Foreground & Background & Scale

All right, the next concept, we've talked a little bit about this, is foreground and background. And we talked a little bit in rule of thirds where you might have a subject in one part of the frame and another subject in the other part of the frame. And so thinking about what's in the foreground and background and having some depth to your photographs. Now photography is tough because we're dealing with two dimensions. And I don't know of anytime soon that we're gonna be going into three-dimensional photography. It's perfectly capable. I see people out there shooting. About every ten years, I'm told that 3D TV's gonna be the next hot thing and then they're not the next thing. But the way we view the world is just very easy to see it in two dimensions. And that's perfectly fine because that adds to the mystery. We don't know what it looked like in 3D, but our brains can kind of make it up. We can figure it out in most cases. And so this is going back tactically. It's that hyperfocal dis...

tance, stopping down, keeping things in the foreground as well as the background in focus. But you can think about this for a lot of different ways of telling stories. Having a subject in the foreground and what's in the background. So it's more than just one thing that's going on in a photo. And so I like these buildings. They're interesting buildings. But you know what, let's wait, two, three, five, ten, half an hour for the right cars to come by so that we have something interesting in the foreground. And so foregrounds can be very, very important. So sometimes we want to hide how big or small a subject is. Sometimes we wanna put it in perspective so that people understand what they're looking at. And so shooting the pyramids off from the side location is great because I get this nice compressed view of the pyramids. But having that one camel out there with that person out there really lends a scale to it that makes it seems a little bit more majestic. Because without it, put my hand over it there, you're not really sure on how it relates to you in size. When I was down in San Francisco I thought it very interesting there were some people surfing right under the Golden Gate Bridge. And so I think it's just great seeing that huge bridge up behind them. And the people don't need to be very big because humans are very adept at spotting a small human figure. That's probably the shape that we are most easily able to lock onto. And you can actually identify somebody from a mile away if you see them moving if you have a clear view a mile away, you could see by the way that they're moving. And so just including that one extra human down there show the scale of that particular situation. And so these are really a lot of favorite type photographs for adventure photographers and hiking type magazines. You want the big mountain landscape, but show me where I can fit in there as well. So that can work with humans. It can work with animals, just to show the type of environment that it's in. So that one lonely bit. That's like the same photograph right there in a completely different place. It's that same formula again. One of my strange adventures is riding my bike across Alaska. And we had to ride the Haul Road, which is a 414-mile gravel road across the northern part of Alaska. And one of the things we had to be careful of was the large trucks. And so I did a whole little documentary about this entire trip. And part of it was, okay, here's a little cyclist and big 18-wheelers kicking up gigantic rocks on this road. And so you wanted to show the relationship between one subject and the other subject.

Class Description

As a photographer, you will need to master the technical basics of the camera and form an understanding of the kind of equipment you need. The Fundamentals of Digital Photography will also teach something even more important (and crucial for success) - how to bring your creative vision to fruition.

Taught by seasoned photographer John Greengo, the Fundamentals of Digital Photography places emphasis on quality visuals and experiential learning. In this course, you’ll learn:

How to bring together the elements of manual mode to create an evocative image: shutter speed, aperture, and image composition.
How to choose the right gear, and develop efficient workflow.
How to recognize and take advantage of beautiful natural light.

John will teach you to step back from your images and think critically about your motivations, process, and ultimate goals for your photography project. You’ll learn to analyze your vision and identify areas for growth. John will also explore the difference between the world seen by the human eye and the world seen by the camera sensor. By forming an awareness of the gap between the two, you will be able to use your equipment to its greatest potential.

Lessons

1Class Introduction
2Photographic Characteristics
3Camera Types
4Viewing System
5Lens System
6Shutter System
7Shutter Speed Basics
8Shutter Speed Effects
9Camera & Lens Stabilization
10Quiz: Shutter Speeds
11Camera Settings Overview
12Drive Mode & Buffer
13Camera Settings - Details
14Sensor Size: Basics
15Sensor Sizes: Compared
16The Sensor - Pixels
17Sensor Size - ISO
18Focal Length
19Angle of View
20Practicing Angle of View
21Quiz: Focal Length
22Fisheye Lens
23Tilt & Shift Lens
24Subject Zone
25Lens Speed
26Aperture
27Depth of Field (DOF)
28Quiz: Apertures
29Lens Quality
30Light Meter Basics
31Histogram
32Quiz: Histogram
33Dynamic Range
34Exposure Modes
35Sunny 16 Rule
36Exposure Bracketing
37Exposure Values
38Quiz: Exposure
39Focusing Basics
40Auto Focus (AF)
41Focus Points
42Focus Tracking
43Focusing Q&A
44Manual Focus
45Digital Focus Assistance
46Shutter Speeds & Depth of Field (DOF)
47Quiz: Depth of Field
48DOF Preview & Focusing Screens
49Lens Sharpness
50Camera Movement
51Advanced Techniques
52Quiz: Hyperfocal Distance
53Auto Focus Calibration
54Focus Stacking
55Quiz: Focus Problems
56Camera Accessories
57Lens Accessories
58Lens Adaptors & Cleaning
59Macro
60Flash & Lighting
61Tripods
62Cases
63Being a Photographer
64Natural Light: Direct Sunlight
65Natural Light: Indirect Sunlight
66Natural Light: Mixed
67Twilight: Sunrise & Sunset Light
68Cloud & Color Pop: Sunrise & Sunset Light
69Silhouette & Starburst: Sunrise & Sunset Light
70Golden Hour: Sunrise & Sunset Light
71Quiz: Lighting
72Light Management
73Flash Fundamentals
74Speedlights
75Built-In & Add-On Flash
76Off-Camera Flash
77Off-Camera Flash For Portraits
78Advanced Flash Techniques
79Editing Assessments & Goals
80Editing Set-Up
81Importing Images
82Organizing Your Images
83Culling Images
84Categories of Development
85Adjusting Exposure
86Remove Distractions
87Cropping Your Images
88Composition Basics
89Point of View
90Angle of View
91Subject Placement
92Framing Your Shot
93Foreground & Background & Scale
94Rule of Odds
95Bad Composition
96Multi-Shot Techniques
97Pixel Shift, Time Lapse, Selective Cloning & Noise Reduction
98Human Vision vs The Camera
99Visual Perception
100Quiz: Visual Balance
101Visual Drama
102Elements of Design
103Texture & Negative Space
104Black & White & Color
105The Photographic Process
106Working the Shot
107What Makes a Great Photograph?

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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.

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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!

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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!