Tampa.  I hope she returns to visit beautiful downtown St. Petersburg soon, perhaps for our next lesson? 

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    • Strobist DSLR Photography Lesson with Steve

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    Our setup for Steve's strobist off camera flash DSLR photography lesson right on the beautiful St. Petersburg waterfront

    Steve took his second DSLR Photography Lesson in as many weeks.  This time we focused entirely on off camera flash, or simply known as strobist.  This is currently my favorite thing about photography so it was really fun for me also to teach a lesson entirely on getting the flash of the camera.  

    Steve has a Canon XT and a third party flash.  We used my Yongnuo remote flash triggers and my tripod as a light stand.  I also put my HONL snoot onto his flash to help diffuse the light.  

    We had a number of laughs using ourselves as the models for the lesson.  Perhaps the biggest smile of all came when Steve began to realize how awesome, and how relatively easy, off camera flash photography is.  It is always very satisfying to share photography knowledge with such tangible results.

    I made this portrait of Steve using my Nikon D300 and his 3rd party flash (see setup above)

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    • DSLR Photography Lesson with Steve & his Canon XT

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    Steve recently stepped up from the point & shoot world to the DSLR world with his Canon XTWhen I first decided to offer DSLR photography lessons, I was thinking, "lots of people are buying DSLR cameras, but maybe realizing they are nowhere near as easy to use as their old point & shoot digital cameras.  There must be a market for people wanting to take lessons."  Steve fit exactly into that category.  He recently graduated from his point and shoot to a Canon XT with a pair of lenses and an external flash.  Like many people new to DSLRs, he was mostly using auto mode and not happy with the results.  The lessons I offer are designed to directly address that issue and get a person off auto mode forever (hopefully) after just a single 2-hour lesson.

    It is not often I meet someone who can talk about Rhode Island, but besides our photography conversation, we also talked about the Ocean State, which I welcomed.  Steve reminded me of places I had not thought of in over 20 years, like good old Rocky Point Park, which he said is no longer open.  Maybe it will turn into a haikyo?

    As is often the case, Steve was surprised and impressed with what one can do with an external flash in broad daylight.  We already have our next lesson scheduled for later this week! 

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    • DSLR Photography Lesson with Betty & her Canon T1i

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    Betty showing good camera holding technique and that it is possible to wear sunglasses at the same time!I met Betty at the usual downtown St. Petersburg spot for our first DSLR Photography Lesson together.  She has a Canon T1i, a DSLR I have gotten quite familiar with due to numerous students having that specific camera.  We went to many of the same spots I take first-time students too, but we also had a chance to do a little event photography practice as it was the day before Halloween and something was happening in the Straub Park areas.  We put both of her lenses to use throughout the lesson, including teaching good lens changing technique.

    Betty seemed to absorb all we covered during the 2-hour lesson very well and I am looking forward to seeing her improved photographs and our next lesson! 

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    • Photography Tip - always close your camera bag

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    This is a true story -- I was walking in downtown St. Petersburg toward The Pier with a student while we were having a lesson.  A woman with a Canon DSLR and large camera bag walked past us.  Ten seconds later we heard a crash and a scream.  The woman had not closed her camera bag all the way and some of her gear fell onto the sidewalk.  Even before this I was already obsessed with closing my camera bag immediately after taking out what I needed, even if I knew I would be going right back into my bag only a minute later.  It is a pain in the neck no doubt to zip and unzip and zip and unzip all the time, but that minor annoyance is nothing compared to the ill feeling that woman with the spilled gear might have felt.  

    Even if your camera bag is not in motion while left open, I still think it's dangerous.  In the photo above my camera bag is set in a chair.  I made sure it was firmly in the chair.  However, I have set countless things firmly in chairs, on countertops, totally sure there is no way those things could fall over, yet many have.  At least if my bag falls out of the chair closed, the ample, stiff padding of my Lowepro bag will protect it.  

    What if you see something interesting and you just grab your bag and head towards it?  If it's open you will maybe risk spilling stuff just grabbing it, or at the least you'll have to take a few seconds to close it up then go, which you may know in photography, a few seconds can make all the difference between getting a shot and getting nothing.

    Therefore, I recommend becoming obsessive about closing your camera bag right back up.

    Digital Photograph Editing Lesson with Eric

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    A New England wetlands scene edited using Aperture 3 - photo by Eric used with permissionFor Eric's second DSLR photography lesson (first), he brought some photos of his recent visit to various New England areas with him on his laptop.  We found a spot at an outdoor downtown St. Petersburg cafe and starting going through his shots made using his Nikon D300s.  The one featured above was taken when Eric hopped off his bike (bicycle) because he wanted to remember the beautiful scenery he was riding through.  Upon first look at the shot, I liked the sine wave shape of the treeline, but thought the foreground was dominating the image too much and not the best feature to focus one's eye on.

    So we began by making the panoramic crop you see above, that eliminated many of the distracting foreground elements, and also made a shot that was not taken at a wide angle appear to be of a much wider landscape.  Adjusting various filters added some contrast and tones to the marsh grass.  Painting with the polarizing brush in Aperture 3 brought back some blue to the sky.  

    This is another example of why I highly suggest that one learn how to shoot well and how to edit well simultaneously.  Eric cannot easily return to that marshland to frame the shot in a different way, but with editing skills he can improve a shot and make it look more like what he initially envisioned.

    For more on learning editing and shooting simultaneously check out this blog post featuring my own photo example.

    I look forward to seeing how Eric puts these editing skills to use in future shots. 

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