Flying Photo School

Back around Christmas time, I stumbled upon a Groupon for a Flying Photo School. This jumped right out at me as I have a Nikon D300 digital SLR camera and have been yearning to learn how to put it to better use. The Christmas before Reese was born I got it as a gift from my parents and Kyle, as I had asked so when Reese was born, I could take some amazing pictures of her. While it does take great pictures, I never learned how to correctly use it to maximize each photo, thus leaving it stuck in "Auto" mode for the past 2 1/2 years!
The online "class" is throughout the month of May, and I have homework (a photo taken using what we have learned that week) to submit every Sunday evening. The following Monday, we then get our next weeks course material. I have to say, I LOVE this class. I have always liked taking pictures. But now that I am learning how to take good pictures, I see my camera in a whole new way. Thus far I have learned about the parts of the camera, white balance (the color of the photo), ISO, and shutter speed. Next week we tackle aperture.  I can already tell a difference in my pictures- they are so much more crisp and clear. Here are a few I have taken since learning how to use the functions and getting out of Auto mode...

She was in full swinging action here- if I would have taken it on Auto- she would have been all blurry...but with the help of understanding shutter speed- I captured her in the moment! 

I posted this picture of Sunday last week, and  it was my first submission to my class. I got an A for the picture- saying the professor commenting "great focus and amazingly sharp"

Another picture demonstrating the use of white balance- while indoors achieving a great color in the picture and sharp focus on the plant itself