Let’s talk about your camera for a second.  I can almost guarantee it is capable of a lot more than you think!  In 2009 Nikon came out with the D3000.  It’s pretty much the most basic DSLR out there.  It’s now discontinued, but you can buy a better camera for around $500.  In the world of DSLRs, that’s as cheap as it gets.

It’s time to let you in on the secret:  That little dinky DSLR is now 6 years old and took the above images.  Not too shabby! Anyone could have taken these images.  Truthfully, anyone.  And I can teach you how!

I rarely take the D3000 out these days because we don’t have a need for it.  I’ve thought about selling it, but it’s sentimental.  I took it out this week for Hazel to take some pictures for a scrapbook.  I made a big deal about it and she totally enjoyed it for about 7 minutes.  I’d set the ISO to 400 and put the camera in aperture priority at f/1.8.  I used the Nikkor 35mm lens.  That lens will work on almost any Nikon DSLR camera, and certainly anything made since 2005 or so.  It’s doubled its value since I bought it!  Lenses are good investments.

And that’s it.  The knowledge of a few basic settings (so simple I had turned the camera over to a three year old to manage), I was able to get a perfectly wonderful picture with excellent lighting.  And you can too!

We had our first Photography Basics Class in February and it was a huge hit!  Our goal was to give information that was not only useful immediately, but also allowed our students to continue to learn and grow after the class.  Our next one is coming up on April 25 from 10am-12pm in Hampton, VA.  If you’re interested, send us an email using the contact form above and we’ll sign you up!  The cost is $75 and that covers breakfast, hands on learning, and continued learning and questions after the class as well!