Earlier in the month I was invited to Sheffield for a
digital photography course run by Going Digital at the Millennium & Copthorne Hotel in Sheffield. I was very eager to attend. My DSLR had never been
off auto before and I was looking forward to learning about the different
things the camera could do.
The first thing I though about the event was that it was
brilliant to see so many different types of bloggers. Usually at events I get
invited to, there are only parent bloggers, and whilst it’s nice to see many
familiar faces, it’s also really nice to meet other genres of blogger. The course was run by Pandora Maund, who is a Sheffield based photographer and runs Going Digital.
When we were told that we were going to be allowed into Sheffield United's football ground, Bramall Lane, I was exceptionally excited. I have been a football fan since I was about 7. I support Oxford United, and had been to Bramall Lane once before, in 1999, when we won 2-1, with a last minute winner! One of my favourite players Bobby Ford was transferred to Sheffield United, so they are a team which have always held a little soft spot in my heart!
We were taught about depth of field, and using different f numbers to get small or large depth of field in your shots. I have often taken pictures on auto which blurred the entire picture, when I would rather they had shown all the detail clearly, so this was really useful to know.
We practised changing the focus of a picture. I had always wondered how to do this, and it’s probably the feature I have used the most since! These three pictures were taken from the same spot, but with a different focus point.
Focus point at the far right.
Focus point at the far left.
Focus point in the middle of the shot.
Since the event, I haven’t put my camera back onto auto. In fact, that is a lie. I have put it back onto auto once, just to see the difference it made when I was taking a picture on manual. I was surprised to see a marked difference. The depth of the picture I took on manual was so much better than the one on auto. I am impressed at the skills that I learned and I am really enjoying putting them into practice.
To find out more about the digital photography courses offered by Going Digital, check out their website.
To find out more about the digital photography courses offered by Going Digital, check out their website.
Disclosure: I received a day course free of charge for the purpose of review. This had no impact on my post, which is honest and fair.
