Walkabout With Wheels Blog: The Photograhy Workshop at the SKP Acre Rally in Sevierville, Tennessee

RV Rallies aren't all about eating, door prizes, dancing and visiting local attractions. There are workshops to attend on lots of topics including, Photography, RV Safety, Alzheimer's Disease, RV Braking Systems, etc.

Eric and I went to Suzanne's Photography Workshop.

Suzanne Spahn is a retired

instructor, Escapee member

& avid photographer.

Her workshop on Taking Better
Photographs with Cell Phones
& Point & Shoot Cameras
covers the obvious & not so
obvious tips for taking better
pictures.

First, last and always... Read the camera's manual. Suzanne recommends downloading the manual to your cell phone so the information is always available.

The Rule of Thirds helps

photographers compose

pictures quickly.

Look at the scene... Can you move around a little to "frame the shot" with foliage, buildings, etc.? Can you include plants, a car or some other object in the foreground
to draw the eye deeper into the photo?

Suzanne encourages photographers to get close to their subjects. The more you
crop photos, to get at that interesting portion, the more likely you are
to end up with pixilated, grainy photos. Step closer...

Use the burst mode setting, which takes multiple shots per second, when taking
photos of wildlife and sports events to get "the shot" of a subject in motion.

Suzanne shared many photography tips with the group, and shared the link to her presentation for future use. I appreciate having this resourse to review again and again.

Move away from the
Automatic mode.

I have my camera setting set to automatic. The results are this: I document experiences more than create photos. My photos are not artistic, but I get "the shot."

The ISO Setting determines the camera's sensitivity to light. Photos taken at lower ISO settings, in good lighting, show more detail than photos taken at higher ISO settings.

Shutter Speed is the amount of time the shutter is open. The Shutter Speed can be slowed to emphasize movement, ex. the "babbling brook." Faster Shutter Speeds get clear, crisp action photos, ex. sporting event pictures.

Aperture is the size of the camera's shutter opening. The larger the Aperture, the more light is allowed into camera. The smaller the Aperture, the less light is allowed into the camera. Aperture settings allow photographers to clearly focus on one image, and "blur" the surrounding area. The results are stylized, artistic photos.

All too soon, Suzanne wrapped up her presentation and thanked us for attending. I have a lot of information in one place to review, specific settings to experiment with and, with the manual downloaded on my phone, no excuses not to explore photo composition options.

I started working on one photography tip immediately after the workshop: It's time to move in close on my subject.