"Looking back through the assignments, for me there was a clear tipping point where my shots straight out of the...

"Looking back through the assignments, for me there was a clear tipping point where my shots straight out of the camera started to resemble what I “saw”, rather than needing to edit extensively. This was a light bulb moment, suddenly the ideas I had for images were taking shape in the camera, and that outcome seemed to trigger more ideas and images." Chris Sutton 

Chris, thank you for sharing your thoughts and work from your time in the "Camera Basics: Beyond Automatic" mentorship! The fabulous group that periodically offers this mentorship through our program has our undying appreciation and gratitude and we are so glad you got so much out of it.

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For anyone who has read this far, consider mentoring someone else here (or more) ... some people don't even know where to start with their cameras and you could be the change they need in their lives. Even the smallest bit of knowledge can be passed on and you can create your mentorship in many different ways. Imagine the feeling of taking someone to their next level, paying forward the knowledge you've received and watching someone blossom with enthusiasm and accomplishment!

Originally shared by Chris Sutton

Camera Basics:Beyond Automatic - Final Plus Post
 
Digital Photography is still a new medium for me, and although I’ve had my camera for a couple of years, a lot of the options were incomprehensible to me. While I’ve worked hard at improving my photography over the last couple of years, I’d reached a point where I often wasn’t able to translate my ideas into a usable image.
 
So when this mentorship was announced, I thought it was a golden opportunity to finally make my camera do what I wanted it to do. We started off gently and gradually worked our way through various camera modes until we got to the point of working in fully manual mode. I also made the acquaintance of my camera manual during this process (don’t they know blokes don’t read manuals…? :) ) and in addition to discovering various controls I never knew existed, I’ve learnt to program the camera to change key settings with a single button press (or two).
 
Looking back through the assignments, for me there was a clear tipping point where my shots straight out of the camera started to resemble what I “saw”, rather than needing to edit extensively. This was a light bulb moment, suddenly the ideas I had for images were taking shape in the camera, and that outcome seemed to trigger more ideas and images.
 
At this stage I certainly don’t shoot in fully manual all the time, there are situations such as street photography where manually setting exposure and focus is too slow, and other situations where the manual focus using the LCD screen on my camera is just too difficult. (Oh for the days of split image focusing). But what I have is a new set of tools and skills, and through understanding these I’m in a position to be able to select the best method for a particular situation to get a result from my camera.
 
At the end of the mentorship, we had a bonus two weeks where we covered the topic of managing a catalogue of images, naming conventions, folder management etc. This was a brilliant end to the mentorship, I have a very large collection of images with chaotic organisation (that means none at all really) and through learning more effective naming conventions and folder structures, I’m starting to see some order at last. Not sure how long it will take to get the existing images sorted, but everything new is now clearly tagged, named and organised. :)
 
The group on this mentorship was most supportive (especially during the week on flash that I just couldn’t get it to work the way I wanted :) ) and it was great to work with fellow mentees from other mentorships, some photographers I know well from other communities and interests, and the new friends made here, you all made this an enjoyable and rewarding experience.
 
Thanks to all the mentors, I’m sure your patience was stretched at times but you all remained calm and supportive, it was very much appreciated.
 
Thanks very much to Ellie Kennard and Darcee McCutcheon  for the bonus lessons on digital organisation, I feel as though I’ve been saved from my previous disorganisation :)
 
And G+ Mentorship Program for Photographers , what an amazing job you do teaching and supporting so many people through these programs, the dedication and generosity of everyone involved is truly remarkable. Thanks Robin Griggs Wood, Alex Lapidus  and
Ron Clifford