All the gear and no idea! Photography courses by Cheshire Photographer Jane Burkinshaw

All the gear and no idea!

This made me laugh out loud when Julie and Gill announced it as they turned up for their photography lesson! They are not alone in having made the step up from compact camera to SLR and only feeling confident enough to use it on the AUTO modes. Camera manuals don’t help as they are full of jargon and are unnecessarily complicated.

Your new SLR camera will take reasonable photos on the automatic settings and you’ll still be pleased that you upgraded, no doubt glad that there’s no delay when you press the shutter and it feels like a “proper camera”. However, a SLR is capable of so much more if you take charge rather than letting it be in control.

During yesterday’s two-hour lesson with Julie and Gill I walked them through some key information, settings and techniques that will make a significant difference to their photography and how they feel about their SLR cameras.

Lenses – they had both realized that although the kit lens that came with their camera gives them nice clear pictures it doesn’t zoom very far and they needed to buy a telephoto lens. After a quick explanation of the numbers on their lens (18-55mm) and talking about some of the lenses available, they both felt confident enough to start shopping around for a telephoto lens. They also wanted to know if they needed a macro lens to photograph things close up. I think they were pleasantly surprised to discover how close they could get with their existing kit lens.

A kit lens can get this close

Auto vs P – Gill was using her camera on the green AUTO mode, whereas Julie was using the P (program) mode and I explained why P is a better automatic alternative. I’m a firm believer that there’s no shame in using the automatic modes as long you know what to do if they don't give you the picture you wanted. It should be a choice to use them rather than the only option.

Soft focus backgrounds – wanting to know how to get that lovely blurred effect behind your subject is one of the main reasons people book photography lessons with me. They have often been baffled by talk of depth of field, apertures and f numbers. By the end of the two hour lesson Julie and Gill knew how to use their cameras on the Av setting to blur the background, whilst keeping an eye on the shutter speed and how the ISO setting can help when the light isn’t very good. Our mosaic frog was an obliging model!

Soft focus background using the Av setting

Composition – it’s amazing what a big difference a few simple composition tips can make to your photographs and I shared these with Gill and Julie. They were quick to pick up the technique of Focus Lock that allows you to put the subject of your photo anywhere in the frame and not always in the centre.

Using focus lock to put your subject off centre

With all that covered in just two hours there wasn't time to cover editing photographs – that’s a separate session – but I did point them in the direction of Picasa, a free programme from Google that allows you to perform basic edits and create some really good stuff.

From their enthusiastic comments I think Gill and Julie left brimming with confidence and keen to try out all the tips and methods we’d covered. I’m looking forward to seeing their photographs on a Facebook Group that all my “students” are invited to join. I hope they’ve ditched the phrase “All the gear and no idea” now!

If you feel that you have all the gear and no idea, take a look at the course programme for 2013/14 and if you can’t make any of the dates then why not book a bespoke session – share the cost between up to four people if you prefer. 

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too!