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
Subject Placement Q&A
I can't imagine that there's a lot of questions. I would love to hear any sort of comments or questions that you might have, and we'll take a check. I will start with Chichi Scraps online who says, "When you have a square crop in mind for the final shot, "do you position your subject differently? "For example, placing the subject "in the center versus off to the side." I would probably put it in the center simply because lenses, going back to the lens and the sharpness issue, is the lenses are sharpest in the middle of the frame compared to the edges. It would make sense to put them in the middle. There are some cameras that will allow you to put square cropping marks in there so that you can see exactly what you're framing up. Be aware if your camera is actually cropping it to a square or if it's just indicating that that's where the squares are. Different cameras will work differently. That's where some of those in camera grids can help out. Cool. Question from Isogen who says,...
"Hi, John. "I get foreground and background "but how do you deal with middle ground, "especially on landscape shots?" Hmm. Well, I'm not sure exactly what they're getting to on the question. How do you deal with it as far as focusing, well if the foreground's in focus and the background's in focus that can be very helpful, but middle ground can be great. There are different levels of describing this. I'm keeping it rather simple here because this is just the basics class, remember that? Foreground, background, but a lot of times there's a foreground, there's a middle ground, there's a background, and then there's like the way, way background, the sky in the background. You can break it up as many different levels as you want. This is, kind of, the simpler version of that you might say. Yeah, and then I mean, in terms of composition, do you ever just, again, break the rules and use the middle ground as the main, sort of, composition? Absolutely. For instance, using shallow depth of field. You could potentially be photographing a person and maybe they have a drink in the foreground, but that's not really the main subject so you have it out of focus. It's a hint of what's going on but you don't want to draw too much attention to it. There's a lot of that that you can do with shallow depth of field, which we talked about that in the aperture section. I think I have another section coming up talking about shallow depth of field as far as composition goes because, once again, you as the camera operator really are the director of that story. You have primary characters and you have secondary characters within each shot. If you said, "Well this is the primary character "and this is the secondary character, "what can I do to really show a difference? "I don't want these on equal footing. "I want that secondary character not as important." Well, you can make it smaller. You can make it darker. You can make it more out of focus all by how you position and operate and set your camera. Really, really take control of your photographs and really think about all the different elements and their value and their importance in them. I like that. Take control of your images, people. (laughing) One more question from Laurie who says, "Are there best practices for composition "for groups of people?" Working with groups of people can be challenging. Usually you just don't have the opportunity for being too creative. The larger the group, the less creativity you generally have. The fundamental problem we have is that generally we identify people by their face. We need their face as large in the frame as possible. The most creative stuff is where they're smaller in the frame and they're doing all different sorts of things. Usually, it's so much centered on their face that it limits your composition. I will give you one tip for shooting people, especially groups, and it's something that I didn't feel very natural doing. It's not really specialty of what this class is. I know a lot of people don't feel comfortable getting up in front of other people and talking. When it's time to do a group photograph, and let's just pretend that I'm gonna do your photograph right where you're sitting. Most people would grab their camera, "Okay, come over here. "Okay, I guess you're fine there. "Yeah, I think this looks okay here." They'll take the photo. These are one of those, you just gotta say, "I'm in charge. "Okay, tell you what. "We need you back here, move over a little bit. "You're taller, come over here, stand up there. "Now move over here. "Okay, that's good." Don't be a jerk, but just be really clear about what you want and the direction you're giving. Everyone's gonna be standing there just like, "Well, what do you want me to do?" They want some direction when they're in a group like that. "Okay, you look good there. "Move over a little bit. "Turn in a little bit." Just be really clear and don't be rushed. Don't say, "Well, I gotta get this." Just make sure. "Is that right? "No, that's not right. "Okay, now we're right." Take a moment, make sure that you're getting it right. Once they break, good luck getting them back in position. You wanna make sure that you get it right so be clear, don't be a jerk.
Class Materials
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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!