Another new feature I am throwing into the Smoked Cheese mix is the 'Thursdays three good reasons to...', something to compliment Title Tuesday and the Thursday Tutorial, adding some variety to the rotation.
This weeks all about learning your equipment, through a lesson with a professional. What is the inspiration for this you may ask, well last weekend I had a lesson with James Dixon to learn how to effectively use my shiny new toys.
Now to the reasons...
Reason 1 - The manual won't get you as far as hands on experience.
I would never advocate not reading your manual, there are some important details (particularly specific controls and features) to gain from this, however the experience of a professional can add so much. From my time on the weekend I can definitely attest to this, although my manual explains how to set fixed shutter (where the flash will always provide sufficient light for the camera at a 1/200 shutter speed, good for very dark rooms or consistent speed/lighting conditions) or auto shutter (where the shutter speed will change to reflect the lighting conditions, as well as firing the flash, good for fill-in flash to remove shadows from the subject) there is no explanation of the benefits of each, you are meant to just know.
This image is a mix of auto shutter speed (so fill-in flash) and bounce flash, the light was aimed at the wall to my left and back the toasting cup.
Reason 2 - A kick up the backside.
Sometimes we buy these shiny new toys, admire them for a while, maybe play with them but never take the time to truly understand their place or how to make the most of them. Now I am not saying one lesson (or even several) will make you an expert in how to use the equipment, but its a starting point to develop an understanding. In my case I now have an understanding of where an external flash can be useful and why it was worth getting a unit with a moveable head (this is for bounce flash, such as illuminating your subject with light reflected from the roof). I still have a long way to go to get the most out of my shiny new toy, but I now know how creativity can add to the use of a flash, its not as simple as 'point the light at my scene'.
Reason 3 - Remind you of the basics.
No matter what your skill level sometimes its helpful when someone pulls you back into line to make sure you don't forget the basics, such as the rules of composition. I don't know about everyone else, but my mind definitely seems like bucket of water, you can't add more without loosing some over the edge, a simple reminder can be what stops the important lessons from going over.
What do you think, leave a comment if you can think of another reason for a professional lesson.
