In teaching thousands of students in over 70 cities around the US, I’ve learned that anyone can shoot in manual mode. You just need the knowledge and some practice. So stop letting your camera take bad photos in Auto mode and start taking control in manual mode and gain the confidence to shoot in any lighting situation.
When I first started teaching photography in 2007, I taught it just like a photographer! In a very technical way. And I used to explain what every button on their camera did. I realized quickly that for the average person, it was way too much info! They would get home and not know where to start. It would break my heart when people would tell me weeks after my class that they were back in Auto mode.
But, I knew there was something I could do to get them there so I removed some content of the class. A whole hour! I took the settings out that I never really used myself since I shoot exclusively in manual mode. While I realized it would be nice to teach them everything, my goal was for them to start taking control of their images and start doing what they wanted instead of letting the camera do whatever it wanted. After that change in 2009, when I’d ask people if they were shooting in manual, they’d say, “of course, why would I shoot in Auto?”
My goal is for you after my class is for you to be able to survey a scene, think about what you would like aesthetically, and be able to choose your settings in a way that will allow you to have control over all of those aspects, like your background blur, your shutter speed (so that your photo is frozen or blurred as you like) and your subject is in focus and as sharp as can be. It’s not a 15 hour class, but as I learned a while back, even 4 hours can lead to photo information overload. But at around 2 hours, you’ll see that my class packs a punch and won’t overwhelm you. I don’t like to say my class is just for beginners since it’s for anyone who isn’t shooting 100% in manual mode. With that said, I’ve had people who just unboxed their camera sitting alongside people who were shooting professionally, but just not quite confident in manual mode so it’s for all levels.
Are you ready to Take Your Camera Off Auto Mode?
Classes are customized for your DSLR. This class is for the following Nikon Advanced Models:
D70, D80, D90, D7000, D7100, D7200, D7500, D100-E, D200-E, D300, D300S, D500, D600, D610, D700, D750, D780, D800, D800E, D810, D810A, D850, D1, D1X, D2X, D2Xs, D3X, D1H, D2H, D2Hs, D3, D3S, D4, D4S, D5, D6, Df
If you have another camera model, please see my other classes which cover the following camera types:
Canon Entry-Level, Canon Advanced, Nikon Entry-Level, Sony Alpha
