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Why I Need Another Photography Class

12/09/14 | assorted

Sparkles and Shoes Palazzo Vecchio
On Sunday I ventured out in the freezing weather with a friend to take photos for my blog and I could not be happier with how they turned out.  Since I took these photos in October with my new camera I knew Belvedere Castle would be a great place for a photo shoot.  On our way we both took turns with our DSLRs trying to capture the winter sun and it reminded me of the photography course I took.  
 

While I was extremely pleased with the photos I took during my November 2013 course I am far from thrilled with is my note taking.  I was trying to practice the type of shots the instructor was guiding us through and take notes at the same time. As I switched over to my new phone this summer I copied all important notes and my scribbles to myself from that day read as follows:

Photo. Program mode. Focusing. Half way down focus nearest subject
Force camera to change mind aim to background to focus, hold to get distaste,  focus is a distance, reframe and take. … More control over telling autofocus where you want to be .. works in ash or single shot focus
Have auto focus on
Vr image stabilize (no idea?)

The Golden hour – first and last hour all colors fall under what camera can do – shadow is twice your body length 

Aperture shutter speed, ISO 

ISO is the sensitivity to light
– 100 or 200 bright light
– 400 shadow
– 800 dark
– 1600 darkest possible
– The higher up in number the more noise and pixelation

Single focus point  (another very insightful note… not) 

95% of the time if your camera will not take a picture it is because autofocus can not figure out what you’re trying to make a picture of 

Info button > af-area > af-s  (back when I had a Nikon) 

Take three photos of everything. Vary perspective. Up and down. Frame the shot
Exposure -5 to 5.  Try something with lights and shadows on -2. 0, and +.  There will be a huge difference! 

ISO Settings
– Shutter speed. Blur and static. Frozen subjects. Panning
– Frozen motion. Motion panning. Panning  1/4000 freeze wings of hummingbird.  1/500 freeze all human motion
– Panning – 1/15 to 1/60 depending
– The more you slow down your shutter the more blur
– Bright lights, warm colors
– Think about how is my viewer going to see my photo?

Aperture is the opening. It affects the depth of field and the shallow of depth of field. It is affected by three things.
   1) Distance
   2) Aperture number – lower number, smaller depth of field 3.8 low . Zoom 35-50 – closer you are, the more blurry background – minimum focus distance – 1.48 feet – sensor
   3) Zoom, focal length

 

Granted, some of these are obvious – to really use your DSLR, take it off auto. Duh.  Others I think I need another photography course, or six. And just for the heck of it I flipped through a handful of old photos and found the one above of the Palazzo Vecchio I took while in FLorence a few summers ago. 

I have purchased a Groupon for another photography classes and are looking at dates in the New Year to schedule it but in the meantime I really love the photography series on my Style Icon Grace‘s blog where her boyfriend, Andrew, shares his tips! 

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Comments

  1. Rubi says

    December 11, 2014 at 12:14 pm

    I’m a terrible note taker. Even when making shopping lists I can’t understand what I wanted to buy because I shorten everything.
    I’ll check out those photography tips from Andrew, it’s always great to learn more.
    Rubi | The Den

  2. Caroline L. says

    December 9, 2014 at 5:18 pm

    I definitely want to take a photography course… except seriously, the other day I picked up my camera to go out and practice, and found that my lens has somehow broken / stopped focusing and now I need to shell out some big bucks to get it fixed. GAH.

  3. Rebecca {at} Preppy Panache says

    December 9, 2014 at 4:52 pm

    Your notes remind me of mine from work. Sometimes I just write the date and then later I’m like…. huh….

  4. Alecz says

    December 9, 2014 at 3:47 pm

    Oh man, I just bought a DSLR camera a few months ago, and I’m struggling HARD with it. But it is really fun and rewarding when I get something right!

    https://forsevenseasons.wordpress.com

  5. Christine says

    December 9, 2014 at 11:28 am

    I haven’t bought a DSLR yet because I’m terrified of it. Not only do I need to keep saving for that, I need to save for some courses as well. It’s one large investment.

  6. Meagan says

    December 9, 2014 at 10:30 am

    I think there is always something new you can learn about photography. The best learning experiences for me are simply to play around with different settings and lenses that allow different settings. The more practice, the more automatic your motions are to change the settings to what you feel would be good for the shot you are going for. Thanks for sharing your notes!

  7. Julia @ Grace Makes New says

    December 9, 2014 at 9:21 am

    I would love to take a photography class, I am so lost when it comes to shooting in manual!

  8. Patricia Luiza says

    December 9, 2014 at 8:29 am

    The pictures you took are really gorgeous! Thank you for sharing the tips with us and good luck on your new class 🙂

    Fashionably,
    http://wingsforliberty.com/

Hi, I am Kelly and welcome to Sparkles and Shoes, a fashion, travel, and lifestyle blog.  I am a New York City girl at heart but I moved to London in the Spring of 2018!

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