Shooting 101 Course at Clickin Moms

Yesterday I mentioned sharing photos from the Shooting 101: Best Darn Beginner Course class I took on Clickin Moms this past month.  Don't let the name shock you, I haven't magically/randomly become a parent yet.  However, this site/forum/classes has provided a great photography community geared towards women (most of whom are moms, but it's not required thank goodness) and features tons of great tutorials and other useful information for taking your photos to the next level (and I am most definitely not paid to say that).

I decided to take this Shooting 101 course because I wanted to make sure I really had all of my basics down.  I've been shooting in manual since the summer, and I understood a lot of the basics (Exposure Triangle, basic composition, importance of white balance) but I knew there were some gaps missing.  I wasn't nailing all of my photos in camera, and definitely required a lot of lightroom editing to fix wonky white balance.  This class has rave reviews and I figured it was worth it to figure out where I stand and see what I should focus on learning next.  Here's where that crazy unpredictability of my life comes into play.  I figured February would be a good time to take the class since typically it's a slow month for theatre and corporate events.  So I signed up thinking I'd have lots of time to complete the assignments. And you can guess what happened...I ended up very busy, and actually out of town for 2 of the 4 weeks.  I pushed through it though, and managed to turn in an assignment every week.  If you're considering an online class to really learn to use your SLR, I would highly recommend this one. Lynne Rigby, the instructor, provides great feedback and all of her materials are informative (plus her kids are really cute) and the community of fellow classmates made it a great experience for me.  I can't wait to take another workshop, the question just becomes what to try next.

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to share some of the pictures I used for the class, which not only shows my progress, but also gives an idea of how I've been spending the past month.

Week 1 - Taken in DC while working an event in a hotel. The only time I went outside was to get the picture since I needed one with outdoor light.

Week 2 - It turns out I can get some great window light in my room, which is nice since most of my apartment has no windows!

Week 3 - A combo of gymnastics and my trip up to Syracuse (Go Orange!!!). For purposes of this blog post I did fix the White Balance on the gymnastics one.  I forgot to change it in camera and she was a little blue.  This 2 second fix makes me like it better

Week 4 - Also taken in a hotel, cause work can be crazy like that.  I fixed the WB here too for blog purposes.  But I love how blue her eyes are.

And there you have it!  I hope you enjoyed, and maybe I've encouraged you to check out and take a workshop.  Feel free to ask me any questions and also to leave any feedback :)

Until next time....