It has been sometime since I just went out and did a day of just having fun with  my camera, well this past Sunday I had the chance to do just that and it turn out to be a great learning experience, in more ways than one.  When I set out that morning I had two photography goals in mind, one was to take some pictures of the changing season before all the leaves fall off the trees and two have my very first experience doing portrait photography with studio lighting as well as a real model.  

My first goal rapidly changed when I was in the field.  I found out I got up to late to enjoy the golden hour which would have made the landscape shots I wanted far better and I didn't really have a real idea what I wanted.  Even thought I had a general goal in mind I didn't really think it through so I didn't feel anything when I had my camera out taking pictures.  My composition just sucked so I packed up and started to wonder around the city and ended up in the river valley in an attempt to find better looking trees and simply found a something better to shoot, some geese in one of the little lagoons they have made and this is where my learning really started.

I spend about an hour there just shooting, trying different angles, focal lengths and different lenses and just seeing what I could get.  It was the first time I shot primarily in Aperture Priority mode sine I did want to have a greater depth of field than I usually shoot in and hopefully keep more in focus.  What really was a learning experience is when I finally uploaded them onto my computer and into Lightroom 3 and really looked at what I got.  

I learned if I was going to use my zoom lenses and a mode that can really reduce my shutter speed I really should use a tripod.  A lot of my photos for that part of the day didn't seem to be in good focus.  My center of focus seems to be off where I would have liked it.  I may have gotten one or two shots that I think are decent but I still need to do some work.  

Though it was disappointing to see most of my photo coming slightly out of focus but it did teach me a fair bit of what I need to do to improve my photo taking skills.  Use a tripod whenever I can or have the lenses steady on something so it won't shift on me and ruin my focus as I take the shot and also to keep my eyes open to possible shots.  If I was only focused on taking pictures of trees then I would have miss the opportunity to shoot those geese.  

Now my second goal of the day was to go learn about canon flashes, general set up of studio lighting and have my first photo shoot with a real model.  This was really fun for me to try since I never did this before.  I got some good shots out of that shoot and think I could do better the next time I have the chance.  

I need to look into how lighting affect the image I take, how reflecting light can improve a shot or totally illuminate shadows.  I also learned that I need to get comfortable giving the model instructions to the model to get the shot I want.  I barely gave any instruction, all the instruction were given by my fellow photographers who were part of this shoot, which if I had I may have more interesting photos if I had.  

I also learned that I really want a wireless studio set up of my own which I am only now getting together.  Having some off camera flashes made such a difference in shooting.  I think I maybe spending a little bit more on gear this coming year then I originally thought.

I do hope I get to work with a model again in the near future.  I will be suggesting a monthly of bi-monthly model shooting to my photogroup.  I may even look into what it would cost to rent some studio lighting for a day or two and see if any wants to split the cost.

Doing all this really helped me get out of my photo slump for the last few months and inspired me to do more photography.  Hopefully the next few months I can expand my skills and get a little better.