Ok, so now I have a Camera, a DSLR no less. The next thing, is to find out
what to do with it. You guessed it, gotta Learn how to use it…!!!
My learning Curve started by searching the Internet for
learning recourses and tutorials on Photography and ended with an Awesome website
called Lynda.com. I must say, Lynda.com is, by far, the best one-stop-shop for all your
learning needs. They are an Online Tutorials and Training website and have a
huge repository of training material delivered by highly experienced Gurus who
are themselves experts in their fields, be it, 3D, Animation, Audio,
Business, Design, Developer, Photography, Video or Web.
The first one that caught my interest was by Author Derrick Story, a Professional, Writer and Teacher.
He also runs a very informative
website - The Digital Story where he shares weekly Digital Photography Pod casts, Photo Tips, Reader
Submitted Pictures, Equipment reviews and more.
DigitalPhotography Principles: The Camera - This
tutorial shows us how to master digital cameras and their settings to create
magazine-quality shots.
Once I
got a good understanding of the Anatomy and various key features of a DSLR
camera, I did what Mr. Story mentioned as one of the most important things to
do when starting to use your camera for the first time, and I quote ‘Read the Manual’. Although I won’t claim to have read the whole thing, whatever I did
read made me a better Photographer for sure.
Next up I
came across another Awesome Author, Ben Long, also a Photographer,
Writer, and Teacher. Mr. Long has a buncha courses that really helped me in
improving my skills as a budding Photographer.
I picked up some of his courses
and am studying them in the following order:
Foundations of Photography – Lenses - This
course shows us how to understand, choose, and properly use lenses.
Foundations of Photography – Exposure - This
course describes how shutter speed, aperture, and ISO settings relate to one
another, and how these settings expand your artistic options with any
photograph.
Foundations of Photography –Composition - This
course is a detailed exploration of the concepts of composition, from basics
such as the rule of thirds and leading lines to more advanced topics such as
entry and exit points.
Foundations of Photography - Black and White - This course describes strategies for capturing the best black and white images and techniques
for converting to black and white in Photoshop.
Foundations of Photography - Night and Low Light - This
Course covers the tools, creative options, and special considerations
involved in shooting with a DSLR camera at night or in low-light conditions,
such as sunset or candlelight.
Shooting
and Processing High Dynamic Range Photographs (HDR) - This
course describes and demonstrates high dynamic range (HDR) photography, a
technique that broadens the luminance or range between the lightest and darkest
areas of an image.
By the
time I will finish the above listed courses, I’m pretty sure my Photography
will be way better than when I began.
Now, most of the Professional
Photographers whom I have spoken to, as well as Trainers, advice to achieve the
best possible version of the Photograph, ‘in Camera’. But some times a little
Photo-Retouching can really bring out a look and feel you could never achieve
otherwise. In this matter, the go to Digital Software is Adobe’s hugely popular
Photoshop, now in it’s CS6 version. Yet again, Lynda.com has a huge collection
of Courses for Photoshop and it’s implementation in Photography by various Authors.
Following are
the ones that I’m studying:
Author - Julieanne Kost
This course explores the Photoshop features
and creative options and shows efficient ways to perform common editing tasks
using Photoshop, Camera Raw, and Bridge.
Author - Chris Orwig (www.chrisorwig.com)
This course provides in-depth training on
Camera Raw 7, the Photoshop CS6 component that enables photographers to open
and manipulate raw format images.
Author - Chris Orwig (www.chrisorwig.com)
This course covers the essential techniques to create
composites from multiple photos using Adobe Photoshop—from working around
tricky exposure challenges to creating stronger group photos and crafting
creative photo illustrations.
Author - Bryan O'Neil Hughes
This course takes you on an insider's tour of the key photo-enhancement
features in Photoshop CS6.
Cheers…!!!
Yours Truly,
Really good information! Thank you!
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