Photography Tips

Nikon D3100 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson St. Petersburg Florida with Brooke

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Brooke tracking a moving subject with her Nikon D3100 during our 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson in St. Petersburg FloridaLast month Brooke's husband took a night photography lesson with their Nikon D3100.  Yesterday afternoon I met her for a more general 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson focused on making the switch from aperture priority mode to shooting using manual exposure mode.  I think by the end of the 2-hour lesson Brooke had successfully made the switch!

Brooke had photography knowledge, but it was not organized in a way that could be counted upon to produce consistent results when shooting in various conditions.  I helped her organize that knowledge and added in key pieces of additional information using my 5-step process for getting a sharp and well exposed shot in any shooting condition.  I started by pointing out that since she was already an aperture priority shooter, switching to manual means only adding one more thing to set yourself, which of course is shutter speed.

I also offered Brooke advice on what photography gear to buy next (50mm lens) and what kind of mindset to have when going out shooting (choose a theme).  

Canon T3i 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson in St. Petersburg Yacht Club with Jeannie

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A strobist shot of Jeannie next to a model ship in the St. Peterburg Yacht Club during our photography lessonThere was a bit of a change in venue this morning for my third of four 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lessons with Jeannie.  We still met in downtown St. Petersburg, but inside the Yacht Club!  She wanted to practice indoor photography, with flash in particular, and since she is a member we were allowed inside this Saturday morning and pretty much had the run of the place!

We started out with just my default indoor photography settings of f/5.6 1/60th and ISO 800 using her popup flash for general indoor shots, but still making best use of available background, subject positioning and composition.  We moved upstairs which had great floor to ceiling windows we used for natural light portrait practice.  Just like being outdoors, direct sunlight was too harsh and not until we used some side windows letting in a more diffused light did we get pleasing results.  

Jeannie will invest in a speedlight before our fourth lesson so she can get the benefits of off-camera-flash as seen in the strobist portrait I made of her above just simply resting a speedlight on a banister in front of her and me shooting higher up on the spiral staircase.

Canon 50D & 430EX II Speedlight 1-on-1 Photography Lesson with Ariel in St. Petersburg Florida

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Ariel photographing graduating senior Chelsea jump off a bench in North Straub ParkI met Ariel for our third of four 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lessons in downtown St. Petersburg again, but this time she brought along a friend's daughter to be her model for practicing how to use a speedlight.  Chelsea was great and very patient as we setup different shots using both long and wide lenses.  We used several spots around North Straub Park sometimes featuring Chelsea playing her guitar and another as you can see above with her jumping high off a park bench!

I had Ariel using her Canon 430EX II Speedlight in manual mode mostly at 1/4 power, the same setting I use my own Nikon speedlights at so that multiple shots at once can be taken.  If full power or even 1/2 power were used, the 430EX II probably would not be able to recylcle fast enough and would just not fire by the second or third shots.  Using about 1/4 power allows for three shots in a burst, necessary for jumping shots like the one pictured above.

I look forward to working more with lighting in my fourth lesson with Ariel coming up soon!

Photography Tip - using leading lines in composing your shots

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The lines of the curb act as leading lines to the main subject, The Pier - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/500thUsing leading lines is one of my favorite composition techniques.  In the photograph of The Pier above, everything points to the main subject drawing the viewer's eye across the full length of the frame.  The entire foreground of the photograph uses the curb as a leading line to the focus of the image.  If there was no curb and just black pavement, then having such a large empty foreground would be a waste of space in the frame.  However, using the curb as a leading line adds another element of interest to the photograph besides The Pier itself.  

Additionally, I used a titled axis composition style to add yet more interest to an oft photographed St. Petersburg landmark.  

Nikon D7000 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson at The Pier in St. Petersburg Florida with Patricia

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Patricia aims her Nikon D7000 at a pelican out on The Pier during our second DSLR photography lessonFor our second of four 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lessons I met Patricia on a pleasant Florida winter Saturday morning and headed out to The Pier to photograph pelicans and whatever other surprises we may find there.  For this lesson Patricia used her Nikkor 70-300mm VR lens exclusively on her Nikon D7000.  I recommend having all your gear setup and ready to shoot as you approach a location, so even before we got to The Pier I went over the recommended settings to use with a 70-300mm lens for birds & other small, distant subject matter.

During this second lesson we also focused more on composition, in particular not necessarily always framing things at right angles.  Sometimes, a tilted axis composition style can added much needed pizazz to an otherwise common shot.

Manual Mode shooting tip - read the meter first then the histogram after the shot

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If you are hesitant to use manual mode on your DSLR because of concern over getting the exposure right, you DSLR has the tools you need to help you!  Before you push the shutter you can use your camera's meter to get an idea of what it thinks the exposure should be.  Then after the shot read the histogram to see how the exposure really came out.  After using these two tools you can then adjust your exposure settings (aperture, shutter speed, ISO) to get the results you want.

Shooting in manual exposure mode is greatly simplified if you use the meter before pressing the shutter, then read the histogram after pressing the shutter.  Try it out and let me know in the comments below how it worked for you!

Nikon D40 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson with Diana in St. Petersburg Florida

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Diana with her Nikon D40 in North Straub Park during our 1-on-1 photography lesson in St. Petersburg FloridaOn a beautiful, sunny St. Petersburg morning I met Diana for a 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson with her Nikon D40.  She has had the DSLR for four years and before that film SLR cameras for many more years, but she had been only using the D40 in auto-mode.  My lessons are specifically for getting getting people off auto-mode (the horror!) and taking control over their camera shooting in manual mode.  A DSLR wants to be told what to do, and personally I would rather using a simple point-and-shoot camera in auto-mode than a DSLR.  

I began by teaching Diana my 5-step process for getting a well exposed and sharp shot in any lighting conditions and filling in her existing photography knowledge about aperture & shutter speed, etc.  We practiced how to control depth of field and how to photograph moving subjects beore finishing with a little shade vs. direct sunlight portrait shots.  With continued practice and keeping in mind what we covered during our 2-hour lesson this morning, Diana will be able to stay off auto-mode and produce more consistent results in manual mode.