Digital Photography Courses & Camera Training

I would like to buy a Digital SLR but I’m confused which one to buy.

Buying a digital SLR is an expensive commitment and it can be daunting as to which one to choose. The main players are Canon and Nikon with Pentax, Sony and Olympus all offering credible, good value alternatives.

If extra lenses are important then Canon and Nikon offer a greater choice of branded and compatible options. A very popular camera at the moment is the Nikon D5000 because of it's adjustable LCD live view screen which makes low angle photography much easier. This coupled with the excellent 18-200mm VR wide range Nikon zoom should keep most amateurs happy. If you prefer a Canon camera then the EOS 500D is very well regarded.

Lenses

Most DSLR cameras come supplied with a standard 18-55mm zoom lens. This lens has the same zoom range as most compact camera zooms and the photographer very quickly becomes aware of its shortcomings.

The next step is usually to buy a telephoto zoom lens of the 80-200mm or 75-300mm variety. You now have a bulky camera with two lenses which also require a camera bag. The danger of this set up is the tendency to leave the whole package at your accommodation instead of taking it with you on location.

Personally I’m a great fan of the 18-200mm wide range zoom lens. My recommendation is to buy a camera body only and invest in one of the Canon, Nikon, Tamron or Sigma wide range zooms.  Your initial outlay will be greater but in the long run you will save money, weight and a huge amount of time swapping lenses.
Suggested wide range zooms are:

The Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM
http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/sigma_18-200_3p5-6p3_os_n15/

The Canon EF-S 18-200mm F3.5-5.6 IS is Canon's latest zoom lens for APS-C format DSLRs,
http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/canon_18-200_3p5-5p6_is_c16/

 The Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical (IF) MACRO review

http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/tamron_18-270_3p5-6p3_vc_n15/

These are all recommended lenses on the www.dpreview.com website and any would be suitable.

How Do I photographing the Northern Lights

I saw the elusive Northern Lights a few years ago and it was a wonderful experience. It's difficult to offer a definite exposure setting because the lights are constantly changing but here are some guidelines to get you started>

1. Keep the camera warm. Cameras and batteries and will stop working in very cold weather so keep them inside your coat or use heat packs in the camera bag. A good idea is to buy a spare camera battery from www.7dayshop.com and keep one warm in an inside pocket.

2. You will need a tripod. A remote release is a good idea but you could use the self timer.

3. Set the camera to manual and switch off the flash.

4. Set the ISO to 400

5. Use a wide angle lens with the widest aperture you can (f4)

6. Set the Autofocus to manual. Focus the lens at infinity.

7. Start with an 8 second exposure with the camera on the tripod and use the self timer or a remote release to prevent camera shake.

8. Look at the results

A. If picture is too dark, increase the exposure time to 15 seconds (then 30 seconds if still too dark)

B. If picture is too light, decrease the exposure time to 4 seconds (then 2 seconds if still too light)

C. If the pictures are still too dark after 30 seconds set the 1SO to 1600 and try again

9. The Northern Lights brightness changes a rapidly so take lots of pictures

10. Most Important -Keep everything warm but don’t forget to enjoy the view.

What's the difference between an SLR and a Compact Camera?

The most obvious difference visually is the size. Compact cameras, as the name suggests, are small and will usually fit into a pocket or handbag. Digital SLR's on the other hand are quite large and heavy by comparison.

The really benefit of a Digital SLR in the ability to change one lens for another. This allows you to fit a telephoto or longer zoom lens so you can take pictures of objects , maybe birds or small animal, from further away without them appearing as a dot on the picture. Most serious amateurs and professional photographers would use an SLR.

If you only ever plan to take snapshots then buy a digital compact camera and keep it with you at all times.

I'm a complete beginner will I still be able to attend on of your compact camera courses?

Absolutely. All of of digital photography courses will start at the very beginning. We start by exploring your camera, looking at the menus and how to access it. We then look at the various camera functions including ISO, white balance, flash, using the self timer and much more.

I have an hybrid Digital SLR with an electronic viewfinder so which course should I attend?

Technically these cameras are nearer to compact cameras in as much that the sensor size is smaller than a Digital SLR and you cannot remove the lens. The similarity come with the fact that you do view the image directly through the lens via the electronic viewfinder. The advantage of these cameras over a normal compact is they usually have a 10 -15 times optical zoom compared to the normal 3 to 5 times zoom on a standard compact camera.

I would like to give a digital camera course as a surprise present. Do you do Gift Vouchers?

We certainly do. To buy a gift voucher for a digital photography course simply choose the course you would like to attend and drop me an email with the persons name and the occasion. You can send a cheque or pay online.

We will design a custom gift voucher made out to the person specified post it back to you in time for the special day. 7 - 10 days notice would be appreciated.

What are the benefits of increasing the ISO setting and does this increase grain.

To Answer the second part of your question first the answer is "Yes"

This is quite a complicated question which is covered in much greater depth with examples on the courses.

The first part is more complicated because it involves several other factors. The ISO setting is a measure of the camera sensors sensitivity to light. Generally speaking the higher the ISO number then the lower the light levels you can take photographs.

Increasing the ISO rating allows the camera to choose a higher shutter speed so you can freeze movement on fast moving subjects. You could also choose a smaller aperture which will allow more depth of field so more of your picture will be sharp.

The downside of increasing the ISO is increased digital noise ( grain). The level at which this noise become unacceptable varies from camera to camera but DSLRs usually are better at higher ISO settings than compact cameras.

How do I overcoming time lag to shoot fast moving objects?

The delay between pressing the shutter and the camera taking the picture is one of the most annoying traits of a compact digital camera. This delay tends to be a lot shorter on digital SLRs.

It is possible to minimize this delay by using what is called focus lock. This pre-focuses the camera so the shutter lag is kept to a minimum. This is an example pictures from the last digital compact camera course.

How do I freeze movement and blur the background?

Freezing action requires a fast shutter speed of above 1/500 second. Using a fast shutter speed and a wide aperture, like f4, will freeze movement and give a blurred background. The effect is more obvious if you use a telephoto lens. You can also blur the background by using a technique called panning.

If you want to keep a sharp background you need to use a small aperture such as f11 or f16 to increase the depth of field. You will have to use a slower shutter speed to compensate for less light reaching the sensor.

These subjects are covered in much greater depth on the Digital SLR Course.

When should I use use matrix, center-weighted or spot metering.

Camera light meters measure the brightness of the light reaching the camera from the subject. Originally all cameras used what was referred to as average light metering. This looked at all the areas of light and shade in the whole scene and gave an average reading of the light levels. The downside of this method was the reading could be influenced by large area of light, such as the sky, which resulted in under exposure ( picture too dark).

Matrix metering works by splitting the scene into segments and analyzes all the different segment readings to give a correct exposure. This method tends to be the accurate as it is less influenced by very light or dark patches in one area. It is usually the standard option and best one to use.

Centre weight metering, as it's name suggests, looks at the whole scene but give emphasis to the central area of the picture. This can work well on landscapes as it avoids large area of sky.

Spot metering looks at a very small area of the picture often indicated by a small circle in the viewfinder. This method is excellent for bright subjects against a dark background such as a singer in the spotlight on a stage. Spot metering is not recommended for general photography and if you ever find your your exposures totally erratic check this setting.

What happens if it rains on the day of the course?

Bring a brolly! The vagaries of the British weather is something I have no control over. These courses are designed to be flexible and will run as usual. We will try to dodge the showers and concentrate on wet weather pictures outside or in the unlikely event that it rains continually we have a very good indoor photography session contingency plan.

Do you offer Private Digital Photography Tuition?

Yes! We appreciate that you may some times have a particular digital photography interest or you may be going on a special holiday, such as a Safari or maybe photographing the northern lights. These techniques would be touched on during the normal one day course but we would not have the time to go into great depths. One to one digital SLR, compact camera or private Photoshop tuition courses are usually run during the week from 10-3pm and include a light lunch. If you would like a private night time photography course these are run during the winter time only.

All my holiday pictures are too light. What have I done wrong?

Looking at your sample picture I notice that you have the exposure compensation adjustment set to +2 stops. This is very easily done and has resulted in all your images being over-exposed. Unfortunately it is very difficult to correct the washed out results because there is so little detail in the whites. Very dark digital images can be rescued in photo editing programs, such as Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, but very bright images are a problem. For this reason it is always safer to slightly under-expose a digital image tan to over-expose one.