Nikon School

About two weeks ago I attended an all-day photography workshop called the Nikon School. It was an early Christmas present (thanks mom and dad!!). It was fantastic. This was a beginner-level program so it was beneficial for me to learn some of the photography basics that I don't fully understand.
The day started with concepts of photography -- shutter speed, aperture, ISO, etc. The second section was on some of the features of Nikon's (but really any) DSLRs. They talked about the built-in features (the filters and other settings) that you can use to achieve different effects.
The third section was on composition and shooting better photos. They talked about shooting from nontraditional angles and moving around your subject (especially if it means you can prevent a tree growing out of somebody's head).
The fourth section was completely focused on the digital aspect of photography. They explained some of the pros/cons for using different file formats for storing your photos. Then they had a demonstration of Capture NX2, which is Nikon's photo-editing software. It's something like Photoshop, but it isn't a graphics program -- it is strictly for photos. They showed us how to use some of the retouch functions and take your good photos and make them look great. Plus, they showed us how to editing some neat special effects. They passed out free copies of the program, so I've been playing with mine. One of the things that I learned about was using the RAW file format. This allows you to do a whole extra level of editing. The problem is that now I want to edit all of my pictures so it's going to take me a bit longer to get them up on the picasa page.
These are pictures from Kim's wedding. I didn't take them, but I used the program to edit them. I changed the first one to black and white but then left Kim's flowers in full color. In the second picture I changed Jason's dad's tie. He really wanted to wear a purple tie to the wedding, but was talked into wearing a peach one that matched his boutonniere. So I went back and gave him a purple tie. I love how the program allowed me to keep the original texture of the tie. I was able to change the color without just giving it a solid fill.
I'm still working on/playing with some of the photos that I took using the information from the workshop. As soon as I'm finished editing them I'll put them on the picasa page.