January 24th Beginner’s Workshop

Imagine yourself, in the heart of a cold January afternoon walking around the grounds of an old historic home near the city of downtown Roswell! It was here that we hosted another one of our Introductory to Photography Workshops! Students from all over came into town to learn how to use their dSLR camera’s in Manual mode. We started in the classroom and went over what it means to get a good exposure, and the three tools you can use to get it! We also explained how it’s not just about the technical, but about the creative side of those same tools. You have your ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed all working together to create the perfect exposure! Here are some behind the scenes pictures for the day!

One of our three instructors took this great angle of Margaret.

More behind the scenes. It was a comfortable temperature in the sun, but in the shade, you were lucky to have gloves! 

When we have full workshops, we offer a contest to our students! What makes us different from other Photography Workshops is that our classes are hands on. After we teach in the classroom, we answer questions as you are the photographer. Then after the workshop, students get two weeks to send in their images. The student that submits the best picture both technically and creatively receives a FREE Photography workshop of their choice!

At this workshop, we had a lot of great submissions. By the time we narrowed them down though, Jeff had the winning image! This image below of Margaret is beautifully tact sharp. The colors are rich and well exposed with the proper settings. Also check out those catch lights in Margaret’s eyes, she’s just stunning! When we set up scenes for the students, we encourage them to walk around and find a new angle. Jeff walked around the the back of the bench to get this shot.

Another shot from Jeff! Check out the beautfiul Oskana! The background is just coming alive with colors and intensity! That’s not easy to do in the dead of winter! He still has the nice catch lights that tells us he waited for the opportune moment.

There’s often many students that submit stunning images. The one below is by Brian. Notice the color difference between the picture above and the picture below. The picture above you think it’s fall, and the picture below you’d think it was spring. I love this part of photography! It comes down to the person behind the camera, their style and what they’re seeing. It makes every intro class exciting when students are nailing exposures like this! The picture of Oskana below has great depth of field!

Another picture be Brian. This picture is a runner up because of it’s creativity. AMargaret is clearly unaware of Brian’s presence. The photo is interesting because it draws you in across the whole image and brings you right into Maragaret’s facial expression. The color is nice, but it’s a little soft for sharpness.

The final runner up is Luke. Luke has got a point of view that set his images apart from the rest, creatively.  On the technical side of things, some of the images he submitted were a little over-edited in the post process, but those skills are honed with time.  Sometimes you can overlook a few technical things if the creativity is really outstanding.

We had a great time at this workshop and hope all of our students did too! If you’re new to photography and want to learn more, sign up for one of our Introduction to Photography workshops! We usually offer at least one a month, but they sell out quick so don’t wait!