Canon 60D

DSLR Photography Lesson with Pam & her Canon 60D

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Pam with her Canon 60D with 430 EX II Speedlite during our first of four DSLR Photography LessonsPam using her significant crafts and sewing skills to make products (aprons, etc) that she sells and uses the profits from to buy photography gear!  I think it is a great way to support one artistic pursuit with another.  She started out with a Canon XTi, but now has a Canon 60D along with a growing list of lenses and the Canon 430 EX II Speedlite.  She brought both to our first of four DSLR Photography Lessons last night.

Pam was already knowledgeable of most photography terms so we focused on what exposure mode is best to use for a given situation.  We started out using aperture priority mode, but with the overcast skies taking away the light faster than usual during our evening lesson, we soon used manual mode.  

We experimented to find out what was the slowest shutter speed Pam could handhold and maintain a sharp image using her 18-55mm lens.  In my mind I want at least 1/60th of a second using an absolutely stable shooting style.  It is possible to shoot with a slower shutter speed, as Pam was able to get a sharp shot even at 1/30th, but one has to be really careful and of course be shooting only still subjects.

As a thunderstorm approached that turned out to be all bark and no bite, we concluded the lesson with some flash portrait practice under the cover of the entrance to the Chihuly Museum on Beach Drive.  I told Pam the key thing to keep in mind when setting up a portrait using flash, which is the flash lights the subject and the aperture/shutter speed control the ambient light (background light).  

For our 2nd of 4 lessons we will switch to landscape and architecture photography.

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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 Christine & Kristen Canon 60D & XSi

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    It was an all Canon lesson with Christine (Canon XSi) and Kristen (Canon 60D) in downtown St. PetersburgTwo friends, Christine and Kristen, made the drive from their distant Carrollwood and Dade City homes respectively for our DSLR Photography Lesson late Monday afternoon.  After conquering downtown St. Petersburg's difficult parking, we met as usual in front of the Museum of Fine Arts and started off with a primer on how to get your DSLR set and ready for shooting.  Though they both had Canon camera's, Kristen's Canon 60D and Christine's Canon XSi differed quite a bit in ergonomics and somewhat in menu layout.  Still, I am experienced with teaching both DSLRs so I was able to get them both onto the same page quickly, with of course a little friendly competition between them.

    They both have children so we spent a good amount of time practicing how to photograph moving subjects.  Their children were not with us during the lesson of course so I was running around randomly offering a no doubt less adorable target.  We started off in aperture priority mode (A on Nikon; Av on Canon), but once we did the moving subject practice I showed them how using manual settings have the advantage of offering a constant shutter speed insuring the action can be frozen properly, without any blurring.

    We stayed in manual mode as we finished the lesson with a bit of flash portrait practice.  They both only have the pop-up flashes on their DSLRs, but I think I convinced them to give more money to Canon and invest in an external flash since they really want to make good portraits of their kids and family.  This time I let the ladies take their turns as being the models!

    It was a fun time and I hope they are photographing their kids on a near daily basis! 

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    • DSLR Photography Lesson with Alice & her Canon 60D

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    St. Petersburg's own pirate ship sailed past Alice (with Canon 60D) and I during her DSLR photography lessonMaybe one day I will not be so surprised that one can meet people who surprisingly have many of the same rare-ish things you do in common.  For example, new DSLR Photography Lesson student, Alice, who recently got a Canon 60D, has a master's degree in ESL (English as a second language), but only briefly ever taught ESL.  I taught ESL for nine years (without a master's in it).  She also knows the same person in a local tutoring company that I do.  So while I helped Alice get acquainted with how to change the settings on her Canon 60D we discovered all these unexpected things in common.

    We were both expecting a cold morning, but I left my car without need for my jacket and unlike the blustery, semi-freezing January morning lessons last year, this was nearly as pleasant of weather as one can expect for winter in Florida.  The pirate ship even returned from its time abroad to St. Petersburg harbor and conveniently floated by just as we were entering Vinoy Park.

    Alice and her Canon 60D showing how to properly hold one's DSLR with left palm under the lensAlice is also interested in learning how to use the video function of her Canon 60D which may be a subject we tackle in a future lesson.  Until then she has her poodle at home to practice on all the things we learned about this fine Florida winter day.  It was fun to be able to get Alice started on her DSLR photography path and to learn of her ESL past. 

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    • DSLR Photography Lesson with Kevin & his Canon 60D

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    Kevin with his new Canon 60D in Vinoy Park at the end of our DSLR photography lessonAfter a one-day rain delay, I met Kevin with his new Canon 60D in downtown St. Petersburg for our first DSLR Photography Lesson, although again this morning there was some heavy mist in the air.  The weather could not stop us from having a great, detailed lesson though.  Kevin claimed to be only a beginner, but due to his initial in-depth reading about his 60D and digital photography in general, he was able to quickly learn how to change the basic settings on his camera, and more importantly knew enough to know which questions he needed to ask so that he could start making the kinds of photographs he wanted to.

    I often here people say when they see a nice photograph, "that person must have a really nice camera," which always drives me crazy as the camera cannot take photographs on its own!  As any first time DSLR owner will know, the illusion that just having an expensive camera means great photographs will start filling your flickr photostream, gets shattered pretty quickly.  This was true for myself.  My first day out with my first DSLR I could not even get a pigeon on the ground to come out in focus.  Thousands of shots and a few weeks later, I had taught myself how to get those pigeon shots in focus by learning what I had been doing wrong.  By taking practical photography lessons, especially 1-on-1 lessons, you can save yourself a lot of time in that initial major trial and error period.

    Kevin is eager to learn even more than what we covered in our first two-hour lesson, so I look forward to having lessons in the near future focusing on just using his 50mm prime lens, and also on how to make great night shots using a tripod.  Kevin also spent time in Korea and Japan, so in addition to photography we were able to swap Asia experiences stories.  It's always an amazing thing that in a small Florida town you can meet someone who spent time in the same far-off cities on the other side of the world you did.   

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