Posted by The Internet provides a wide range of online learning options, whether it’s a language, an instrument or even completing a college degree. After having taken some photography classes in university, I was a wee bit skeptical about how much one would learn about photography in front of a computer. Yet leaping strides in technology have made it easier than ever to communicate and share quality images over the Internet and this has made an enormous difference in the quality of online photography courses. You can take courses specific to your camera and learn alongside students from all over the world. The main thing is to marry the learning with constant practice.
Here are some basic topics you should expect to cover in an online photography class.
1) Understanding your camera’s functions and controls as well as the limits to what it can and can’t do.
Most classes will start by teaching you the functions of your:
• Aperture
• Shutter
• ISO
The above 3 are the key elements to determine the exposure of a photograph.
2) Elements of Exposure
Exposure refers to the total amount of light allowed to fall on the image sensor during the process of taking a photograph. A photograph is considered overexposed when the bright parts of an image look “blown out”. A photo will be described as underexposed when there is a loss of shadow details and the dark areas are indistinguishable from black. Understanding why your images come out too dark or too bright and learning how to properly use a light meter is one of the most basic elements of photography.
3) Depth of field
Understanding depth of field will help you overcome blurry shots. Depth of field refers to the portion of a scene that appears sharp in an image. DOF is determined by the subject’s distance to the plane that is perfectly in focus. For landscape images, you want everything in the scene to look sharp so as you will learn, you will want larger DOF, but a smaller aperture. For portraits, you want to make sure your subject is in focus, so you will use a larger aperture and a smaller DOF.
4) Shooting modes and what they do:
• Auto
• Aperture Priority/Av
• Shutter Priority/Tv
• Manual
5) Types of Lens
• Zoom Lens
• Prime Lens
• Macro Lens
• Fisheye Lens
• Telephoto and Ultra Telephoto Lens
• Wide Angle and Ultra Wide Angle Lens
6) Rule of Thirds
The basic principle behind the rule of thirds is breaking an image down into thirds (both horizontally and vertically) so that you have 9 parts. Studies have shown that when viewing images, people’s eyes naturally drift towards the intersection points rather than the center of the shot. The rule of thirds works with our natural way of viewing. Of course many have broken the rule, and created amazing photos. But the rule of thirds is still an important part of creating well-balanced and interesting shots.
7) Effective Photographs
The right place at the right time, Henri Cartier Bresson once said, “The photograph is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event, as well as of a precise organization of forms, that give the event its proper expression”.
Knowing how to create pictures with purpose and compose them in a meaningful way is what makes one photograph stand out from the next. Advertising and fashion photographers have the click down to a science and it’s beneficial to know the science of a perfect photograph. If you have a look at commercial photography websites like Ryan Parent Ottawa photographers you can begin to see how much a picture requires thought and planning.
How you choose to use your photography knowledge is at your discretion but getting great shots isn’t about luck. Sometimes you get lucky but the more skill you have, the less you depend on luck.
8 ) Photoshop
Learning Photoshop in a Level I photography class isn’t always possible. My first photography teacher was apprehensive about teaching us any Photoshop. His view was that we shouldn’t learn how to “fix” pictures, before knowing how to make good ones. By Level II, Photoshop is generally introduced. The more Photoshop experience you gather, the better off you will be in the long-run. Just about every professional photographer needs to be Photoshop proficient unless they work strictly in a darkroom.
