On Saturday I attended a three-hour photography workshop called "Digital Beginnings". The workshop was held at the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center located in the beautifully post-industrial Crane Arts building. I had been considering signing up for a workshop for quite some time now but the $60 price point made me reconsider. I was poking around on Living Social one day a few weeks ago when lo and behold a 50%-off workshop deal popped up! The workshop ended up costing me about $28 and there were exactly 5 other people in the class, which made it even cooler. My instructor was super friendly and helpful and we were given a full print-out of the presentation to take notes on. I am beyond excited to FINALLY understand the basics of owning and operating a digital SLR. Seriously though, why did I wait so long to sign up for something like this?
So the workshop included a really good overview of aperture, lighting, shutter speed, camera modes, ISO, focal length, correct exposure and also discussed the different advantages of shooting in different file formats. Some of the other things we discussed were the differences between medium and large format digital SLRs, the difference between Canon and Nikon cameras and how to properly take care of and store your lenses. According to the PPAC's website, "this workshop is the first step in gaining control over your photography" and I definitely feel like I finally understand some of the reasons my photography has been so mediocre over the past few years! After about two hours of a detailed presentation from our instructor, we were taken outside to put some of our newly acquired skills to the test.
Our instructor gave us some fun, little "photo challenges" while we spent time outside. They included having us all take pictures of the same thing from a variety of different angles (I didn't know that you don't actually have to always have the light aimed directly at your object - switching it up can produce some really subtle effects!), incorporating shadows and making sure we were using the right settings for our subject matter. I was the only person in the class with multiple lenses and one of the things I made sure I did was leave with a solid understanding of what lenses to use for different purposes. I took all of these photos with about three different lenses. Spring is starting to bloom here in Philadelphia so luckily there were some pretty flowers and blossoms to focus on!
So the workshop included a really good overview of aperture, lighting, shutter speed, camera modes, ISO, focal length, correct exposure and also discussed the different advantages of shooting in different file formats. Some of the other things we discussed were the differences between medium and large format digital SLRs, the difference between Canon and Nikon cameras and how to properly take care of and store your lenses. According to the PPAC's website, "this workshop is the first step in gaining control over your photography" and I definitely feel like I finally understand some of the reasons my photography has been so mediocre over the past few years! After about two hours of a detailed presentation from our instructor, we were taken outside to put some of our newly acquired skills to the test.
Ok so there wasn't a whole lot to take pictures of right outside of the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, but one of the things I was really focusing on after the presentation was apeture, "bokeh" (basically my new favorite word - it's the art of having a blurry background and a sharp foreground, you see this effect on a ton of blogs) and composition. I have gotten really frustrated at how blurry my photos have been lately, especially when I take them at events for work. This class made me realize that just playing around with the settings in my camera is way different from actually knowing what settings do what. Once you know the basics, it is actually pretty easy to get a nice, sharp picture. I took all of these photos during the workshop and even though I didn't have the most inspiring subject matter, I think they came out really great.
This is the only photo I took while I was inside the PPAC. The space also doubles as an art gallery and event space and also features different local artists and exhibitions.
When I left the workshop, I was so excited to keep taking pictures. This class was a serious game changer and I am totally going to make use of the Living Social deal (which is still going on!) and buy another few classes. It has been the best $28 I have spent my money on in a very long time. I want to eventually feature more mural artwork on the blog so I tested my skills out at this really cool one located at 3rd and Girard in Northern Liberties.
