F-Stops and Shutter Speeds: make this relationship work for you
Going on a big trip with your new camera? You MUST do this safari before you go!
You love your camera, BUT – out of fear of doing the wrong thing – you always keep it on a nice, safe “Auto” or “P” and let the camera do the thinking. Or you put it on “M” because you see the pros doing that and STILL your pictures come out poorly exposed! You are depressed! You are intimidated by the letters “A”, “S”, “M”, or “ASM”, or “Av” and “Tv”. As a result, you only use $100 worth of the features of your $700 camera!
Does this sound familiar? You are not alone! Help is now on the way from a professional architectural photographer who has made every F-stop mistake in the book, E. David Luria, founder/director of the Washington Photo Safari who since 1999 has helped over 33,000 amateur photographers take better pictures by making full use of their cameras.
How DO the pros get that kid’s face nice and sharp and the background blurred? How do they make all the moving cars and people on a street DISAPPEAR? How do they get those waterfalls and streams to look like cloudy mist? This special photo safari will concentrate on understanding WHY you would want to choose “Shutter Priority” or “Aperture Priority” or even the “P” setting for your camera, whether it is an SLR or a simple point and shoot or “prosumer “ camera. You will learn how YOU - not the camera -can control the final image. We will review White Balance and ISO settings. We will even teach you to take the “Mystery” out of the “M” setting. We will conduct a special therapeutic intervention to get you OFF of that UGAT (Ugly Green Automatic Thing)! In short, we will make YOU the boss of your camera, not the other way around!
Bring your camera, and ALL your lenses for this very helpful primer on the proper use of your camera. Tripods are allowed on this safari. Do you have a #8 or #9 neutral density filter? Bring it!
Our venue for this safari is the 19th century Smithsonian Castle and its adjoining Enid Haupt Gardens, one of the loveliest locations in the nation’s capital. The trees and statuary in the Gardens offer great opportunities to practice depth of field shots and informal outdoor portraiture with sharpened or blurred backgrounds. The cars moving along Independence Avenue let us try out our cameras on varying shutter speeds that can make cars stop, blur, or disappear! And the interior of the Castle Visitors Center provides opportunities to do low-light shooting at higher ISO’s, figure out correct white balance settings, and learn the fascinating history of the Smithsonian Institution!
Check out these Basic Tips (PDF) on photography and camera use covered in this safari.
Safari Details:
Meet behind wrought iron entrance gate to Enid Haupt Gardens at 10th and Independence Ave SW. Closest Metro is Smithsonian (Blue/Orange Line), one block away. In the event of rain, we meet inside Independence Avenue entrance to the Smithsonian Castle Visitor Center. Limited street parking available.
About the Instructor:
E. David Luria is a professional architectural photographer trained in Paris by a protégé of Henri Cartier-Bresson. His work has appeared in over 100 publications, and his images currently appear in the annual calendars of the US Capitol Historical Society, including one on the cover. His Washington Photo Safari program, with a 5-star rating and annual Certificates of Excellence from Trip Advisor, has trained over 34,000 amateur photographers on 4,900 + photo safaris since 1999.
