Getting Off Automatic

As a professional photographer I almost always use my camera in manual exposure mode. Most of the time I have no use for programmed automatic or semi-automatic modes—or, God forbid, one of those exposure modes beloved of lower-end cameras such as “Sunset Mode” (yes, there really are cameras with such pointless exposure modes).

One reason for learning to use your camera without relying on the prop of automatic exposure is because setting the controls yourself is the only way to really learn about the fundamentals of photography.

I run into many photographers in my workshops who want to become more creative photographers, and want to learn to take control of their cameras, but are stopped because they don’t really understand either basic photographic principles or how these principles are implemented in their camera’s controls.

So I decided to address these issues head-on in a one-day intensive workshop, Get Your Camera Off Automatic with Harold Davis, to be given here in Berkeley, California on Saturday, February 25, 2012 in the spacious and convenient MIG Meeting Room. Click here for more information and registration, or see the full description below the image.

Star Gazer by Harold Davis — Star Gazer © Harold Davis

Full Day Workshop: Get Your Camera Off Automatic with Harold Davis

Have you always wanted to take fantastic photos, but somehow they never seem to come out as well as you see them in your mind’s eye?

By leaving their camera in one of the programmed automatic modes many photographers fail to realize their full creative potential. At the same time, if you don’t shoot manually you won’t learn the basic concepts of photography. In this intensive one-day workshop you will learn all you need to know to successfully support your creative vision by using your camera to its full potential.

Besides presentations from award-winning master photographer Harold Davis, this workshop uses hands-on exercises to “cement-in” the concepts you will learn. So please bring your camera, camera manual, and tripod (if you have one).

Who is this workshop for?
If you’ve been enjoying shooting digital photos, but don’t really understand the underlying photographic concepts or what the camera settings do this workshop is a fun way to get quickly up to speed.

Perhaps you are used to shooting film and want to get up to speed on the concepts of digital photography. Then this intensive “Digital Photography 101” workshop may be for you.

Intermediate digital photographers may also be interested in this workshop as an easy way to help them reinforce and remember what they’ve previously learned.

Where: MIG Meeting Place, 800 Hearst Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94710

When: Saturday Feb 25, 2012, 9:45AM

Tuition: $99 per person. Workshop limited to 20 participants.

What to bring: Your camera, camera manual, tripod (if you have one), and a sense of fun and wonder!

Registration: http://www.meetup.com/Harold-Davis/events/47725812/

Curriculum
9:45AM – Workshop orientation
10:00 – Fundamental concepts: Exposure, the exposure triangle, aperture, f-stops, shutter speed, sensitivity (ISO), sensor size, focal length, focus
11:00 – Setting your camera using the basic concepts
11:30 – Hands-on exercises
12:30 – Lunch break
1:15PM – Exercise review and concept refresher
2:00 – From camera to computer and digital post-production
3:00 – Hands-on exercises
4:00 – Review, wrap-up and Q&A

About Harold Davis

Harold Davis is an award-winning professional photographer and widely recognized as one of the leading contemporary photographers.

He is the author of more than 30 books, including Photographing Flowers: Exploring Macro Worlds with Harold Davis (Focal Press), The Photoshop Darkroom 2: Creative Digital Transformations (Focal Press), and The Photoshop Darkroom: Creative Digital Post-Processing (Focal Press).