Photography Tips

DSLR Photography Lesson with Golda & her Canon XTi

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Golda photographing in the twilight sky of downtown St. Petersburg during our DSLR photography lessonI am starting to really like having DSLR Photography Lessons start at 7pm as the final 30-minutes of the lesson carries us into twilight.  Such was the case for my first of four lessons with Golda in downtown St. Petersburg.  She has had her Canon XTi for years, but for years was just using the various auto-modes.  In a total 180, I had her shooting in manual mode most of the time and she caught on quickly.  Having never really changed any settings on her DSLR before, she remembered surprisingly well how to adjust aperture, shutter speed, ISO, white balance and focus mode in the ever changing light of a Florida sunset sky.

Quick photo tip: flash lights your subject, aperture & shutter speed control ambient light in portraits like thisAs we made our way toward Vinoy Park to photograph The Pier and the the downtown St. Petersburg skyline we practiced some action shots and talked more about the relationship between aperture, shutter speed and exposure while in manual mode.  Once at Vinoy Park, we were treated to a typically vivid sunset and then later twilight sky.  Despite having no tripod, I showed Golda how to as steadily as possible hold a DSLR for a low-light landscape shot.  We finished with a quick practice of flash portraits which we will resume in our next lesson.

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    DSLR Photography Lesson with Daniel & his Canon 60D

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    Daniel practices an indoor shot with his Canon 60D & 70-300mm lens inside a St. Petersburg Panera Bread due to rainIt was a most unusual first DSLR Photography Lesson with Daniel last Friday evening.  In fact it was the first time I had an entirely indoors, sit-down photo lesson that was not focused on editing digital photos.  This was due to Daniel being short on time before he left for a south Florida vacation and Friday's all-day rain not allowing for the usual downtown St. Petersburg walkabout.  However, if anyone I had previously taught was more well suited for this type of lesson, then I cannot think of who.  

    The sit-down lesson style allowed Daniel to ask many technical questions about what settings for what situations.  We were able to delve into photography theory quite a bit.  There was a lot of info and numbers spoken of, but Daniel says he has an outstanding memory (and I believe him) so I really think he will be able to put all of the above to practical use in the field.  

    Despite being within the confines of a Panera Bread, we still had the opportunity for shooting practice (see above photo).

    Canon 70-300mm EF f/4-5.6 IS lens -- if you do not want to spend $2,000 then this is the Canon telephoto lens to getI taught Daniel how to use his Canon 70-30mm EF f/4-5.6 IS lens in low light, how to use it to produce a shot with bokeh, how to best it and what minimum shutter speeds he could expect to use and still get a sharp shot.  After that we popped up the flash on his Canon 60D to see how that affected the same shots we had previously took.  

    Once Daniel returns from vacation I look forward to our first in the field lesson and seeing how he applies all that tech and theory knowledge in practical shooting.

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    DSLR Photography Lesson with Cherryl & her new Nikon D5000

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    Cherryl with her new Nikon D5000 during our first DSLR Photography Lesson in downtown St. PetersburgWith this point in the summer in Florida, one always has to keep an eye to the sky for rain.  I would say that for our first DSLR Photography Lesson together, Cherryl and I were 80% lucky.  There were definitely rainstorms all around downtown St. Petersburg, but for the first 100 minutes of our two-hour lesson they merely provided a pleasant overcast sky and a nice breeze.  During this time I introduced Cherryl to the photography terms one needs to know before pressing the shutter in any kind of purposefulness.  

    We also spent a lot of time practicing how to get the subject of a photograph in focus, both when moving and when not.  There is a bit of finger skill one must demonstrate with the shutter, specifically the ability to keep it pressed half way down the entire time during composing the shot, and not releasing it until you have the shot you want.  When photographing a moving subject one never releases the shutter from the half way position the entire time.  

    With further practice this skill set will come easier to Cherryl and I look forward to seeing some great soccer action shots!

    About the last 20-minutes of our lesson . . . well, the rain came but we took shelter in front of the Chihuly Museum and ended the lesson as I would have rain or shine, with some flash portrait practice.  I was impressed with the range of the pop-up flash on Cherryl's Nikon D5000. 

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    Digital Photograph Editing Lesson with Chris

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    Selective contrast edits in Photoshop can make a big impact on your photos - image used by permission 

    Chris took his first DSLR Photography Lesson on Tuesday where we went out into the field to practice shooting.  For our second of four lessons Chris wanted to learn digital photograph editing, which I believe is a very wise thing to do (read more here about my feelings on learning shooting & editing at the same time).

    The cruise ship is Chris' own photograph.  The original is well composed with good contrast in the foreground plants.  However, the cruise ship itself appears to be covered in a haze.  I taught Chris the following techniques using Photoshop CS5 to selectively enhance the cruise ship first, then the water, then finally the sky.

    For the Cruise Ship: 

    • Use the Quick Select Tool (W) to select the entire cruise ship
    • Go to Images --> Adjustments --> Brightness/Contrast
    • Increase contrast to your preference 

    For the Water: 

    • Use the Quick Select Tool (W) to select the entire water area
    • Go to Images --> Adjustments --> Brightness/Contrast
    • Increase contrast to your preference
    • Go to Images --> Adjustments --> Color Balance (Command-B)
    • Enhance the color sliders to your preference

    For the Sky: 

    • Use the Quick Select Tool (W) to select the entire sky
    • Go to Images --> Adjustments --> Color Balance
    • Enhance the color sliders to your preference

    The real key to this type of digital photo editing is the use of selected adjustments.  If we had not selected just the cruise ship, and instead universally adjusted the contrast on the entire photograph, then the plants would have suffered from too much contrast in getting the cruise ship right.  Of course making the sky look a deeper blue if done universally would make even the green plants start to look blue.  Therefore, the key is starting with the Quick Select Tool (W) and selecting only the area you want to adjust.  

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    DSLR Photography Lesson at Tyrone Mall St. Petersburg with Holly

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    Holly's notes from fourth of four lessons beside her Canon XT - photo by iPhone 4Holly's crash course in DSLR Photography finished at Tyrone Mall!  I use that location for when students want to practice shooting in an indoor shooting environment.  Plus it's air conditioned so we can have mid-afternoon lessons.  This fourth of four lessons for Holly was focused on first using her pop-up flash to get a well exposed indoor portrait given the fluorescent lighting in Sears electronics department.  Unfortunately for Sears, they do not get many customers looking to buy TVs.  Perhaps their non-existent customer service is one reason why as we were in there for twenty minutes and no one even made eye contact with us!

    To wrap up everything we practiced during our four photography lessons together, Holly and I sat down for a good note taking session.  Even though I do provide students with a PDF study guide (available exclusively to paying clients), there is no substitute for writing down in your own words (and handwriting) specific settings and photography scenarios.  As you can see from Holly's notes, I also suggested what gear she should buy next (an external flash, a tripod, a telephoto lens).  

    Holly will be taking her Canon XT and new photography skills to Washington in a couple of weeks and I hope she is able to return with great photographs!  I look forward to seeing them.  

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    DSLR Photography Lesson with Chris & his Nikon D300 & Nikkor 70-200mm lens

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    Chris, now a Nikon man - DSLR Photography Lessons in St. Petersburg Florida - SETUP: f/2.8 ISO 800 1/100th natural lightHaving DSLR Photography Lessons at 7pm during the Florida summer are great because they offer relief from the intense heat.  However, the mosquitoes are now out in full force causing me to wonder, as ever, how they can survive when there are so few people around?  If anyone knows please tell me in the comments below!

    Chris had had a Canon Xti that was not getting much use over the past few years.  Recently he was given a great offer to get a Nikon D300 (same DSLR I shoot with!) and a Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm VR f/2.8G lens, a fantastic combination.  He still has the Canon, but since the buttons and nomenclature are basically all different between the systems, I told him he could leave the Canon in the car.  Ah, his car is not just any car actually, it is the awesome Lexus IS F!!

    Now the Nikon D300 is not for someone just getting into DSLR photography as it is sparse on explaining what its buttons do, but for someone who knows something about photography, that is a plus as there are no useless buttons or settings on it.  So if you do find yourself with a D300 as your first DSLR, then I would recommend taking a lesson with someone, as Chris chose to with me, in order to get over the initial steep learning curve.

    Chris is also wisely choosing to learn how to edit digital photographs at the same time as he learns to shoot.  He got my special discounted 4-pack of lessons so it seems we will alternate between a shooting lesson and an editing lesson as Thursday morning we are all booked to dive into Photoshop CS5!

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    St. Petersburg Florida Downtown Sunset Panorama High Detail

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    Click image for LARGE 5000px detailed version - 14-shot panorama of downtown St. Petersburg Florida at sunsetWhat you see above, if you can see anything, is a 14-shot panorama photograph of the downtown St. Petersburg, Florida skyline at sunset.  The panorama image was made by using Photomerge in Photoshop CS5.  

    This type of image is incredibly easy to make: 

    • just take consecutive, level, same exposure shots
    • overlap the final third of each shot
    • put all the photos into a single folder
    • open up Photoshop CS5
    • in the Automate menu choose Photomerge
    • sit back and let your computer's CPU do some serious processing

    in a few minutes you will have created your own panorama image! 

    --inquire about licensing this image or ordering prints for your office or home