A Special Notice
(My email to keep you thinking about your studies and practice is below the special notice)
Save a substantial chunk of change with "The Photography Lessons Sale That Lasts Until the Government Shutdown Ends"
End of the Special Notice
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This past Thursday, I met with a photographer for a one-hour private lesson.
One hour isn't much time, but we got a lot done, and what matters most to me is that she said she got a lot out of the class.
One of the reasons we accomplished a lot is that she took the Basic Photography and Camera Operation Quiz on my website.
Because she did that, I had a good idea of her understanding of photography, so I could begin creating a lesson plan before our meeting.
Many photographers I work with are like this photographer.
And what I mean by that is that she was able to adjust aperture, shutter speed, and ISO to
achieve a tonality she was happy with, but what's missing is an effective and efficient way to do it.
After asking her to make a photograph so I could observe how she works, it became apparent that her approach to creating a picture was
hit-or-miss.
She'd evaluate the transmitting/illuminating light she was working with, select an ISO she thought was appropriate, and then start taking a series of pictures, adjusting different apertures and shutter speeds to achieve the tonality she wanted.
This approach usually involves taking many more pictures than we need to achieve the desired tonality, and as a result, we miss the moment we wanted to capture in a photograph.
Other things that were missing
were that she wasn't observing and describing the light. She wasn't thinking about adding visual depth to a composition by considering depth of field, blur, and noise, as well as focusing modes and areas.
When it comes to focusing, working
in auto focus is fine, but the modes and areas we use matter for intentional composition.
The most efficient and effective way to get the tonality we want is to work in manual exposure mode and intentionally use our meter to evaluate light
intensity, but given the time we had, that wasn't possible to cover.
So instead, I showed her a technique I often use during the first meeting of my Photography Basics/Introduction to Photography class.
And that technique uses aperture-priority or shutter-priority mode to do the
metering for us.
We can then switch to manual exposure mode and use the same settings we got working in the priority exposure mode.
If we're not intentionally using our meter in manual exposure mode to control tonality, then using the priority exposure modes to initially control tonality is much more efficient and effective than a hit-or-miss approach.
Using those modes also has the added benefits of helping us think about the relationships between the light we’re seeing, the composition we want to create, and the camera settings (aperture, shutter speed, and ISO) we need to make the best pictures we can.
When it comes to making pictures, efficiency and effectiveness matter because we don’t get a second chance to make a picture of a once-in-a-lifetime event.
If you wanna be a better photographer, I’m here to help.
And don’t forget to take advantage of the Photography Lessons Sale That Lasts Until the Government Shutdown Ends.
The Photography Basics/Introduction to Photography class, will help you be a better photographer.
But if the group schedules don’t work for you, you can schedule
private
photography lessons for a more personalized approach.
However you choose to learn with me, I’ll help you be a better photographer-study and practice photography with me.
There’s more ways to study and practice with me below.
