Roy offers private instruction in the DC/MD/VA area from mid-September to mid-June. Contact Roy using the Contact tab in the main menu.  

Motivation

You want to accelerate your ability as a photographer. Instead of joining a class, you want someone to tailor a learning path for your specific level of understanding and skill, and to conduct one-on-one or one-on-two training.

Who is it for?

This private instruction for 1 or 2 students is intended for novice and intermediate photographers. 

Approach to planning private instruction sessions

Roy will first assess your understanding, skill, and equipment, and then tailor sessions that will improve your photography. The topic and schedule of each session is agreed to in advance. Photo shoots can be included as part of the instruction.

Example of private instruction for a novice

Basic steps in digital photography - capture, upload, edit, process, output Before using the camera - body, lenses, sensor, resolution Controlling the camera - what you want to control, initial settings to make, exposure, the meter, f-stop, shutter speed, ISO, exposure compensation, the histogram, focal length, focus, depth of field, drive mode, camera motion blur, sharpness.

Example of private instruction for a novice or intermediate photographer

You want to become a Lightroom user because you've heard that it is a superb software package for cataloging, organizing, keywording, editing, processing, printing, web page development, and slide shows. But your photographs are a jumbled and disorganized mess, possibly spread over multiple disks, possibly with inadvertent duplicates, and possibly not backed up.

You've got a lot of basic photo organization to do before you can even start using Lightroom, and this is so daunting that you're reluctant to take the first step. Roy will assess your current photograph organization and create a tailored strategy for getting the photographs properly organized so they are ready to be imported into Lightroom.

Other examples of private instruction

Starting into Photoshop, for Lightroom users: You are a confident Lightroom user, but have heard that Photoshop can do some things that Lightroom can't. You're wondering if you should make the plunge into Photoshop. You will learn: some notable features of Photoshop that suggest adding it to your toolkit; how to decide what tasks to do in Lightroom vs. Photoshop.  This is not a comprehensive review of Photoshop.

Exposure: You want to get a better grasp of how to maintain good exposure while improving control of depth-of-field, motion blur, and noise. You will learn: exposure modes; how to decide what f-stop, shutter speed, and ISO combination to use for various types of scenes such as landscapes and action; how to use the histogram to detect improper exposure and determine the amount of exposure compensation to apply.

Field technique: When you shooting on a tripod or hand-held you are not completely sure about all the things that need to be done to set up and shoot, and in what order. Learn best practices for:  doing a preliminary set up of all the equipment and settings; composing, focusing, and controlling depth of field; adjusting the camera settings; taking test shots; shooting. This class is best done in the field.

Cost

North Bethesda Camera Club members and wait list - $75/hour.  Others - $100/hour for the first 2 hours, $80/hour thereafter including subsequent sessions.

Location

At your home, or in the field, or at Roy's home office at 5619 Oak Place, Bethesda, MD 20817.

Dates and times

The schedule is flexible. The number, frequency, and length of sessions are determined by mutual agreement. Typical sessions are 2 - 3 hours long.