Photography Class

This Saturday, Nick and I took a Photography class taught by Bruce Cole of Natural Horizons Photography. As you can see from his web-site Bruce does some amazing nature photography and also some beautiful weddings and portraits. Nick  and I have been interested in photography for sometime now, and were very excited when we found out Bruce was having a class. We met at Bruce’s house Saturday morning and started out with a presentation about photography basics. Nick and I got so much out of this session. Bruce made everyone take there camera out of “Auto” and showed us how to use all the manual settings. We learned how to set the aperture on our cameras and the shutter speed both of which together effect the exposure of the picture you take. Basically, Aperture + Shutter Speed= Exposure

We also learned about the Rule of Thirds, which concerns the composition of your  photography. The concept behind the Rule of Thirds says that an image should be divided into 9 equal parts by two horizontal lines and two vertical lines, the subject of your picture should be aligned at one of the intersecting points on the grid. In April Term’s it means that you are not supposed to center your subject in a photograph.

For the 2nd half of the class we went out to Warriors Path State Park to practice everything we had learned. I was using a camera I had borrowed from a friend, a Canon PowerShot SX10IS, which is an advanced point and shot camera. Here are some of my pictures.

Duck with a leading edge.

Trying to practice the Rule of Thirds. It is hard to fight that centering feeling.

Working on “Framing”

Just a really cool tree.

 

The next few are some I took laying underneath a dogwood tree.

 

A really cool knot on a tree. It kinda looks like a heart.

Took this one laying in patch of dandelions.

 

Here are some that Nick took, they are AWESOME! He was using the Canon XS 120IS, it is also a very advanced point and shot.

Using the Rule of Thirds

Great squirrel pic. Also Rule of Thirds.

Just a cool shoot.

Really cool spicket and another cool use of the Rule of Thirds.

We had a blast going out and taking pictures and practicing. Afterwards we went back to Bruce’s house and he gave us some feedback on the pictures we took, which was very helpful. All in all, it was a great experience and I would highly recommend take a class from Bruce. He did a great job helping really learn how to use our cameras and teaching all the terminology.

Nick and I were the only ones at the class that had digital point and shot cameras everyone else had an SLR. Now that the class is over Nick and I are considering buying one especially since my little point and shoot will not let you do anything with the manual settings. Unfortunately, SLR cameras are a bit expensive and we have some other things that are much higher are the priority list. Maybe by the time we make our trip to Italy we will be able to get one. By the way, check out the “Italy Trip Countdown” on the right hand side of my blog! It will be here before we know it.

CALLING ALL MODELS- I really enjoyed the nature photography but I am really anxious to try some people photography, kids, families, couples, etc. I could use a few test models if anyone would be interested :)

I shall leave you with a picture of my favorite person

Isn’t he cute?! I certainly think so!!