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!