Photography Excursion In Jerome Arizona

Hello photography fans and welcome back to our page! Today we want to announce our photography adventure that will be taking place all year round at the Grand Hotel in Jerome Arizona.

So you are into photography? Whether it be landscape, structure, portrait or even a little ghost hunting we have you covered! Martin, the photographer from DFPV will be showing you how to better understand your DSLR camera functions and settings, along with how aperture, shutter speed and ISO come into play to get the desired results from your camera and take the type of photos you want.

We will be meeting at the hotel and touring various parts of Jerome. At the hotel we will be teaching photography techniques including portrait photography with provided models, models are not paid but will be working off tips so they will be appreciated greatly.

This class cost is only $80 for a two hour excursion per person. This special and adventurous class will be filmed partially to be featured on our DFPV YouTube channel. You have the choice to opt out of being on video if you wish. It is highly suggested that you participate however so that your family and friends back home can watch part of your adventure!

You will be invited to a group breakfast, lunch and dinner where we can all mingle together and get to know each other. You will meet other aspiring photographers from around the state and possibly out of state or country. You will also be invited to join our online community as well.

So if this sounds like something up your alley, give us a shot and chance to provide you with an educational and fun time! Please contact us Here to book your spot and for greater details about this trip. Thanks so much and we look forward to seeing all of you! Visit our Facebook Page Here

Photography Classes In Peoria Arizona

Photography Classes in Arizona by DFPV

Hello and welcome to Photography for Beginners. We are based in Arizona and offer classes that will teach you what you need to know to understand your DSLR camera better, menu, functions and settings. We also teach what aperture, shutter speed and ISO actually are.

Learn how to control your depth of field, get those blurry backgrounds that you want, learn which white balance settings to use indoors or out no matter which light source you are using, or if you are using multiple types of light sources.

We can help you choose the type of equipment you need for your particular photography needs with links that will save you time and money! Learn different lighting types and setups, composition, rule of thirds, focus and recompose and much more from a photographer who loves what he does. 

Learn how to get blurry backgrounds in outdoor portraits, or "shallow depth of field" Like in this photo. 

Here Kena is posed by a tree and the background behind her is relatively soft. This is for the purpose of concentrating on your subject and not the background even though the background might be quite pleasant looking.

When photographing people you want to be the main subject and not obscured by a very busy or distracting background with visible and in focus cars, buildings and other people. This makes it look unprofessional and 'beginner like.' You also need to fill your frame with your subject.

We will be covering off-camera flash, light modifiers, speedlites, using fill flash outdoors, high speed sync, strobist setups and infinite white backgrounds.

Our classes take place in several cities in Arizona and we will be branching out to other states soon as well. We have models available for you to practice your photography techniques as well. 

Our main classes will take place in the Peoria Public Library and Surprise Library. 

1. Photography Basics Class is $35 per person 1 hour long class.
2. Shutter, Aperture and ISO Understanding Class is $45 per person, 1 hour long.
3. Composition, framing, focus and recompose and white balance is $45 per person 1 hour long.
4. Outdoor photography hands-on training is $60 per person for 2 hour long class. You must have your own DSLR camera with basic understanding of your own camera functions.
5. Learn to use Manual Speedlites to help you take better photos, on-camera, basic class $60 per person 2 hour session. I provide Canon DSLR and manual speedlite for demonstration purposes. You must have basic understanding of DSLR for this class.
6. Advanced Speedlite training part 2 of above. Learn how to use bounce flash to make your photos more flattering with softer light. On-camera flash. $60 per person for 2 hour session. We will cover settings, flash output increments and more. Class 5 recommended first if you are completely new to manual settings and flash photography.
7. Introduction to Off-Camera flash, strobist setup. This class is to get your flash off-camera to increase your portrait creativity.With Off-Camera flash the possibilities of your photo shoot are endless. You can replicate almost any look you like. Turn day time into night time looking photos and much more! This class is $70.00 per person for 2 hour session. Equipment will be provided, just bring a note pad to take notes or you can bring your DSLR camera if you wish.
8. Multiple Off-Camera Speedlite Class, learn to use main light and fill light with light modifiers. Class cost $70.00 per person for 2 hour session. Equipment will be provided for demo purposes. Hands on live training to improve your photography skills to a substantial level!
9. Our latest class is our photography adventure walk where we will tour various areas of the valley are now available! See historic parts of Downtown Peoria Arizona where we will trek from the library and eventually work our way to the old Cotton Gin. This will be a 2 hour class and is only $80.00 per student. This will be quite a bit of walking, so make sure you are up to it. This class will be part of our YouTube video series where you can opt in or out of being in the video. We encourage you to take part however so you can be seen by your friends and family!

Let us know which of the classes above you want to take. We have classes all year round every week. Simply contact us Here To Book Your Spot. We will schedule a date and time that works for you. That's right, we work with your schedule!  

Thanks for viewing Photography for Beginners, we look forward to hearing from you!

You can also find the gear you need here Digital Photography Gear save time and money by buying your gear at this link.

Our Facebook Page Here

How to use YN-560 II off camera flash

See what customers say about this flash here

Hello photography for beginner fans, if you are returning readers we thank you for coming back. If you are new to our blog we welcome you and encourage you to interact with our community.

So maybe you have finally mastered the functions of your DSLR no matter which brand? Now you have used the pop-up flash on your camera now to only realize that your photos are coming out boring and flat such as your subject coming out with red eyes, deer in the headlights look or they look like someone's mugshot! No you don't want that whether you are just trying to take some good snapshots at your favorite niece's birthday party, or you are taking wedding photos as a paid job. So your next step is to find an awesome external flash to mount on the hot shoe of your camera.

External flashes/speedlites, offer a number of advantages over your pop-up flash. One main advantage is the size of the light source. The pop-up flash of your camera is a very tiny thin strip of light about and inch long. Off camera speedlites flash sources are quite a bit larger than the pop-up flash counter part. Here are two examples below.

Here is the pop-up flash sized head and the external flash is below. You can see the flash source at the bottom one is much larger. The larger the light source the softer and more pleasant the lighting will be. Just one problem with that. You still only have flat front on lighting that does not flatter your subject. The remedie for this with the speed light is that its flash head can bend and swivel. With this you can bounce flash off of ceilings and walls that are white making your light source tremendously larger and softer. I strongly recommend the Canon 600 EX-RT Flash as it is absolutely amazing and nearly bullet proof if you truly must have one of the most dependable flashes on the market! If you are a hobbyist looking to venture into flash photography and want a speedlite that can hang with the best at an affordable entry level price then maybe the YN-560 II Manual Speedlite is for you. This flash is perfect for off camera strobist setup.







Even after being able to use bounce flash indoors this is still a severe limitation outdoors. Outdoors you usually cannot use bounce flash techniques. You need what is called 'Off Camera' flash.With off camera flash you can now place them at 45 degree angles which are usually more flattering for your portrait subject. With bare flash this works okay, but the use of a light modifier such as a Softbox , Shoot Through Umbrella , or Reflective Umbrella will yield you much better results with lighting that is both softer and more flattering.

Buy these stands by clicking the image

Okay, you have your off camera speedlites and possible light modifiers, now what? You most likely are going to need something to mount those flashes and or modifiers onto. This is where light stands come in. These Cowboy Studio Light Stands are just what you need and they are very affordable. I around ten of these personally because you can never seem to have enough of them.

Light stands are a must if you shooting outdoor portraits alone. You can position a kicker light behind your subject, a key light and fill light, or many possible combinations requiring more speedlites. Manual speedlites like the YN-560 II are perfect for off camera flash. If you use a shoot-through or reflective umbrella outdoors be careful as they can topple over in the wind or even become airborn! For event photography you might want an ETTL Flash, but we will talk about that later.

Here is a video we made to show how to trigger off camera optically, without expensive flash triggers outdoors using one on-camera YN-560 II flash as a master to control off-camera slave.









 We hope that you found the above video helpful. You can check us out on these following links as well,

1. Facebook
2. YouTube please subscribe!

Point And Shoot Camera Reviews

All right, you love taking photos but aren't quite ready for a DSLR yet. Not to worry, today we have some DSLR killers that you might not be able to live without.

Pros and Cons. With DSLR's you can get great photos with nice blurry backgrounds. You have many interchangeable lens options along with tons of accessories such a lighting ect.

Downside to DSLR's starts with price. They can cost you thousands of dollars including accessories. It is not uncommon to spend $5,000 or more on such a set-up. These cameras can also be heavy and bulky making them and accessories hard to transport.

Point and shoot cameras. You can carry them in your pocket, no need to purchase extra expensive lenses. Relatively simple to use.

Downside to point and shoot cameras they lack a little in creativity as you cannot control depth of field in most cases. Also you cannot photograph from very far away, such as trying to capture photos at an event, you just won't get the reach.

Here is a video reviewing the Sony DSC-RX100 MII Cyber Shot





 Hope you enjoyed this review. You can purchase the camera Here and see what others are saying about it. Here is another point and shoot you might like by Canon. It is the powershot G16 with 12.1 MP CMOS Sensor. It boast a 1080P video mode and provides outstanding low light performance with ISO 12800 capability. Plus this point and shoot is a little more affordable than the Sony Above.

See how others have rated this camera Here Also here is a video review of it to see for yourself.





If you enjoyed this video and found it useful in picking out your point and shoot visit this Link to save $50.00.

Thanks for reading our point and shoot camera review post and we hope you found it interesting as well as helpful in choosing your next point and shoot camera.

Using Continuous Lights For Photography

  Hi everybody, this is Martin Maven and I am glad to have you back. If you are here for the first time, welcome! If you are a regular viewer I thank you for returning. I hope you will find this particular post helpful as well as interesting. I truly love being a photographer as well as an instructor. I love helping people achieve their goals so here we go.

Have you used regular speedlights in the past, only to leave you desiring better performance? Are you in a transitional phase stepping up to a more professional level, such as adding a home studio? If you answered yes to any of these questions you are going to want to watch the video below and see what you have been missing. You will learn how to use the Profoto Studio Strobe It can be used as a flash, or even as a continuous light for photos or video work. I is also much more powerful than any speedlite, or even set of speedlites combined.
 

Wedding photographers might find this strobe to particularly intriguing for their work.This video was very informative as it showed all of this flashes best features and how it can be extremely useful for you in your photography endeavors. You can purchase the awesome Profoto Studio Strobe here 

Which Camera Should You Buy

Which Camera Should You Buy? That is not an easy answer. The Panasonic GH4 takes the impressive specs and performance of the GH3 and kicks it up a notch. The video below will show a review of the GH4, C100, BMPC4k   against each other to determine which is right for you.

See what others are saying about the GH4 Here

See what they say about the C100 Here
Watch this great full video review down below



 To purchase the GH4 just click Here for the lowest price possible and guaranteed through Amazon.

To purchase the C100 click here for best price!

YN568 EXII High Speed Sync Test

 So you want to see what the YN568 EXII can do in high speed sync? Well you are not alone. The YN568 EX II is what is known as a Canon 580 EX II killer. It possesses almost all of the same features for a fraction of the price. Canon cost over $500 brand new, while the YN568 EXII is only around $124.00

High speed sync is needed when you want your speedlite to perform properly over 1/200 or 1/250 of a second depending on the brand of camera you own. You often need high speed sync when shooting outdoors during brighter daylight conditions. To see this type of flash trigger a manual flash not capable of high speed sync on its own I have made this video for you. It will save you both time and money. You will need the YN568EXII as a Master and a much cheaper YN560 Speedlite as well to fire off camera.

The YN560 Speedlite is very simple and affordable, see what others are rating this flash Here

The YN568EXII can be purchased Here to save $61.00 !

Watch this video I have made to show you exactly how this YN568EXII works to trigger a manual flash.



Hope you enjoyed the video. If you have any questions or concerns please ask. Thanks a lot and hope you enjoy your new flashes!