John's Pass Village

DSLR Photography Lesson #2 with Chris & SB-600s

in

Chris demonstrating my "quick & dirty" off camera flash method - f/11 ISO 200 1/320th SB-600 held off camera just like pictured!I have recently mentioned my "quick & dirty" off camera flash technique several times, but had no photo to demonstrate it until now.  During our second DSLR Photography Lesson, I started to teach Chris the "quick & dirty" technique at John's Pass Village.  For the shot above I asked him to take the position, but we both forgot that his Nikon SB-600 Speedlight was still on and set to the same channel my Nikon D300's commander mode was, so it was a nice bit of luck that his SB-600 went off to help with the demonstration.  When you do not have a light stand or tripod with you, the "quick and dirty" off camera flash technique can still produce good results.  It just takes a bit of practice to balance a DSLR in just your right hand and maintain the strobe in your left hand pointing at your subject.  

During our lesson I was the model allowing me to instruct Chris to point his strobe a little more this, a little more up, etc.  With practice, one can get a feel for pointing the strobe directly at the subject without having to even look at your left hand. 

Another accidental firing of Chris' SB-600! Cool effect or just a fail shot? Make your comment below.

For our next lesson we may try out the street portrait act that Kelley and I have done before and see who we can get to be models for us, as Chris' skills continue to improve and before he gets tired of only having me as a model for our lessons!

Emily's 1st DSLR Photography Lesson - John's Pass Village

in

Emily & her Canon XSi - f/5.6 ISO 200 1/160th SB-600 handheld off camera; processing in Color Efex Pro 3 & Topaz Adjust 3

Emily got her Canon XSi about a year ago.  She knew her way around her camera pretty well, and she even took about 6 weeks of classroom photography lessons.  However, once you are out on your own with your camera, that is a whole other thing, which is why I offer 1-on-1 private DSLR Photography Lessons where we actually learn and shoot at the same time.

Emily had a lens I had not had any hands on experience with yet, the Tamron 10-24mm ultra wide.  John's Pass Village does not have many sweeping landscapes, but having an ultra wide angle lens is still great for photographing all its colorful shop fronts.  

We covered many of the usual things I do with a student on her/his first lesson, like controlling DoF (depth of focus) using aperture and focal length, positioning yourself with your back to the sun whenever possible, and some basic composition techniques like the rule of thirds.

Emily also had an external flash, so we ended the lesson with some portrait practice.  I had Emily use her flash and not use her flash for the exact same portrait to show the different having an external flash can make.

Emily is new to Florida so it was fun to see excitement at seeing dolphins, etc.  I look forward to showing her more of what Pinellas County has to offer and helping her make even better photographs with her Canon XSi.

John's Pass Village DSLR Lesson with young Libby

in

John's Pass Village has convenient statues like this pirate for helping with a DSLR Photography Lesson

Libby is my youngest DSLR Photography student to date.  She is a teenager with aspirations of a career in photography or journalism, or perhaps photojournalism?  Her parents told me she carried a camera (Nikon L100, superzoom model) with her everywhere she went.  I always like to hear things like that.  I was even more glad to hear that a generous family friend gave her his old Nikon D40x just the night before!  She did not have a lens that could autofocus on the D40x, so I let her use my Tamron XR Di II 17-50mm f/2.8 lens for the whole lesson.

Her L100 had basically no manual functions so we started from the very beginning, which was an explanation of what aperture is and does.  In my own photography work, the setting I adjust first on my D300 is the aperture.  From that aperture foundation, I then base all the other settings the scene requires.  I try to instill this practice into all my DSLR photography students as well.  

During our lesson at John's Pass Village, I revealed to Libby how shooting a shaded flower actually produces a better exposure than shooting a flower in direct sunlight.  Then if you add a bit of well placed flash into the equation, you can really bring out a flower's detail.  Of course, the best thing to do would be to just shoot the flower in natural sunrise or sunset light, but when that is not possible, shading the flower with your own shadow is a useful trick.  

I had a very good time listening to Libby's plans for the future and seeing her excitement for photography.  I look forward to our next lesson and seeing what she has done with the skills she learned at John's Pass Village.