This February, I had the opportunity to audit an online photography class with Bella Pop, on the topic of Shooting in Manual. It is a class designed to help photographers begin to understand and become more comfortable shooting in Manual on their DSLR cameras. I was very excited to audit this class because even though I was comfortable in Manual, I knew that there is always room for improvement, and I love learning! Each week we had access to a new lesson online, which included text to read, that explained in fun and creative ways what we would learn and practice that week. Included in the online lesson was a video we could watch that would further explain the concepts presented in the text. Finally, each week’s lesson ended with an assignment to get out there and try out some of the concepts that were presented in that week’s lesson.
Our first week was focused around metering to get a correct exposure. These next 3 images show both the straight out of camera (SOOC), and the edit I did to the image. The first image, I took without using my meter, I simply “guessed” as what some good settings would be. The final two images I metered, and got a much more accurate exposure as a result of using my camera’s built in light meter. I do not recommend guessing at camera settings, it is much better to meter first, then shoot. Don’t believe me? See for yourself in the following 3 images.
Week 2 was about aperture, the amount of light that comes in, and how to get creative exposures based on your aperture setting. We also discussed how to compensate for the changed aperture setting by adjusting either ISO or Shutter Speed. I only included the SOOC images for the second week. The first image has the subject in focus, and background blurred; the second image has most of the image in focus. These are some of the creative effects of changing the aperture from a large aperture to a smaller aperture. The final image was another image with a large aperture, but I got creative with my lighting, as it was dark outside, there was not much light inside my kitchen, so I placed a cookie sheet as my backdrop to reflect more light onto my subject.
Week 3 discussed Shutter Speed. The first image was with a slow shutter speed to show motion, and the second image was with a fast shutter speed to show action frozen. It was interesting to see how I had to compensate with my aperture and/or ISO to get these images properly exposed, yet creatively captured.
One of the best parts of this online class was the online interaction with the instructor, Brandy, and other students taking/auditing the class. We all posted our weekly photo assignments to a private Facebook group for feedback from the instructor, as well as from other classmates, as they were able. It was also a great place to ask questions, and get answers.
At one point during the class, Brandy even accepted questions from the students so that she could answer our questions in an online streaming video format. Brandy was a fantastic instructor for this course, and is very knowledgeable about shooting in Manual, and ensuring her students gained the skills she was teaching.
Unfortunately, life got busy for me, and I was unable to take advantage of Week 4′s lesson, however, even without the final lesson, I thouroughly enjoyed the Bella Pop class, and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a great starter course on shooting in Manual. If you have a DSLR and are not shooting in Manual yet, you are truly missing out on some awesome opportunities to use your camera to it’s fullest potential! Afraid to move it over to the M? Don’t be! Sign up for the next Bella Pop Shooting in Manual class now! The next class starts June 14!
