Canon 7D

DSLR Photography Lesson with Deb & her Canon 7D

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Deb learned which lenses to use on her Canon 7D depending on the subject she is photographingDeb mentioned before our DSLR Photography Lesson in downtown St. Petersburg that she had a 70-200mm lens, she did not mention though it was the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS L lens!  She also mentioned that she did not really use it that much, not realizing the power of that lens.  I immediately began to sing its praises and how it was the best piece of photography kit in her bag.  

red shouldered hawk with preyFirst though I showed her how to navigate all the controls on her Canon 7D, which Canon does not necessarily make that easy to do since it pairs often changed settings to a single button.  Soon though I had Deb constantly checking and confirming her aperture, ISO, WB and focal mode/points (the order I set & check things in) as we walked around making different kinds of shots (shallow DoF, moving subject, etc).  We even had the chance to photograph a red-shouldered hawk eating prey in a tree.  Deb lives on 3-acres of land and said many birds can be found on her property so I hope she takes out her 70-200mm and 7D each day to practice shooting and start documenting all the wildlife she gets to call neighbors.

Deb works for Ambassador Limo whose clientele overlaps with mine so we talked some about combining our professional services to provide an even stronger product for clients.  I look forward to this very much and also to our next DSLR photography lesson once her external flash arrives! 

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    • DSLR Photography Lesson - Andy with his new Canon 7D

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    Andy takes aim at the Vinoy Hotel - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm - f/11 ISO 200 1/200th SB-600 Speedlight held off camera to the left

    I met new DSLR Photography student Andy in downtown St. Petersburg where we quickly got into an in-depth discussion about the settings on his newly bought Canon 7D.  Though there were a few settings we had some pause in finding, in the end we were able to master all the settings changes needed to shoot a wide variety of shots from landscapes, to portraits, to moving objects (including dive bombing pelicans!).

    Andy was a quick and eager learner and our lesson passed by very quickly.  We really only began to cover all the things his 7D can do, along with his very nice Canon 10-24mm ultra wide angle lens, as well as the 24-135mm kit lens that came with his 7D.  We have already booked our next lesson which will have a Mac lesson bookended onto it as well!  Yes, I also teach Mac & OS X 1-on-1 lessons.  

    Our first lesson was a lot of fun and I am looking forward to seeing the view from Andy's Indian Rocks Beach townhouse next week!

    An eventful 2nd DSLR Photography Lesson with Kelley in downtown Saint Petersburg

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    As we were setting up to practice off camera flash, this woman offered to be our model!My second DSLR Photography Lesson with Kelley was most unusual, which made it most enjoyable.  We covered a wide range of photography skills, from manual focus of a staged action, to fast moving action, to street photography, to actual model shooting!  The latter happened while we were setting up near Central Avenue to practice some more off camera flash portrait shooting techniques.  A group of three people walked by, including the above woman, and she offered to be a model for us!  This saved me from having to do all the posing for Kelley's practice so I was very thankful.  We both liked this so much, that are already booked third lesson will focus on seeing how many of these "street models" we can get!

    Behold, Kelley brought with him the new Canon 100mm f/2.8 L macro lens!

    The big news was Kelley's purchase of two new lenses, both Canon L series lenses, the 100mm macro IS lens, and the 35mm f/1.4 prime lens!  Such investment in high quality lenses will secure at least ten years of great images produced using them.  There was rather a dearth of pleasing macro subjects, but we did stumble upon a few scraggly blossoms to get a tiny bit of macro practice on.  

    Kelley proved to not be shy in asking a second woman to be a street model for us.  I was impressed.  Once we get the kinks ironed out of the off camera flash situation with his kit, we will be right back into the street model genre for our third lesson next week.  I like Kelley's ambition and commitment to unusual types of photography.

    DSLR Photography Lesson with Kelley in St. Petersburg

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    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!

    A blustery overcast first photography lesson with Gary in downtown Saint Petersburg

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    Gary with his new Canon 7D and hotshoe mounted 580EX during our Saint Petersburg DSLR photography lesson

    Yet another overcast, blustery rain beating DSLR photography lesson in downtown Saint Petersburg!  Gary's first lesson might have been the windiest yet, and the grayest, but as you can see, it was not so gray that both Gary and I did not don our sunglasses still!  Gary told me that he mostly shot in auto-mode with his DSLR, and after Gary sent me his photography gear list by e-mail I was really surprised that he did because he had a huge gear list.  He owns two DSLRs, the new Canon 7D and a backup body Canon 20D plus several lenses including a Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens and the 580EX strobe as well.  It was my first time to see the 7D in person and it felt pretty good in my hands, big enough even for my large hands to fit comfortably around it.  

    Though Gary shot in auto-mode, he was familiar with basic photography terminology, and was pretty good with knowing where buttons were and how to change settings on his 7D, so this helped me teach him how to get out of auto-mode and into using custom settings rather quickly.

     

    Gary sent me the above photographs he took during our lesson today to illustrate the kind of photographs he was taking before our lesson, and then after.  The "after" image was taken about 40 minutes into the lesson, so you can see Gary learned quickly!  The main thing I tried to teach Gary today per his request on how to add some "wow" to his images, was how to control DoF (depth of focus) to put the focus on the subject and hide the distracting background.

    After two wind blown but fun hours, we made it back to our cars just in time before the rain started at 1pm once again!

    I look forward to next helping Gary photograph his son's T-ball game.