There's a First Time for Everything

I’m going to be completely honest with you all. Before this week I had NEVER taken a single photography class in my life. I’ve been “manual-phobic” and always shot my camera in automatic. The idea of switching my camera to manual mode kind of freaked me out. I never thought I’d be able to use my camera properly in manual settings. I think it was from a lack of confidence. :/

So, on Wednesday night I took a class with Isla Studios. I could never really afford to take a class until I found this great Living Social deal in my email inbox, 40% off a three hour beginner photography class! I’m USUALLY not a sucker for actually buying a groupon, living social or homerun deals, but I purchased this one without hesitation. I made an appointment and was scheduled for my first class!

This class was all I needed and more. The most important thing was that it gave me confidence to take my camera off automatic. I always knew words like, aperture, shutter speed, exposure and ISO, but I never took the time to figure it out. I guess I never thought I’d be able to get it right. This class cleared it all up and made everything so simple. If you have a fancy camera and never take it off automatic, this is the class for you. The instructor, Lindsay, explained things in the simplest way. The thing that I liked about her most was she was SOO excited to play with everyone’s cameras, she was like a kid in a candy store. You could tell she really has a passion for what she does. She inspired me immediately.

That being said, after I walked out of the class I was ready to start shooting! My camera battery was almost dead, so I waited until I got to the Muni station to play around. I wanted to capture movement, so what better then moving trains! My train was coming in 7 minutes and only a few trains passed by while I was waiting. Here are a few of my results of playing with shutter speed and aperture.

Keep in mind that none of these photos were edited. What you see is what you get. Going forward I’m planning on working on my “manual-phobia” and taking my camera off of automatic.