A day in the light

I found out from a photographer friend that one of her photog friends was holding a class all day on a Saturday to learn about using your digital camera. I have had my digital camera for a couple of years now, but really always use it on the auto mode, and have been wanting to learn how to use the manuel mode.  So, I signed up and shared it on facebook. I had a ton of friends interested but only one was able to attend the class. 

So, we met at Copper Coin coffee shop in downtown Woodstock with our cameras ready. The teacher (Derek Shane) is a local photographer who does excellent work. He explained about the different features of our cameras and we immediately started working.

 
Derek had models lined up for us to photograph during the day.  We started outside where it had been rainy that morning, but luckily cleared up for us. 

While my pictures were no where near as good as Derek's, he has much more expensive equipment than me, so I will make do with what I have at this time.  And it was really nice to shoot pictures all day OFF auto mode.  He was very helpful as were his assistants.

Our first model is actually leaving soon to model in NYC.  She was super tall and skinny, and pretty. 

The second models were a couple who just volunteered to let us take pictures, but I thought theirs turned out really well.  He didn't like to smile for the camera, but Derek made him comfortable so we got a few with him smiling.

After our outdoor shooting, we went inside the condos that are right there and learned to shoot indoors.  Our next model has modeled a lot for Derek. Here, we were mainly learning to shoot indoors with natural light behind us.  I didn't really have the right type of flash for this, but did my best. 

Our next model was a little pro. It was Derek's little 6 month old son. He was so cute and very comfortable with all these cameras focused on him. And he had great balance for his age!!



Love those baby blue eyes!!

The next model was too little to sit up on his own.  And he wasn't having as much fun as his buddy.

After we finished shooting inside, we took a break and went back to a bridal shop where we had a lesson on editing.  I have to admit that I didn't do any editing on these, but I figured if I waited until I got them edited, you may never see them.  I have on my to-do list to take some lessons on photoshop and hope to have some time to learn it soon, but wanted to go ahead and post about  the class.  It was a fun and educational way to spend the day, and well worth the money!!