Photography Lessons with Shoot Fly Shoot

I have had our Canon Rebel XT DSLR for years and all I’ve ever used is either Automatic or No Flash mode.  Every once in a while I’d catch a blog post of someone trying to teach ISO and aperture and all those manual mode words and I’d get courageous and turn the dial over to Manual to see what would happen.  Nothing but fail.  I just couldn’t get it together.

I’ve been a fan of Layla and Kevin at the Lettered Cottage for a while and when Kevin announced he had started a new online photography business with his friend Josh called Shoot FLY Shoot, well, I knew it was for me. 

And boy, was I right.  I SO enjoyed taking the classes.  Photography 101 is simply a set of 12 videos on a web page to watch at your leisure.  Kevin and Josh are super awesome.  They don’t assume you know anything and don’t make you feel stupid if you don’t.  They explain it in a straightforward manner but it’s not boring either.  In fact, the two of them are pretty charming if you don’t mind me saying.  The videos are sharp and professional and really just pretty, for a lack of a better word.  As a visual learner, I just couldn’t have asked for anything more.

The best thing is, I GOT IT.  I really, really finally GET ISO, aperture and shutter speed.  I get what that meter is for on the back that keeps moving back and forth.  Before, I knew that a high ISO would make the room brighter and low would make it darker but I didn’t realize I was sacrificing detail and really that’s not the thing I need to be messing with much.  I knew about bokeh but I was trying to change my aperture all on its own.  I’d heard about shutter speed but didn’t have a clue about how to change it and when.  It’s like I had some of the pieces but they finally put it together for me. I’m not an excellent photographer yet but I know the basics of what I need to do on Manual mode.  From here, it’s practice, practice, practice.

I have no other incentive to say this other than I mean it and you should know: help is out there and it’s 100% worth the cost.  If you’re scared of the “M”, go.  Go, go, go!