RocketCowboy
Senior Member
I mentioned it in the "Recent Purchases" thread, but after having the night to sleep on it I thought perhaps a blog post (versus a forum post) might be the best place to capture my thoughts.
As a bit of background, I have no formal photography training or background. I dabbled with 35mm film SLRs back in the mid-90's, and had a Nikon N6006 and a couple kit lenses to keep me busy. In the early 2000's I tried my luck with the 80-200mm lens and auto racing, but was not happy with the results. I stopped shooting 35mm film shortly after and didn't pick up another SLR (digital this time) until May of 2014. When I got the N6006, the girlfriend I was dating at the time was working at a camera store, developing her own black and white prints, and taking a few classes on photography. While I never got into the film developing process, I did try to absorb some of the photography tips she was getting from school when out shooting projects.
With my new D5300 in hand, a little over a month's worth of experience and about 2500 images shot ... some acceptable but most not so much ... I decided to look for some formalized training. I've been grabbing books where I find recommendations/suggestions, or where I have a need to research, but I'm not getting the active feedback loop with books that I'm looking for. After searching for training options in the area, I found myself in a local camera store where the discussion came to personalized 1 on 1 training as a first stop before group/class training, so I started there.
As a summary, the 1:1 training was good, even though I felt it missed my expectations. I very likely over-hyped my expectations then felt let down when I was brought back to reality. I'm grateful for the opportunity and for the information that I learned from the session. While I was originally thinking I would set up a few 1:1 trainings over the next couple weekends though, I don't think I'm going that route now.
So where did things go astray? When I was at the camera shop the week prior, the discussion got to how to use shortcuts in the camera to use white balance and picture control settings so that the camera can compensate for my exposure input and generate a good jpg image when I snap the shutter release. The problem there is, I've been shooting raw. During the week between the initial in-store discussion and the following training, I learned more here on Nikonites about what is actually stored in the RAW files ... and what isn't. All those shortcuts with when to use Vivid mode or the scene controls, they don't come into play that much. One of my first questions as the training got started and the trainer was looking over my current camera settings was to confirm whether this would make a difference on my RAW picture, and then we deviated from there. My impression is that for most first timers who are just getting their feet wet with a DSLR like the D5300, the training content that they provide is very helpful. I'm not implying in any way that I'm more advanced than the typical new user, but maybe I just jumped into the pool without my snorkel or scuba gear and with my engineering mindset of "how can I make this work".
The plus side to the training being personalized and not a group instruction was that once the instructor decided we needed to get off the usual training course, we were able to get into topics of interest for me. We had a very good discussion on histograms, and how to read them both on the camera, and later in post processing software like Aperture. Since I'm not getting the camera adjustments that can be made with on-camera jpg processing, we talked through some common adjustments that can be made through Aperture, and took some specific examples of shots from my vacation last month that I thought were wasted images, and brought them back to life.
Having a better feel for my camera, and how to get to the different functions, I think I'm ready for a generalized focus training around composition, exposures (aperture vs shutter speed vs ISO), lighting, and somewhere in there the post processing/software developing side of things. Looking forward to the ideas and images that will come!
As a bit of background, I have no formal photography training or background. I dabbled with 35mm film SLRs back in the mid-90's, and had a Nikon N6006 and a couple kit lenses to keep me busy. In the early 2000's I tried my luck with the 80-200mm lens and auto racing, but was not happy with the results. I stopped shooting 35mm film shortly after and didn't pick up another SLR (digital this time) until May of 2014. When I got the N6006, the girlfriend I was dating at the time was working at a camera store, developing her own black and white prints, and taking a few classes on photography. While I never got into the film developing process, I did try to absorb some of the photography tips she was getting from school when out shooting projects.
With my new D5300 in hand, a little over a month's worth of experience and about 2500 images shot ... some acceptable but most not so much ... I decided to look for some formalized training. I've been grabbing books where I find recommendations/suggestions, or where I have a need to research, but I'm not getting the active feedback loop with books that I'm looking for. After searching for training options in the area, I found myself in a local camera store where the discussion came to personalized 1 on 1 training as a first stop before group/class training, so I started there.
As a summary, the 1:1 training was good, even though I felt it missed my expectations. I very likely over-hyped my expectations then felt let down when I was brought back to reality. I'm grateful for the opportunity and for the information that I learned from the session. While I was originally thinking I would set up a few 1:1 trainings over the next couple weekends though, I don't think I'm going that route now.
So where did things go astray? When I was at the camera shop the week prior, the discussion got to how to use shortcuts in the camera to use white balance and picture control settings so that the camera can compensate for my exposure input and generate a good jpg image when I snap the shutter release. The problem there is, I've been shooting raw. During the week between the initial in-store discussion and the following training, I learned more here on Nikonites about what is actually stored in the RAW files ... and what isn't. All those shortcuts with when to use Vivid mode or the scene controls, they don't come into play that much. One of my first questions as the training got started and the trainer was looking over my current camera settings was to confirm whether this would make a difference on my RAW picture, and then we deviated from there. My impression is that for most first timers who are just getting their feet wet with a DSLR like the D5300, the training content that they provide is very helpful. I'm not implying in any way that I'm more advanced than the typical new user, but maybe I just jumped into the pool without my snorkel or scuba gear and with my engineering mindset of "how can I make this work".
The plus side to the training being personalized and not a group instruction was that once the instructor decided we needed to get off the usual training course, we were able to get into topics of interest for me. We had a very good discussion on histograms, and how to read them both on the camera, and later in post processing software like Aperture. Since I'm not getting the camera adjustments that can be made with on-camera jpg processing, we talked through some common adjustments that can be made through Aperture, and took some specific examples of shots from my vacation last month that I thought were wasted images, and brought them back to life.
Having a better feel for my camera, and how to get to the different functions, I think I'm ready for a generalized focus training around composition, exposures (aperture vs shutter speed vs ISO), lighting, and somewhere in there the post processing/software developing side of things. Looking forward to the ideas and images that will come!
