Portland Photo Safari: F-Stops & Shutter Speeds

As mentioned Thursday, Michelle and I went on a Portland Photo Safari as part of my birthday gift from my mom. (Thanks, Mom!) It was a Groupon deal a month or so ago and I'm so thankful my mom snagged one for Michelle and me.

These 2.5+ hour "safaris" include 45 minutes to one hour of instruction, outdoors in downtown Portland by veteran photographer, Jennifer Costello. (She has done something like 400 weddings!) After learning, or being retaught many things I once learned in a photography class, but this time, in a much conciser format, which was consequently, way easier for me to remember remember, we started walking around downtown Portland trying to accomplish different photo tasks Jennifer gave to us. She was so helpful and gave feedback any time you asked.

Here are a few of my shots, unaltered (with the exception of resizing) by Photoshop.

Depth of field practice. Nothing too spectacular. Michelle's is way cooler. :)

Adjusting white balance.

ISO experimentation - from top left, to right: 400, 800, 1600, 3200 -- The higher the ISO, the more light, but the grainier images become, too.

Just in time for Halloween, my favorite photos I captured. One of the smallest parts of a strange statue on the sidewalk.

One of my favorite things Jennifer said was what a professor once told her, "When you figure out what subject you are going to shoot, find an alternative angle than the original 'shot' you saw." She encouraged us to walk around subjects and to look at everything at different angles because shooting subjects differently than the majority of the world views them makes for very interesting photography.

I really enjoyed being able to practice while being taught. Jennifer called this safari something along the lines of "auto intervention," meaning we would understand how to shoot in manual when finished with class. She was right. I do get what I'm supposed to do in M mode, but need loads more practice cause I still have to think far too long to adjust the camera. I highly recommend the safari for anyone who feels uncomfortable with all the settings on their camera, point and shoot or DSLR.