June 22 Intro I Workshop Winner | Creative Edge Photography Workshops

On June 22 we had another Intro I Workshop, our students arrived and were ready to learn! We covered a multitude of topics, ranging from what good settings are on your camera in manual mode, how to properly hold a camera for the least amount of shake to several different outdoor lighting situations. In our intro II photography workshop we take all these skills and apply them to creating mood and feeling using those lighting situations; we also dive into some off camera flash and tricky problem solving situations. But before we get ahead of ourselves we need to review for Intro I!

First, some Instructor Pics:

Every Intro I Workshop we have an in-house contest for the best beginner picture! We’ve been doing this for about a year now, and I can say the winner always surprises me. Sometimes it’s really easy to pick, and sometimes it’s really hard. for June 22, it was a funny mix of both. It was easy to weed out the good ones from the bad ones, but after we narrowed it down to the top two, we had to choose a winner for different reasons. Photography is not just about a good exposure, while that can make or break a photograph, it’s also about creativity and subject matter. For our June 22 winner, the technique combined with the subject matter won Christy a free photography workshop.

When we took the students to the back field, we told them about Continuous Focus (Nikon users) or AI Servo (Canon users). This is when your camera adjust for the focus on a moving subject. What Christy was able to do is awesome. She not only used her Continuous Focus setting, but also did a nice job of Panning. Panning is when you are following the moving subject, and when you click the shutter the intent is to have a blurring background, and a frozen subject. This is often the technique used in sporting events such as cycling, horse races, soccer, etc. We’ve had a lot of Intro I workshops, and this is the best example of stop motion we’ve seen in a while. So congratulations Christy, this awesome freeze frame of Brennen won you a free photography workshop!

Christy also captured this hillarious outtake of Roxzane just trying to get loose for modeling.

Followed by a wonderful portrait, to make it even better, we suggest cropping in for a little tighter frame. You don’t need quite so much head room.

The recognition of wonderful photography does not stop at Christy. We do need to mention a few runners up because they were in the final grouping of making a decision.

First runner up, was Eddie. Eddie nailed the use of a small f-stop. He also went outside the box, and did a beautiful job of framing Elizabeth through the branches.

Next runner up is Perry. We always like to highlight someone who takes a great picture in low lighting situation. It’s can be complicated and overwhelming since it’s completely different from shooting in bright sun. A lot of different factors sneak up on you. You’ll definitely need a higher ISO. But it’s important to learn what ISO is too high for your camera. Remember the higher the ISO the more grain, and lower quality or picture.  So a job well done to Perry inside the barn with Brennen. 

Lastly, but not least, is Shelby. Her exposure of Elizabeth is beautiful, she has nice framing, and check out the depth of field! Shelby is the only thing in focus, and the whole background is blurred out. She’s got it going on with that 50mm at f1.4!

Congratulations to our winner and all our students! Thank you for coming to the workshop, and we hope to see you at future ones! You’re part of the family now, so come back anytime!