Lessons
Class Introduction
17:26 2Welcome to Photography
13:08 3Camera Types Overview
02:00 4Viewing Systems
28:43 5Viewing Systems Q&A
08:45 6Lens Systems
32:06 7Shutter Systems
13:17 8Shutter Speeds
10:47Choosing a Shutter Speed
31:30 10Shutter Speeds for Handholding
08:36 11Shutter Speed Pop Quiz
09:06 12Camera Settings
25:35 13General Camera Q&A
14:38 14Sensor Sizes: The Basics
15:33 15Sensor Sizes: Compared
19:10 16Pixels
20:13 17ISO
21:13 18Sensor Q&A
13:34 19Focal Length: Overview
11:09 20Focal Length: Angle of View
15:09 21Wide Angle Lenses
08:48 22Telephoto Lenses
25:23 23Angle of View Q&A
09:29 24Fish Eye Lenses
10:39 25Tilt & Shift Lenses
23:42 26Subject Zone
17:19 27Lens Speed
09:56 28Aperture Basics
08:46 29Depth of Field
21:49 30Aperture Pop Quiz
13:23 31Lens Quality
18:30 32Photo Equipment Life Cycle
03:57 33Light Meter Basics
09:25 34Histogram
15:25 35Histogram Pop Quiz and Q&A
10:58 36Dynamic Range
06:03 37Exposure Modes
15:58 38Manual Exposure
09:38 39Sunny 16 Rule
05:54 40Exposure Bracketing
10:18 41Exposure Values
27:21 42Exposure Pop Quiz
26:43 43Focus Overview
16:15 44Focusing Systems
05:15 45Autofocus Controls
11:56 46Focus Points
07:35 47Autofocusing on Subjects
20:19 48Manual Focus
07:52 49Digital Focusing Assistance
03:40 50Focus Options: DSLR and Mirrorless
04:58 51Shutter Speeds for Sharpness and DoF
05:20 52Depth of Field Pop Quiz
12:14 53Depth of Field Camera Features
04:54 54Lens Sharpness
09:58 55Camera Movement
05:20 56Handheld and Tripod Focusing
04:32 57Advanced Techniques
07:12 58Hyperfocal Distance
06:50 59Hyperfocal Quiz and Focusing Formula
04:36 60Micro adjust and AF Fine Tune
05:34 61Focus Stacking and Post Sharpening
05:52 62Focus Problem Pop Quiz
18:07 63The Gadget Bag: Camera Accessories
25:30 64The Gadget Bag: Lens Accessories
12:46 65The Gadget Bag: Neutral Density Filter
20:43 66The Gadget Bag: Lens Hood and Teleconverters
08:55 67The Gadget Bag: Lens Adapters
05:43 68The Gadget Bag: Lens Cleaning Supplies
04:34 69The Gadget Bag: Macro Lenses and Accessories
15:57 70The Gadget Bag: Flash and Lighting
05:08 71The Gadget Bag: Tripods and Accessories
18:50 72The Gadget Bag: Custom Cases
11:20 7310 Thoughts on Being a Photographer
07:37 74Direct Sunlight
25:04 75Indirect Sunlight
18:49 76Sunrise and Sunset
18:39 77Cloud Light
14:48 78Golden Hour
09:50 79Light Pop Quiz
07:53 80Light Management
14:00 81Artificial Light
13:56 82Speedlights
16:02 83Off-Camera Flash
27:38 84Advanced Flash Techniques
09:49 85Editing Overview
08:24 86Editing Set-up
08:06 87Importing Images
16:45 88Best Use of Files and Folders
20:54 89Culling
20:56 90Develop: Fixing in Lightroom
18:13 91Develop: Treating Your Images
10:53 92Develop: Optimizing in Lightroom
14:51 93Art of Editing Q&A
06:01 94Composition Overview
06:53 95Photographic Intrusions
10:10 96Mystery and Working the Scene
16:18 97Point of View
09:11 98Better Backgrounds
16:02 99Unique Perspective
11:02 100Angle of View
15:06 101Subject Placement
41:14 102Subject Placement Q&A
05:18 103Panorama
07:39 104Multishot Techniques
13:57 105Timelapse
16:13 106Human Vision vs The Camera
20:07 107Visual Perception
08:35 108Visual Balance Test
22:56 109Visual Drama
12:25 110Elements of Design
28:57 111The Photographic Process
12:28 112Working the Shot
27:38 113The Moment
04:42 114One Hour Photo - Colby Brown
1:04:32 115One Hour Photo - John Keatley
1:03:05 116One Hour Photo - Art Wolfe
59:01 117One Hour Photo - Rocco Ancora
1:01:20 118One Hour Photo - Mike Hagen
1:01:20 119One Hour Photo - Lisa Carney
1:00:52 120One Hour Photo - Ian Shive
1:08:00 121One Hour Photo - Sandra Coan
1:10:29 122One Hour Photo - Daniel Gregory
1:06:07 123One Hour Photo - Scott Robert Lim
1:05:41Lesson Info
10 Thoughts on Being a Photographer
I'd like to start off with a little something fun this morning, and that is, 10 thoughts on being a photographer, and these are just my ideas. I was going to call these 10 facts or 10 truths or the 10 commandments and, well, I don't feel that strongly about them, so they're just thoughts, okay? So, let's go with number one, photography is not cheap. I know a lot of people complain about this, and that, and I don't know that I should really apologize for it, but we deal with technology here, and the technology changes, and high-quality gear often times costs money, and that's just the way it is. Now, you can do wonderful photography with very, very cheap equipment in some cases. In other cases, you absolutely have to have a really expensive piece of gear, because it's a unique thing that you're doing. It's just the way it is, and it's what we all have to deal with. Number two, The best camera tomorrow can't shoot a picture today. I do love going on the internet, and going into the forum...
s and the rumor sites and seeing what's coming here and there, and you know, I just think back. A long time ago, I remember somebody marched into the camera store, and there was this new idea about this Foveon sensor. We talked about it in the sensor days, and he goes, I'm not buying a camera until Nikon makes Foveon sensor! Nikon, in 15 years, has not made a camera with a Foveon sensor. And so there's so many people who are like, I have to have this, and I have to have that, and I'm not gonna buy a camera until they make my perfect camera." Well then you're never gonna shoot pictures, most likely. So, you can watch the rumors, you can read about the rumors, but you know what? It's about having a camera today, enjoying it, and going out and shooting what you can. Quality is important up to a point, and this is a touchy subject, because a lot of us can be perfectionists in this world. We can say, well, I need a better lens, and I need to get a better printer, and I need to do this better, and I need to do that better, and it needs to just keep getting better and better and better and better, until it's the absolute best that you could possibly imagine as physically possible. But you know what, at a certain point, we all just have to say, this is good enough for me. And this is really true when we talk about megapixels, for instance. And to be honest with you, I think most people would be totally fine with a 10 megapixel camera. But when there's a 24, and you only have a 20, oh, maybe that's gonna make me better. You have to really be aware of what is good enough for what you need. Because there's gonna be a limit for all of us. Nobody makes a living just being a photographer. I don't know of anyone who just goes out and takes photos and they get paid for it. I mean, there are people who go out and take photos and get paid for it, but they gotta market, and they gotta sell, and they gotta advertise, and they gotta work on social media, and they gotta do all other things. I mean, there are a few jobs in some big corporations where they hire photographers just to shoot some things at their corporation, but there are very few photographers who have job at large corporations, where they just punch the clock, shoot photos all day, punch the clock, and go home. That just doesn't happen. Most photographers are independent experts at doing something else. A wedding photographer is an expert in weddings. And, talk to pretty much anyone who runs their own business in photography, and photography is usually about 10% of what they're doing. And so if you're a professional in one avenue or another, and you do photography part-time, and you're thinking about going professional, you're probably gonna be doing less photography when you become a professional. You'll be doing lots of other stuff that'll be surrounding photography, but you don't end up doing photography as much as you think, in most cases. The average photographer with great business skills beats a great photographer with average business skills. If you wanted to start your own photography business, and I am probably the last person to lead a class in this, but I've been in the industry for a while, I know a few things, photography business should be business photography, because it's mostly about the business, you just happen to be doing photography. I got my degree in photography. I think my university should have forced me to get a degree in business and a minor in photography, because I think that's much more relative to the way that it actually works out in the world. You need to run a business first, and it just so happens that you have the skill of being a photographer. Number six, opinions matter, yours most of all. Now when you're new to photography and you're not even sure what's up, it's helpful to get advice from people who do know what they're doing. But once you start getting your legs, and you're able to stand and walk on your own in the photography world, and you have a bunch of photos, you can't just keep going to your friends, saying, which ones do you like? This is your art form, you're in control of your own art. And people are buying your art, whether they're physically buying it or just kind of saying they like it, you know, they're buying in to what you're doing because they like what you do, and you can't constantly be going, is this good, I don't know, I don't know. And so you've gotta be able to stand up and say, this is the best one, I like this. Give me your opinion, because I'll take it, I'll listen to it, but this is the one that I like. Number seven, three years to three stars. I'll talk about this more in the second half of the day. But I know a lot of photographers like to rate their images in Lightroom or whatever program they have. And it always just kind of rankles me a little bit when somebody downloads all of their images, they select all of them, and give them all five stars. And just like, really, they're all that good! And so I think there's a much better system. And I'll explain more of it. The first couple years of shooting, you should throw away your worst images because you're not gonna want them. Most of your images should be what I call one star images. They're just basic, they're properly exposed, they're properly focused, but there's nothing extraordinary about them. And the really good ones, you give two stars, and you stop right there. One of the nice things about that is, it makes editing really easy. You don't have to think too hard, it's just one star, two stars, or it goes in the garbage. And then maybe after year three, then you start giving yourself three stars. Because I can pretty much guarantee you, when you look back, five, 10 years down the road, at your first couple years of shooting, most of the stuff you shot was one and two star stuff. Number eight, the hardest part of photography is being in the right place at the right time. It depends a little bit on what type of work you do. If you work in the studio, this doesn't apply so much. But I think just being out in the world, I do a lot of travel photography, street photography, and just happened to be in the right place. A lot of times, you've just gotta spend a lot of time out there, so that you are a little bit lucky. Good photographers are good problem solvers. That is really what photography, in most cases, is all about. It's dealing with little problems. And so hopefully this class has been giving you the solution to those problems, but, if you dislike problems, if you like everything to go smoothly, photography is not the right thing to be doing. There's just always problems that we're dealing with here. Number 10, the learning never stops. Look, shoot, edit, and repeat. And so, continue to take classes, continue to read books, continue to see what other photographers are doing. It's gonna expand what you do. And you've gotta get out there and you've gotta practice. And then you've gotta look at what you did. And so it helps to review your work, so that you can figure out what you did right and what you did wrong, so you can go out and make it slightly better the next time around.
Class Materials
Free Download
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
a Creativelive Student
Love love all John Greengo classes! Wish to have had him decades ago with this info, but no internet then!! John is the greatest photography teacher I have seen out there, and I watch a lot of Creative Live classes and folks on YouTube too. John is so detailed and there are a ton of ah ha moments for me and I know lots of others. I think I own 4 John Greengo classes so far and want to add this one and Travel Photography!! I just drop everything to watch John on Creative Live. I wish sometime soon he would teach a Lightroom class and his knowledge on photography post editing.!!! That would probably take a LOT OF TIME but I know John would explain it soooooo good, like he does all his Photography classes!! Thank you Creative Live for having such a wonderful instructor with John Greengo!! Make more classes John, for just love them and soak it up! There is soooo much to learn and sometimes just so overwhelming. Is there anyway you might do a Motivation class!!?? Like do this button for this day, and try this technique for a week, or post this subject for this week, etc. Motivation and inspiration, and playing around with what you teach, needed so much and would be so fun.!! Just saying??? Awaiting gadgets class now, while waiting for lunch break to be over. All the filters and gadgets, oh my. Thank you thank you for all you teach John, You are truly a wonderful wonderful instructor and I would highly recommend folks listening and buying your classes.
Eve
I don't think that adjectives like beautiful, fantastic or excellent can describe the course and classes with John Greengo well enough. I've just bought my first camera and I am a total amateur but I fell in love with photography while watching the classes with John. It is fun, clear, understandable, entertaining, informative and and and. He is not only a fabulous photographer but a great teacher as well. Easy to follow, clear explanations and fantastic visuals. The only disadvantage I can list here that he is sooooo good that keeps me from going out to shoot as I am just glued to the screen. :-) Don't miss it and well worth the money invested! Thank you John!
Vlad Chiriacescu
Wow! John is THE best teacher I have ever had the pleasure of learning from, and this is the most comprehensive, eloquent and fun course I have ever taken (online or off). If you're even / / interested in photography, take this course as soon as possible! You might find out that taking great photos requires much more work than you're willing to invest, or you might get so excited learning from John that you'll start taking your camera with you EVERYWHERE. At the very least, you'll learn the fundamental inner workings and techniques that WILL help you get a better photo. Worried about the cost? Well, I've taken courses that are twice as expensive that offer less than maybe a tenth of the value. You'll be much better off investing in this course than a new camera or a new lens. I cannot reccomend John and this course enough!