Photo Class

Last Saturday I traveled to Seattle with some fabulous ladies and my 14 year old son, to take a photography class




from this guy:



His name is Clane, (this link is for you, in case you don't believe everything you hear) he's like 15 and he's ridiculously good at what he does, not to mention he is just the nicest guy around. His photos are some of the most beautiful and thoughtful shots I've seen. He has a real personal approach with his clients that puts people right at ease. And, although he is young, he's not really 15. But, you probably figured that out by his facial hair. I mention his youth only because he is so talented and his ability amazes me!

Clane offered a class and I called my photo friend ladies and they happily joined my son and me. Now, originally my son was a little concerned about riding all day in the car with some, ahem, "older ladies," while his dad and two sisters went to the opening of the Harley Davidson store in town. He agreed to come because first and foremost I begged him. I knew I needed his young 14 year old mind because there was no way I was going to learn all this techy stuff and then be able to recall it, much less ever apply it. Also, he is quite the budding photographer - so it was a great opportunity for him to learn. To illustrate what an amazing guy he is, he offered to allow my son, Jordan, to join him on one of his next wedding shoots! Can you say, where do I sign up?

My goal for the class was to learn enough so that I will stop using the green box button on my camera all the time. I like the green box because it is comfortable, but apparently it is the sure sign of a lazy photographer. So, I practiced with a whole lot of other settings, and took some pretty awful pictures in the process. It was kind of like sitting in an emergent language classroom. I am not losing all hope - I am told I am smarter than the camera. That is apparently why I shouldn't use the green box dial on my camera. Unfortunately, my pictures do not look smarter. I took some pictures at a dinner the night after my class. They were bad. Here are some examples of bad photography:

Okay, besides the overexposure, I am pretty sure this is one of the least flattering photos of every single person in the picture.

There's also this one:I had a lot of trouble with the lighting this day:


too dark
Better....
I took this one after sitting in the class all day - I discovered "White Balance" and learned how to alter it. I deleted the ones I didn't like, but should have hung on to a few of them to show the difference. Here's what I ended up with:

I really like that one!

Here are a few my amazing son snapped:


and this one of downtown Seattle through the sun roof of the car:

We stopped at this really darling Italian restaurant - not a chain food type of place. My son, Jordan, actually ordered octopus. He's still talking about how good it was! Here are my fun photo friends - Andrea, Sue, I'm in the reflection there, and then there's Miss Tonya.

We feasted on delicious and beautiful food. Isn't this just so pretty? I'm still not sure I totally understand ISO or F-stop, although after some bad pictures, I'm pretty sure I know why they call it f-stop.


Next post - the fabulous Mock trial dinner pictures - don't worry, I'll post the good ones!