Photography Workshop with Currys

I was kindly invited along to a photography workshop recently on behalf of Currys. Seen as my camera and photography knowledge is at a beginner's level I decided it definitely couldn't hurt to take a lesson! I don't even own a 'proper' camera, mostly because I wouldn't know what to do with one, so I borrowed my Stepdad's Nikon D60 and headed to Manchester Photographic, located in the Northern Quarter area of the city center.
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The teacher Chris, started by giving us a brief talking to about how we held our cameras and the correct stance to have. Have your feet firmly planted on the ground and about shoulder length apart to strengthen your balance. When holding the camera you should hold the lens and the side. It's important to keep the lens as steady as possible, if you don't have a tripod, be the tripod.

We learnt that the three most important things to master in photography are aperture, ISO and shutter speed. Shutter speed is simply the time in which the lens is open for. I got the cool picture above of Chris jumping by adjusting my shutter speed.

Aperture is all about focus. If you've ever seen a photo where the main subject is crystal clear and the background is blurry - that is done using the aperture settings on the camera. Slightly confusingly, a 'wide aperture' means the subject is less is focus. It's called 'wide' because the lens is open wider. Aperture is connected to shutter speed because if the lens is open wider, it lets more light in, so the shutter speed needs to be shorter. If the aperture is smaller, then the shutter speed would be longer. It's all about balance!

ISO means the international standard to the sensitivity of light of the camera's digital sensor. No I don't really understand that either! ISO can cause 'grain' on photos (very good example of this on the photo above!), so all you need to know is that Chris recommended an ISO of 100 on a clear sunny day, and 400/600 for a cloudy day. Sorted.

We headed off to the Manchester Food & Drink Festival to take some photos with out newly learned skills. And what happened to me at this point... my battery died! So apart from the hurridly snapped photos above of Manchester Town Hall, I wasn't able to take any photos on the day. I am saving up for a fancy camera so hopefully you will see much improved photos from me very soon. If you'd like to see some of the fab photos the other bloggers took on the day (they are certainly worth a look!) please check out the blogs below. I hope the tips will help you with your photography too!
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Kat at Rainbow CrushLaura at Love & LiquorEmma at MissPondKristina at Mode of StyleHolly at EmpfireChrissy at Preschool MumorCurrys blog post on the day