Advanced Camera Techniques Boot Camp

Learn all the cool things you can do with your camera and a few accessories!

Your Camera is A Time Machine! Late model smartphones are great, but cameras with interchangeable lenses can do much, much more than phones! Your DSLR or mirrorless camera is really a magic machine, a device capable of doing things no human (or phone) can do! It can stop time, it can see in the dark, freeze the wings of a hummingbird, make all the moving people in a train station disappear, turn waterfalls into misty clouds or a million little ice pellets, make small rooms look big, move the moon across the sky, bring the beauty of nature into your home, and capture memories of your past in exquisite detail.

In short, cameras can move us to tears, to joy, and to wonder, all with the click of a button. In an instant, the images they capture speak 1,000 words. But, to become a skilled photographer, you must know HOW to make these things happen by learning how to use ALL the features of your camera. THAT is what WPS Director E. David Luria will help you do on this new workshop on advanced camera techniques!

Since you are already familiar with the basic functions of your camera, this is a new workshop to help you explore new techniques and open up new image possibilities.

Here are the topics we will cover in this jam-packed workshop, which will take place in a nice warm and beautiful location in downtown Washington at Saint Matthew’s Cathedral, (the site of JFK’s funeral in November of 1963), within the Baptistry Room, exclusively made available to clients of Washington Photo Safari for this workshop! (Our panning and slow-motion shots will be done outside on Rhode Island Avenue.)

• The importance of a good, tall sturdy tripod
• The optical effects of lenses of different focal lengths
• Using a loupe for picture analysis
• Using the Multiple Exposure function
• Slow- speed photography with neutral density filters, to make moving people and cars disappear
• Panning to create motion blur
• Creating “ghost” images
• The use of graduated neutral density filters
• The use of circular polarizing filters
• The use of graduated blue or graduated orange filters
• Why we call a Thrifty Fifty a “Nifty Fifty!”
• Using Exposure Lock and Focus Lock buttons
• The use of auxiliary flash units on manual mode
• Using the Kelvin scale for correct white balance settings
• Creative white balance techniques that break the rules
• The use of tilt-shift or perspective control lenses
• Techniques of macro photography
• Rapid shooting techniques
• The use of black-and-white photography mode for storytelling photography

Required equipment to bring:

• DSLR or mirrorless camera body with Manual Mode, and all lenses;
• A good quality, tall, sturdy tripod (Manfrotto, Slik, Gitzo, Benro, Vanguard)
• Basic knowledge of your camera’s menus, F stops and shutter speeds

Optional Suggested Equipment, if available:

• A circular polarizing filter
• A neutral density filter, No. 8 or 9, (or a Variable ND filter)
• A graduated neutral density filter
• A graduated orange or graduated blue filter
• A Hoodman Loupe
• A 50mm F1.8 or f1.4 lens
• A macro lens;
• An external shoe-mounted flash unit with Manual Mode
• A tilt-shift or perspective control lens

This safari is for photographers with intermediate or advanced skills.

What else to bring:

• Camera
• Lenses (See Suggested Equipment List)
• Extra memory cards
• Extra charged battery
• Tripod
• Accessories such as filters, remote release (See Suggested Equipment List)
• Weather appropriate clothing

Where to meet:

Meet on steps of St Matthew’s Cathedral, 1725 Rhode Island Ave NW, Washington, D.C.

Free parking on all streets, nearest METRO is Farragut North on Red Line.