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Richard Stromberg’s Chicago Photography Classes – Photo 1 Selects

I've always loved taking pictures. I got serious back in 2013 after my iPhone 4S got toasted 30 minutes into a trip to Playa del Carmen in Mexico. My LifeProof case turned out not to be so “lifeproof.”

After exploring countless options for cameras to use while snorkeling, I found a deal on an old model Olympus Pen mini with waterproof housing. It was one of those “fancy” ones with the different lens options.

Since then, I've learned to use all those lenses but wanted to learn the rest of my camera. A quick search this past summer found a cool photography studio near my old neighborhood – Richard Stromberg's Chicago Photography Classes. I took the free intro class back in June and found the time to enroll in the Photo 1 class back at Halloween.

Since then, I've learned the basics of Aperture Priority mode and explored depth of field, motion blur, and perspective. We were limited to one lens – a 50 mm (or equivalent) focal length – and were instructed to shoot handheld outside in open shade to keep our ISO to 400 as much as possible. The last instruction was to keep the shutter speed above 1/60. Each week we shot 36 pictures and developed them in lab using Lightroom, stripping away the color and going old-school black & white.

The following pics were my favorites and all were shot with an Olympus OM-D E-M1 with a 25mm 1.8 lens, except for the Supermoon. I used my 40-150 zoomed all the way out for that.

Someday when I get really good – and win the lottery – I'll shoot with one of these: a Leica SL and 50 mm lens or a Leica Q.

One can always dream, right?

Chad's Photo 1 Selects – #1

 

Supermoon November 2016 – Oly 40-150 lens – fully extended

 

Chad's Photo 1 Selects – #2

 

Chad's Photo 1 Selects – #3

 

Chad's Photo 1 Selects – #4

 

Chad's Photo 1 Selects – #5

 

Chad's Photo 1 Selects – #6

 

Chad's Photo 1 Selects – #7

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