The Ultimate Photography Course for Beginners

1. Intro - The Ultimate Photography Course For Beginners: Welcome to The Ultimate Photography Course for beginners. My name is Jellis Vaes and I am a self-taught travel and adventure photographer. At the age of 18 I started traveling around the world on my own and mastering my skills in photography while learning and observing what an incredible world that we live in. Since then I've worked with various companies across the globe such as Extreme Iceland, Holokai Snorkel and Adventure, Pacific Whale Foundation, bringing their heart and soul to life through my pictures. This course is especially designed to teach you the essentials for DSLR's or mirrorless cameras, such as aperture shutter speed, and ISO. But, we will also cover various composition techniques, the process of workflow, and even touch upon the basics for post-processing and making your photos really stand out. By the end of this course I can promise you, you will be able to get so much more out of your current camera. If your really looking into mastering your photography, this course is ideal for you. I hereby invite you to show me a fun adventure and explore the thrilling and fascinating world that is photography. And along our journey we will even uncover the deeper meaning what photography can teach you about life. So come along, pick up your camera, and let the adventure begin. 2. The Exposure Triangle – The Foundation of Photography: All right. Welcome to the course. I hope you're excited to go on this cool adventure here. Welcome by the way in the Batmobile. And once you step out of that door again I can guarantee you, you will be able to take much more amazing photos. We're going to go and start with something very important to learn at first, namely, the Exposure Triangle. The Exposure Triangle is made up of: Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO. This three elements are the foundation of photography and you need to really understand them in order to start taking correctly exposed photographs. So, stop a moment here and take a look at this image of the exposure triangle. Take your time and don't worry if it doesn't make any sense at all. It will. Just pause the video for a moment and take a look. Once you're done click on play again. And we will continue further on. And once you have gained the basic understanding of each one of these elements, we will put them all together and this image will make a lot more sense. 3. Aperture Explained – Master Depth of Field: So what is aperture? Aperture is the opening of the lens diaphragm which light travels through. Let's take a look at the following photo to get a clear understanding about it. As you can see we have seven apertures here. The first one has the widest opening and lest one has the smallest opening under each one. You can see we have also some numbers written 2.8 of four and so on. These numbers are called f stops. Now there are two key reasons why one would change their temperature when taking a photo and number one is the amount of flights. And number two is the depth of fields or also called Number One amount of flight. Now pay attention to this as is very confusing to many people at first but the smaller the number for example if 1.4 the more lights that enters the camera the larger the number. For example F 22 the less light that enters the camera. Now it's the opposite of what your brain wants to think. So don't worry if it's confusing. But the rule makes sense a lot more. Once we go to discourse so let's go over this again. If you want to expose more light to your photos it's setting a larger aperture which means a smaller number as if 1.4 F to f 2.8 small numbers but bigger openings. And because you have a bigger opening more light is able to travel through your lens and hit your sensor and that's where your images are being created. So in the same way around if you want to have less lights to go through the lens you sets a bigger number as if 8 11 16 bigger numbers. But you create a smaller opening. And because of that less lights able to travel trialists hit your sensor and your photos are going to be exposed with less lights. Now this is the most confusing aspect about aperture and even of the exposure triangle. So it's OK if you don't get it the more you will come to practice this the more sense it will make. So don't worry now you will find that every lens has an F-stop we're in on it's the first glance here has won one point four. This is a prime lens with a fixed vocalised the second test if one trip and five to four point five. This is a zoom lens which is a verbal focal lengths. Now the reason why there are two numbers on this one is because at 10 millimeter 3.5 is the widest the aperture can open and at four point five is the widest it can open when zoomed out which is at 24 millimeters. In this case. So what does this number mean. This number means the widest aperture all ends. Yes. And why is this important. The question this is important is because the smaller the number the more light you're able to best lens. And it is especially important if you're shooting in low light situations but it's also important. And this is number two. Depth of field which we're going to go over right now to isolate your subject better from the backgrounds the next thing that you control with Aperture is your depth of field of the photo. Now this is going to be a lot less confusing to your brain. So the smaller the number f 1.4 for example the blurrier the ones. Now the larger the number 22 the more depth the fields and the sharper the background is going to be in these two images you can clearly see the difference between F 2.2 and F 16 in the first picture. The object in the foreground is sharp while the background is completely blurry while the other picture everything is sharp. Everything is the focus. So why change aperture. This totally depends on the filter that you're trying to shoot. Shallow depth of field is commonly used for wildlife sport or portrait photography. Because here you mostly want to have your subject stand out of the background so you by isolating the backgrounds you draw all the attention to the subject while a larger deeper depth of field is more commonly used for landscape photography because she wants all your elements to be in focus and you want all of the elements to be seen. So let's go over three photos with three different temperature settings and I will explain why I said that a picture for that scenario. And this to give you an idea when you are selecting your aperture in which direction you should go. F-22 is great for landscape photography where you want everything to be focused in a good landscape photo. You will find a strong foreground element, the grass, a middle ground subject, the trees and rock, and a background feature. the clouds. In these scenarios where you want all of it to be in focus f/22 is a great aperture setting. F/8 is a very popular standard aperture setting among many photographers. It's also referred to as, f/7 and be there. Which means just show up and shoot. The reason this aperture setting is so popular is because it's in the middle of the aperture window opening. You're able to let in a substantial amount of light while also getting a sharp focus. I was able to take this picture hand-held at still a quite fast shutter speed because of that. An aperture of f/4.5 or lower, is used to blur out the background and really draw all the attention to the main subject. In this picture the subject Mr Bird, stands out very nicely as the background is blurred. Another reason to use a wider aperture, a lower number, in wildlife or sport photography is because it helps to let in more light, therefore allows also a faster shutter speeds, the upcoming topic, and I was able to completely freeze the movements of Mr Bird because of that. These are of course not the three only aperture settings that you should work with. As I said earlier this is just to give you an idea in which direction you should select. But depending on how much light you will need, or how fast you need your shutter speed to be, you will have to adjust your aperture. But this is all done through practice and experimenting. Also as we go out to the next topic it's about understanding how changing aperture also changes another key element of the exposure triangle namely the shutter speed. Now before we go into let's take one final glance at this image here, and pause the video maybe and when you're ready then we will go on and we'll learn about the shutter speed. 4. Shutter Speed Explained – Master Time and Motion: The next thing that light in her X wit is the shutter speed, also known as the exposure time. Speed is showing in seconds and fractions of a second thief. Fractions of a second are showing as one slash 51 slash 825. Foreign slash 500 seconds are simply showing. S 148 15 30 Note that not every camera shows it this way. Um, some camera shows thesis fractions of second as 5100 and 25 5 hundreds, and the seconds are indicated with a quote after it, so one second will be displayed it as one quote and 30 seconds will be 30. Quote. Take notice how your camera displays this and don't confuse yourself with it. Just this would temperature there to use off shutter speeds one east to let in more lights and two is to freeze or to blur motion number one to let in more lights. What the shooter does is it allows life to going and your sensor. Now the best way to go and describe how the shudder works. Isam To compare it to a curtain right now before your camera, your curtain is closed, and when you think a picture that Kurt goes open and ally, it is able to go in and your sensor. Now, if you open up your curtain longer, more light is able to go in and more like is being collected on your sensor. So your photos are also going to be exposed to more light. And if you open it only for a brief moments, less light is able to go and you're sensor and your photos are also going to be exposed with less lights. So if you need more lights and through your camera, you need to set a lower shutter speeds. You have your curtain open longer. If you want less light and through your camera, you will need to send a fester share speeds. You close the curtain faster number to freeze or blur motion. The other aspect that you control, which showed her speed use emotion. You can eat her blur motion, or you can either Freese motion and to go a freeze motion. You have to set a faster shutter speed s one slash 100 and 25 over seconds or one slash 500 of a second, while blurring motion requires showed a speed off 30 or 15 seconds. I went to use a festive shutter speed, first of all, when they're still enough daylights and secondly, so you're able to completely freeze and sharply capture fast moving objects in this photo. Here, for example, I I said a shutter speed off one slash 400 of a second, which is more than enough for me to freeze the flying birds in the distance perfectly, while still allowing enough light to be collected on the sensor to not have the photo completely under exposed learning to sits. The right shutter speed is done through experience and experimenting, but to give you a brief idea which shutter speed to set to Let's go to a couple of scenarios, and the festive shutter speed is considered to be 250 over second, so we'll start there. So 250 fractions of seconds east to free slow moving animals or people who are walking five other is freezing people who are running 1000 will be to freeze moving vehicles. 2000 will be the freeze close of birds in flights, and 4000 is to freeze extremely fast moving objects as Formula One, for example, again note that the festive the shutter speed, the less light will come true. That's why we don't immediately set the Festus shutter speed available because you're depriving your camera off lights. Now this could be very usefully. It's only, of course, if, for example, you're shooting on a very bright and sunny day sitting a festive shutter speed through Let's less light come into your your camera and your sensor, and you won't end up having an overexposed photo. So it's all about observing and judging the situation that you're about to take and really see how much lie do I need and how fastest my shutter speed need to be to completely freeze the movements off my subject when to use a slower shutter speeds when we want more lights in the camera, or because we want some blur in the image, The following image was taken at a shutter speed off 1/3 of a second. This blurs out streams of the waterfall, which results in bringing a smooth and magical feeling to it. Also, because my shutter speed was longer, the sensor of my camera was exposed to more lights and therefore able to collect enough light to expose the photo correctly. For Tiki a picture, I would not go any lower than 1 60 of a second. Once you go under these these slides, movement of your camera will result in loss of sharpness. That's why I, also every serious photographer is equipped with a triple A tool, which I highly recommend you to also look into. For a very fair price. You will find a very decent one sitting a lower shutter speed. It's more used for a purpose off, allowing more lights to come in than 40 purpose off, blurring your image blurring or images mawr for creative use as, um, smoothing streaming water or blurring out a sky or for penning benning is a photography technique where you follow your subject as it moves. In this photo, I blurt out. Bake around, keeping the car sharp. How your duties. First, you need to set a lower shutter speeds 1 15 of a second in this case. Then stay where you are and keep trick of the moving object while you're taking four days off its by keeping the shutter speed open while you're at the same base with the object. The object itself will be sharp and in focus while the background will be blurred out. These dust requires some practice and a couple of photos. Here is also a lease to give you a few ideas in which duration to set a slower Sure speeds . Note that once you go down under 1 60 of a second, you do need a tripod or something to place your camera on. 1 30 of a second is for bending cars and sports with 1/4 of a second is spending. Walking people 1 to 5 seconds is to blur water. Now you. If you do this in daytime, you might need an indie filter. But I will explain fielders in another listen and 21 to 30 seconds east to get stars visible in the sky and the built Moz. When you put it on for 10 minutes and Mawr, you create a star trail. We had changed to a smaller aperture, a bigger number as F 16 for example, what you Dewey's less light is able to travel to your less because you got a smaller opening. Now let's see that you got your shutter speed adds 1 800 over seconds. What you do with that is your curtain, these opening and closing very fist. And because of that, you're also letting less light enter and hit the sensor. Eso You're kind of closing off two sources off lights and when you do that, you're photo is gonna be very under exposed. So this is where you have to go in a just and think what you're capturing. Are you capturing a landscape photo? Then you can dial your shutter speed down because you're landscape is not going to go and run away, so you could maybe dial it down to 1/3 of a second. But if you're capturing a moving object, then you might have to dial down your temperature to a 5.6, for example, s O. What you do is you always try to keep it imbalance. So there's always enough light coming from one source. Luckily enough, of course, there's one more elements to the exposure triangle that helps us to balance this outs, namely di iso 5. ISO Explained – Master Sensor Sensitivity: all rights. Here we are at the Les Biller off the exposure triangle. I have to say good job. We already learns a lot. You are doing incredible. Really? So, um I hope you're ready for the Les Biller off the exposure triangle. The Aiso thier lowered numbered, less sensitive your sensor. The higher the number, the more sensitive. With increased Aiso, you will be able to perform much better in low light situations. However, discomfort had a costs one that not many photographers like at all. Because the more sensitive you make your sensor to be, the more grain and noise will be visible in your picture. Why is this Because your sensor is over, burning is becoming too sensitive. The sensor is not receiving enough light and is trying to make up information which we call crane or noise. Every camera has a base Aiso, which is 100 or 200. This is typically the lowest ice. So on your camera, um, or your base I saw your camel will produce the highest image quality without adding noise to the picture. Ultimately, you should always try to stick to these base. I so. But this of course, that always possible, especially not in low light situations I would recommend against using the highest Aiso. Dis creates far too much grain and noise in your picture on Lee use. It's in case you come across a UFO in the nights than then. Of course, you should definitely do that. But otherwise don't don't set it to the highest Aiso, and not a reason to set a higher Aiso used to increase your shutter speeds. Let me explain each time you double the Aiso 100 to other 408 honored and so on. You also doubled the sensitivity because of that, your camera and it's less time to take a picture because you have doubled the sensitivity. So let's say, for example, that you have a nice off to hundreds and you don't want to change your temperature, but you need a faster shutter speed. Way to go and achieve this is by dialing up your eyes Soto 400 for example, and by doing that, you can already double the shutter speed as ville to 1 500 per seconds, and you will have the same amount off lighting. So even though if you don't need more light because you're in the dark area. Um, if you need a faster show, it's a way to go. And Chief, this is Will is by dialing up your eyes. Oh, I went to use a low I so for optimal image quality when there is enough lights or when you have a triples, so when to use a higher Aiso when there is not enough light or when you want to increase your sort of speed for ultra fest shots, Um, now, these depends greatly on every kind of camera, but you should go and test out if you don't know until when your camera still performs well , how high you can set your eyes or without having any disturbing can amount off noise and Corinne. But most cameras do still performed pretty well at ISO eight hundreds, and professional cameras will even produce very good images with not much noise and grain at Aiso 1006 100 or even more. Here are a few examples to give you an idea which is so disliked for which Ghana scenarios it just landscapes. Don't move. At least I've never seen one move, and I wanted the optional quality I left my eyes. So adds 100 of course, because my temperature was small. F 18 dis required me to set a fairly low shutter speeds off 1 13 of a second to receive enough light. Even though this was shot during the day, I said a higher Aiso or four others because I needed a faster shutter speed off 1 320 over seconds to make sure I was able to freeze the movements of the birds without having to decrease the temperature off F 7.1. This was an open markets butts with a roof, so the life conditions were in great. I set my eyes or to 800 so I could have my shutter speed at 1 250 over second, which allowed me to freeze the movements of the people. My effort, your was set right at the middle off F 7.1, which gave it good depth of fields while still allowing enough light to come through the lens. Let's take it out of familiar. I e is very beautiful, but there are very low light conditions in there. I shot this picture at a nice so off to thousands with a shutter speed of 1 60 of a seconds . And I didn't want to increase my eyes. Oh, any higher. So I had to set my shutter speed as low as possible for handhelds in order to receive still enough lights. Um, I set my temperature T o f six point Treem. Um, I wanted to have more depth of field here, but I could've probably, um Donald, he's a bit more down. So there you go. That is the last spieler off the exposure triangle. The I. So now, in the less stopping here about the exposure triangle, we're going to go and put all three of them together. 6. Quiz and Final Thoughts on The Exposure Triangle: So here we are with the imagery started with Still Remember, it's either. Thus makes sense a lot more now, doesn't it? So let's look at the key elements of all three pillars again, and let's go over them. So M preacher, which is for depth or fields so either for shallow depth of field or for a deep depth of field shutter speeds for motion. You eat a blur motion, or you either Freese, Motion and Aiso is for the sensitivity for either maximum quality or eater maximum lining. Now that we have all three of them refreshed in her head again, let's take a look at this self portrait off me and let's see what cities you would use if you were taking this picture. Take note of everything, and I think, what Aiso you it needs a high one or low one. Would oven temperature? Do we need a deep depth of field? Or isn't that important this case, and finally, what shutter speed should be used? Is the subject standing still, or is it moving? Take a piece of paper something to rides your settings and bozzi video for moments at the ends of the video I will show you the settings that I used. So you just go and click and play when you're done. And don't worry, it's not about that. You will have the exact same settings as idea. But it's more about that. You're dialing all three settings in the right direction. All right, so I see that you're done. Um, these settings that I used for this photo was I had my eyes. Oh, up 2000 250. I had my shutter speed to 1 80 of a seconds ends. My temperature was down to F 2.8. Now again, if you don't have the same settings, it's not about this. It's about that. Your eyes Oh, your shutter speed in your temperature were dialing towards the right direction. 7. How Photography Will Lead You Into New Adventures: I hope you're enjoying the course so far and have already come to learn a lot of new things . I just want to take your small break outside, away from the technical and theoretical aspect, and talk a bit about the philosophy or photography and how photography is so much more than just simply taking a photo. I'm a professional travel and adventure for Darfur, which has let me into some Crazy Adventures boat working on my own projects and while working with other companies. However, no matter what type of photography that you're into, whether it's portrait, white life, sports, wedding family, no matter what's up photography, one thing that I can assure you off is that photography will lead you to a much more enriching, an adventurous life. Whenever I'm simply venturing outside with my camera in hand, I I just know that I will end up somewhere different than I originally planned to go to and the reason why, yes, and I can guarantee you this will. This will be the exact same for you and for anyone. And the reason why is very simple, because many times when you're just walking on the street with your camera enhance and Europe you're out to take photos. Many of the photos that you have in your mind dust require you to walk off the trick because of the composition and the vision that you have in your head off. How you want to take that photo? Many times you're not able to just take it just standing on the streets and you have to venture off, which will lead you to experiencing and seeing something completely different than you would have otherwise with no camera in hands. And that's a really cool thing. What I lost so much about just walking around with a gamma because I know it will come to bring me an adventure. And I even made my main focus in travel and adventure because I just I love adventure. So much for me. Life is an adventure, and I just love I love those. The thrilling feeling off exploring photography does just exactly that. He gives you the extra reason and purpose to to go somewhere different, to explore. Now, along with his adventures for Darfur. You will also help you in having a much more enriching life. We that which what you already love in life and here's what I mean. So I love experiencing and seeing old, the different cultures that we have fear in this world and al off seeing all the different natural wonders and landscape in this incredible world that we have and because of star fee each time when I'm traveling and I'm trying to take a photo off something from that country , something cultural. I am spending much more time looking and observing to that scene because I'm trying to take a photo of it. I'm composing it and I have to pay attention to the details, and that's the same with nature. When I'm out in nature and I'm taking photos off landscapes I am composing, and I'm looking at the world so much more because I'm trying to take the best possible shots. I have to observe the clouds. I have to see where the sun is going, and it's really cool is really a reaching, uh, we didn't meet because it makes me see and experience that which I love in life so much deeper and again. This goes about everything when you're into white life there, if you will have to spend much more time observing and looking at animals. And that's really if you like animals. Photography will only come to at, like, uneven extra layer to it all because you're able because you have to observe and look at those animals so much, Maurin so much deeper to compose and to take the right and exact details in the photo. And that's also if you like fashion photography, you obviously or hopefully like people and or portrait for Darfur. You're running for the RV they can to come. You know, you have to work together with people, so hopefully you like people. And because of that, you will come to to increase your communication skills with people. And and you will be able to connect with other people so much more through the dar fee. And that's really incredible thing about it all. Just with this simple tool to how much more decollete. So as I've said for the RV, is much more than simply taking a photo. There is so much more three than just pressing down that button, and we will come to explore some more off the philosophies off star fear later. Truth, of course. But for now, let's go back inside and continue on with listens 8. Everything You Need to Know About Exposure Modes: Now you know what the exposure triangle is and how temperature showed a speed and Aiso how they work. Let's go on now and let's see where you can actually go and find them and how to set them. E Ever noticed the big dialogue? Your camera? I'm sure you have note that these dia will look different on almost every camera. However, they all pretty much sure with same function. Shooting modes fall into three categories the auto seen on B s, A and M Moz. Most cameras will come with an autumn oats. There are some professional cameras who do not have it. But if you are or have been using its take won't final glance at it because you will not need it anymore. So many of these dollars you will also find arrange off seen moats which are fully automatic, Moz you can. And then to find him by the icons. 1/2 as lady with a heads, a flower, a landscape If you are using this. See, Moz, take also one less lands that it because you will not need these anymore eater. Now that you're getting more serious in photography, this Moz will only come to frustrate you. They are as a child look automatically doing everything for you but also putting restrictions and locking you out off possibilities. The only shooting modes that you should really focus on rt four exposure, Moz. Namely the program, Moz Aperture. Priority should a priority and mental. And that is what we're going to cover right now. The B on your dial stands for program modes and this moat your camera sets the temperature and the shutter speed for you, and you get to set the I. So you can also use a so called program flexible shifts, which allows you to choose from a different temperature during a different shutter speeds, but still giving you the same exposure. Now the way to go in duties can depends on the camera, but for most cameras is just by scrolling your dial the S o your dial's stands for shutter priority. And here you set the shutter speeds and the ice. Oh, and your camera sets the temperature. Now, I would not recommend this Moz too much. And here's why. Because their way Mawr shutter speeds available than m preacher. And so what? My happen in some cases is that when you said a very fast share speeds, your camera might not set the right appropriate temperature. And the same goes when you said a low, uh, shutter speeds your camera might give you not really the right temperature that you're looking for. Now, the Fuling two Moz Rd. Two modes that you will find most serious for divers to use the A or your camera dial stands for aperture priority, and what you do here is use a T M picture and the ice so your camera sets the shutter speed . This is the preferred modes by a lot of photographers and used about 90% of the time. It allows you to maintain consistent depth fields, and you're also able to shoot through your lens best performing temperatures. The three modes we have just covered the program modes temperature, priority and shutter priority are all although exposure. Moz. What that means is that your camera has control over how light or dark your photo is going to be. What you now want to locate on your camera is your exposure composition button. While you're are in one of the exposure modes, this future allows you to correct your picture to make need a brighter or darker and you duties by pressing the exposure composition button while you're turning your main tile. Now let's put this in practice. I want you to go and take a picture of something and see if it's either under exposed or over exposed. Wouldn't your viewfinder. You will find a light meter currently set at zero. If the shot you've taken was under exposed, you need to turn the dial to the plus sites the right side to add more lights where you move dial. That way you will see the light meter increasing, showing that it's adding more lights. It works the same way. If you have taken an overexposed photo by scrolling into the minus sites to the left side, you can see the exposure composition to make an adjustment. And at less like to the picture, the M on your camera dial stands for minimal now minimal seems for many people very intimidating, But fear knots everything IHS or feels intimidating at first. Within the mental moment, you have full control over everything over aperture shutter speeds and isil. Um, there are those who like to use the mental Moz all the time. But for most photographers, they only use it's about 10% of the time, and that is only for a couple off situations as the following. If you are shooting a time lips or a panorama, you don't want your camera to go area just every time the light chains around you. In this case, it's pretty important to change to mental. So you're, um so you can sit these settings and your exposure will remain the same. When you are shooting under the same kind of flights. For example, indoor basketball game. The light will not change, and here it's perfectly go and change to medical moats and use. You just set the shutter speed the temperature in the ice so and you don't have to worry about your camera adjusting anything, and you can fully focus on composition and are watching game nice with our A few requires that you have to switch to manual modes because your camera can't see anything to focus on . It won't be able to take a picture when your shift to manual. Moz, your camera will listen 100% you allowing you to press down the shutter button, even though there's nothing to focus on now. What a minimal moat. It's very important to pay close attention to the light meter, which, reading your few finder Teoh, either see that you're under exposing or overexposing your image. This is a very handy tool to use to achieve the correct exposure that you're going for. As I explained before, when the light meter increases stores left sites, you are exposing less like your image while going through the right side means you're exposing more life setting. The correct exposure in this instance is Hold on to you, and this is done by setting the right temperature shutter speeds and I so minimal moat isn't that hard as many people make it sounds. If you clearly understand temperature, your shutter speed and Aiso, then there's absolutely nothing to worry about. 9. JPEG VS RAW – Which File Format Should You Choose: the J Pick versus Ronnie beds. Which one to choose, which one to choose? You've probably heard off one or of both of them. But what is now really the difference between them? Why would someone choose J Pick? And why would someone choose were all Before we dig into that, let's have a look at both of those files. Jim Picks are readable by any image program. They're compressed, smaller file size Leslie compression. They're sharper. They have a low dynamic range, and they're ready to post and share. Role requires a specific software to view as light room or capture one. They're un compressed. They are heavy, larger file size. The lossless data. They're not a sharp. They have a higher dynamic range, and they need to be processed by your computer to turn him into an image. When you take your picture in the Jay Peak formats, your camera will take the information from your sensor, and it will already g o and edit the photo in the software your camera has. So everything is being implied. The color saturation, the tone curves, the wide balanced sharpening that's all being done for you by your camera. The compression method that J picks use East Los E, which means that your camera compresses the image and throws away a whole bunch of information. Now the adventures of this is that your files will be much smaller than, ah, a raw file. But the disadvantages, however, is that if you want the full potential out of your image, this isn't possible anymore because your camera has compressed the defile and it has thrown away a lot of information. Shooting in J picks is particularly handy when you need your photos quickly available. So, for example, your shooting in a nightclub and, um, they want to show your photos on the screen. Now if you're shooting in raw files, this will take forever to uploads, and they're not even an image it so J picks are perfect for this speakers. You will be able to quickly a blow them and a computer, and they're already processed by your camera. I went to use when you need a quick workflow and don't need much post processing you lovely raw formats, also known as digital negatives. They are biggest hell, but you will care less about it once you know the reason why Row files are unprocessed and un compressed files coming directly from your camera sensor. Now your camera doesn't touch this at all, so it leaves it totally young cooked so you could put your chefs it on. You can cook it exactly how you like it. Row files contain all the original information not showing Lee anything at all. Now, why is this good? Because you have full control over the final outcome off your image, and you have so much more information to work with than with a J pick. For example, if you didn't shoot your exposure correctly and you overexposed sky in a landscape photo because of all the information contained within the raw file, you will be able to recover an exposure sky correctly. The same goes for other exposed areas. You will be able to retrieve data that otherwise would have been lost. This is not possible with a J pic file. They no longer contained that information. Everything in the image is under your commence. You can fully control the temperature, color, saturation, the wise deep lakes, the clarity it is sharpening. And all of that is done in a nun destructive way. meaning that you can always go back to the original raw file, and you could start over again when the shooting around, when you want to be the shift and when you want to have the full control over the final outcome off your image. 99% there, I say, 100% off. Serious photographers will shoot in rock photographers hate good information to be thrown away and to not have the final words over their image. You have to realize that what your camera skip cheering is not always exactly the same what you're seeing neater in J pic noren rope in raw, however you you have the possibility to find Children much steeper and actually getting much closer to what you saw and guess what's going to do a better job. The software We didn't your camera or your eyes. Note that you do need a specific software to redraw files. I would highly recommend light room or capture one for this. Many cameras will also have the possibility to shoot in Jay Peak End Rob. Now, I would not really recommend to Goa duties because you will just end up with a double case and If you're editing the row files those J picks, they're not really useful. I it can't be useful. However, in some special scenarios, for example, you're at a wedding. And, um, the Bryant once at the end of the evening to slide showed the photos that you took off the wedding. Now the J picks in this case will be perfect because you can upload them very quickly and the role files you can keep. And when you're back home, you can edit them, and afterwards you can give the high quality photos to the bright two years raw or Jay Peak . The answer to that is very simple. If you're serious about your photography and you might want to showcase or sell your work in the future that you should shoot in raw form, it's now if you're more shooting for fun ends for some family pictures, then Jim Picks will do 10. In-Depth Information About the Various Camera Lenses: there are three important criteria when dealing with lenses. First is a type of Flint's. Is it a prime or is the zoom? Second is the vocal Inc and Dirt's is the maximum aperture off the lens, a prime limbs also referred to as a fixed lens. As one vocal linked, this means that it has a set angle off you that cannot be changed. Now. Why would one buy a prevalence? There are two main reasons for debts. Equality ends the temperature well as soon as they are improving considerably. D quality of a prevalence is fastly superior, and that's simply because they're no moving compartments within the prevalence, as in Zoom Lins. The result of that is that the glass is much more precise, giving it sharper and crisper shots. The other big thing about Brian Lindsay is that they have a much wider temperature, so you're able to take much better quality photos under low life conditions. Also, because you have a wider temperature, you're able to isolate your subject much nicer from your background. Now their arm or event just duty prime lens and those two. But I would say the quality and the EPA chur already two main reasons to go and invest in a prevalence. But other than that, a prime list. It's much cheaper than the zoom ins because it's much easier to build. This, and also a prime list is very small, and therefore the weight is also not much than the bigger sister. The zoom lens. The main reason why zoom lenses are so lovable is because they have multiple vocal links. This makes them a lot more first style than a prevalence. Even though Prime Lis is have a better effort, your zoom lenses get pretty close to equal eyeing it. His dust comes at a cost literally, Um, zoom Lins. He's a lot more expensive at any Kremlin's, but if you don't have a zoom lens in your arsenal, you will find yourself in a lot of situations thinking, if only I had a zoom lens with me. Also, depending on the kind of photography that you want to get into. Not having assume it's just doesn't make any sense. Let's say that you're on a safari and you see a line in the distance and you take out your 35 millimeter Kremlin's now, first of all, all the other photographers next to you will be laughing. And secondly, the only way that you will be able to get a noticeable shot off the line is by walking upright to Mr Line, which is probably not the best idea. So despite Prime Lis is having a lot more plus points. They get easily beating on many occasions by the one big Plus Boy zoom lenses. F versatility. So this arctic tool in Stipe Sis Prime Limits and Zoom Lins. Of course, there's a whole range off different lens styles, and they could sorted by their focal ink their angle off of you. If you want to be able to get your everything, the wide England's is the go to lens. This is a particular favourite off landscape and architecture for dark. First, of course, they can also be used for interesting portrait's and more creative images. The standard less ranges between 35 to 70 millimeter and discomfort we use for documentarian street photography. The 50 millimeter prime lens is the most popular and has a focal length that comes closest to other. I see de telephoto lens. The telephone or lance ranges between 72 400 millimeter and some they are for capturing subjects you can't or you don't want to get closer to suggest white life and sports star fee. But they're also used a lot for portrait photography, whereas a wide angle lens the sources spreads everything out. A telephoto lens compresses the subject, keeping everything in proportion What we have discovered already. Three core lenses, Good first style arsenal should really include one of each. Of course, there are also some specialty lenses as the macro lens, which allows you to take a really close up shots, or the fish islands, which creates a very strong distortion. Or the till Chief Lis Lens, which makes your subjects look like miniature scale models. Now this our lenses above dick ordinates. But those lenses do open up my whole different world in photography. 11. Understanding Metering and Metering Modes: I would highly recommend you to buy a U fi fielder for any lens that you have. These filters are especially designed to protect the actual glass off your lens. If you will come to scratch this or break it, this will cost a lot of money. Well, if you will come to scratch this or break it, you can easily repair it and much cheaper. Trust me, there will be a time where you will be glad that you ever you fi feel they're on your limbs . The purpose of a natural density and the fielder is to decrease the amount of light entering Linz. Now, while what you want to do debts. If you want to create a long exposure during a bright and sunny day, you will need an ND field before death. Polarising fielders are one of the most important fielders for landscape photography. They allowed sky in your feature to show up more dramatically, giving it a much richer, deeper blue. At the same time, they can also help to block out the reflections in the water as well as enriching it 12. How Photos are Portals Into Past Memories and Experiences: So here we are once again outside. I hope you have come to learn a lot more about photography since the last time that we said down here. I want to talk here a bit more about the philosophy, off photography and in particular, how photos are Bortles into best memories and experiences. Every seal photo that I've taken on the Norma's Journeys adventures or with friends and family members. I hold very, very dearly to me. And it's not because I'm over obsessed with taking photos or because each one of those voters were the most amazing photos ever taken, but rather because each one of them he's a portal that I can use to retrace and go back to that feeling or to that memory and to that time and space. Life to me is all about the memories and experiences you build. And while they are already very important to me and I try to make this many of them as I can, I do think once we get older that memories and experiences will become as much precious and dear to us because they're the thing that we will never really losing. That will always be within us, while there are definitely memories and experiences that you and I will never forget through our whole life, many off them, however, they will lose some of their clarity and shape. Two years everyone will have this and I appreciate photos. You're so much because they bring back that shape and clarity, and I can only recommend anyone to take mawr photos. And I'm not particularly pointing out to taking more photos, video DSLR or a mirror list camera. But I'm actually because not many times you will have or not always you will have that with you. However, the one devised that almost everyone will have with him these days is, in fact their smartphones ends. For me, it's not too much about the quality or the composition. It's it's more about just taking a quick snapshot off a moment and a feeling that I want to remember. Although I do have to say, you know, many smartphones they're building camera are pretty magnificent, and this will only improve in future. But nonetheless, for me, taking a photo with my dears Lar or with my mirror less camera or with my smartphone are very different. I use it for very different reasons. In fact, my mirror list camera. I tried to really focus more on the composition and on a particular detail and more Beware off trying to capture an ass perfect, seen as I can. And also it's not just it doesn't just stop after that, right? Mostly you have to also go back into light room and into photo shop to edit your photo. This thing is just way more efficient for just creating a portal and off, capturing just a memory and an experience. And I can you will not come to regret just taking 30 seconds because it literally takes 30 seconds to take a quick photo off. This moment here, you will not come to regret that. And especially when you're older, you will come to look back off that photo that your friends at a party or on a vacation, or where you were somewhere alone with a beautiful landscape. Just taking that quick snapshot with your phone. Just taking those 30 seconds to capture that portal. You will not come to regret that by far I can only recommend you to do it more and to create that portal so you could come back and and but some clarity and shade back to that moment and that feeling that you had bagged then through this portal that you created through taking a photo. Now, with that philosophy of minds, let's go back insights l Let's learn some more about Darfur. 13. Master How to Focus in Photography – Never Take Unfocused Photos Again: didn't focus. Images are one of the most important rules in photography, and there's nothing as horrible coming back home and seeing ah your computer screen and create image to be focused. It's horrible, but every photographer has been there, even the greatest of the greats photographers. But today, in this listen, we will come to learn all about focusing, so the chance that this will happen again will be a lot less. One of the greatest things about modern SLR cameras is that they come equipped with advanced our focus systems. Knowing how to use this out of focus systems is essential to achieve sharp images. Before we dig into that, however, let's first take a look at what focus points are. The small, empty boxes you see through your few finder entry level. Be as large or mere list. Cameras have fewer A F points. If, by the way stands for auto focus, most of them come equipped with nine points higher. End these Lloris or merely stemmers on the other. Hence come with as many as 51 A F Points is having more focus points importance. Yes, it is haveem or allows you to focus, lock or more particular areas off your image. Welcome posing your shots. Also, the camera A F system uses those focus points for subject trekking, something we will cover soon, which is extremely useful for white life or sport photography. There, two types of focus points. We have vertical line sensors, and we have cross type sensors. Now, vertical and sensors are only able to take interest vertically, while cross type sensors are able to detect contrast vertically and horizontally. Now what does this means? It means that the more cross type sensors your camera has better, any more accurate. Your other focus is going to be May. You are buying a camera to not alone. Pay attention to harmony A. F bones your camera has, but they also attention if it eater has vertical eyes, sensors or cross type sensors. Having many F bones and having crossed type sensors is especially important if you're into sports photography or into a wildlife photographer. Now that you know what those empty boxes in your camera R F boards, let's go over now to the different focus. Moz, your camera is equipment, each one of them east for a different situation within this moat, you select one off the focus points and your camera. We'll look for contrast, meeting that single focus points now. This is especially great if you are shooting a subject that it's not moving. There is no continuous adjustments if the subject will go and move around. But that is, however, where the next focus mode comes in. This mode is a must for sports white life or in any situation where your subject is moving . So the moment that you helped break down the shutter button, your camera will automatically go and focus. It will track down any movements, and it will readjust each time. Now the or a great thing about this is that it's not alone, needs subject way. It's moving, but also when you're moving, it will also go area. Just now, I could hear your thinking. Why not keep it in the continuous focus More all the time? The continuous focus mode is the sign to track down moving objects so it could happen when something is moving by. When you are shooting a standing subject or even when you are moving a little bit, that's your camera will go and focus on the wrong parts in the image. We didn't. This mode, your camera, um, automatically the sites for you, um, between single shot moats or continue smoots. So it's reading what you're seeing eso. If your subject is standing still, he will go and switch to a single shot moats. And if your subject is moving, it will go and switch to continuous mode. Um, this is actually the standard setting on many cameras and in on, Honestly, it's it's not too bad to leave it on their It actually works quite well, but that is something that's entirely up to you. I I shift myself between single shot mode and continuous Moz because it might happen that your camera, my confuse itself, and I just don't want that risk to happen. Sure enough, all these Lars and Mirror less cameras also allow you to turn off the auto focus system and mentally, um, a chief focus with the focus ring. Now, I would say for 90% of the time, the autofocus system does a great jump, but there are moments where it gets a bit confused. For example, you're trying to take your photo often animal behind, um, a wired fence and your camera might confuse itself and focus on the wire fence instead of the animal or the other way around depends for the show that you're trying to go for and in this kind of scenarios Ah, you. You have to go and switch off the autofocus system and go in and manually adjust yourself to change your focus. Moz. It's best you flip through your cameras manual for a minutes to find how this is done. Ah, it greatly depends on you make and model of your camera. But for all off those cameras, um, there's a dedicated switch where you can toggle between the focus, Moz. 14. Understanding Metering and Metering Modes: In the lesson of the exposed triangle, we learned how to control the exposure. Using shutter speed, aperture and ISO, we also touched a bit about metering, namely, how to read light meter. But in this listen, however, we will the much deeper into all that. So how exactly does your camera measure to the brightness of a scene so you can automatically sets an effort your and a shutter speed for you also, how does your camera know how much more you should expose your photo in order to get a correct image? Well, this is all done by the built in light meter within your camera and really understanding the building camera is very important. So you know why your camera reacts to some certain light situations. Also, every day is large and muralist camera will have different metering moats, and understanding this different media remotes is a skill wort learning on its own. With them, you can tell your camera how would you go and approach light. What your cameras like me to does is it tells your camera how bright the light is that it's coming from your object in the scene. Now, generally speaking, dissed us an amazing job, but there are some situations where it will get it totally wrong. Whenever you're taking a photo of very dark objects or from a very whites one, you can be sure that you're going to get the wrong exposure. In order to assign a value to bride and dark, your camera needs a baseline so it can determine brighter and darker. This baseline is called Mitt Stone middle grade or 18% great. Your camera will always strike, too exposed to this middle gray, which is the mid point between the darkest shadows and the brightest highlights. It makes sense, and it will give you a correctly balanced exposure 90% of the time. However, let's put us now in the minds of the camera on that outer 10% of the time. So let's say that you are taking a photo of a very dark black birds, and it's a bright and sunny day. So what? Your light meter will tell you? Camera ease, sir, we're low on light, and your camera will go and expose your photo with more. Do you see now Why your light meter? Ease Uh, saying that because your light meter is reading a lot off dark. The blackbird and your camera is always trying to go and exposed to that midpoint 18% crate What will happen? The result is, of course, that you will have been overexposed photo because your camera is not aware of the bride and sunny day. The exact same goes when you're taking a photo of a very wide subject. For example, snow, your cameras light meter is reading all the whites and will try to go back to that 18% middle grave. At the result, of course, is that you're gonna have on under exposed photo. If you keep this in mind and are aware off your cameras light meter in those situations, then you won't end up thinking that your camera is broken or something. All you need to do is simply correct exposure by either increasing or decreasing it, using the exposure composition button or by adjusting your temperature or shutter speeds. Now we understand how D cameras like me. The works. It's time that we go and dig into the different light meter Moats and this light meter moats are particularly handy as they allow you to determine where your camera should measure the life in a scene metrics meeting or a villa. Weighted metering is the most complex and modern methods that euro camera use. It takes reflective of the information from the entire scene, analyzing every individual zone for life and dark tones, and it will work out a well balanced exposure. One of the key factors that affects this mode is that the meeting system well, look at where you set your focus point, and it will mark this as more important than the rest off the scene. For some images, you don't want your light meter determining the whole frame for a correct exposure, Senator Weight metering Onley evaluates delight in the middle and its surroundings as framed through the lens, ignoring the corners. This mode is not interested in the focus point you've selected and only evaluates the center. It's particularly handy when you want the middle of the frame to be the priority and works great for close of Port Fritz or all our subjects that are located in the center. Off the frame. With this spot meter, only the light around the focus born is evaluated. Everything else is ignored. It calculates exposure based on that single area and lower else. Many of today's modern meters will allow you by moving your focus points to move that spot to another zone of the frame where it will calculate exposure on that area. High end cameras will even offer multi spot nearing where different African say the light exposure from a number of different areas of the scene, thereby giving the user even more control. A good example for when Theis spot meeting will be for bird photography. Birds mostly occurred by a small area of frame, and it's important you exposed the bird correctly rendered and its background because the light is evaluated where you placed the focus points. You can be sure to get an accurate exposure off your subject as it goes through its surroundings, of course, but Metarie isn't only great for bird photography. It's ah good for many. Other occasions were like improved tricky. For example, if you're taking a shot of the moon spot, metering will ignore the surroundings living in black in this case, while exposing the moon correctly. Also for boarded photography, spot metering is incredibly handy as it will always expose the skin color of the face correctly, you might have noticed. When you are metering and subject and you are re composing that your metering will change its reading. Different lights. Now, this isn't always what you want. And to solve this, make use of the exposure luck button when focusing on your subject. President should really is whole free down and president exposure, long button looking the exposure. And now you can go ahead and recompose without your light meter changing, changing your cameras, me remote Ben's lots on your camera and the model. But for most cameras, there is actually a special button forties, Um, but it could also be that you have to go into the menu. Just take a look at your camera and see. And if you can't find it, just open up your cameras manual and you can go and find it in there. 15. The Histogram – What is it and How Does it Work: The incredible thing about digital photography is that you couldn't watch your photos instantly on the bag off your LCD screen. Now, the mistake that many beginning for Darfur's make is that they only go and judge their photo on that, Um, but not knowing, actually that your LCD screen can be quite misleading at times. So, for example, in a bright and sunny day or during night, your LCD screen will look differently, and you might judge your photo wrong. Now there is a much more equity tool that your camera has, namely the hissed a gram. Keep it all fairly simple. A history Graham is a graphical representation off. All the pixels exposed your image, the higher the grab. At any given point, the more pixels off that zone are present in an image. The left side of the graph represents the Blakes or Shadows, while the right side represents the highlights or Bryce areas and the middle section. Surprise surprise shows the mid tones 18% great. So now let's take a look at three examples To show how a history Graham can look in an under exposed, overexposed and a correct exposed photo. Please be aware that when you take a photo, your history, Graham will look totally different than mine because you're shooting under different light than I did. I guess that's gonna obvious. But well, maybe it's good to go. I mentioned this. This shot has a lot of blacks because I under exposed it for a silhouette. The purpose of the photo was aimed for history in Peking, more to the left site. Next, we have a correctly exposed photo you can see compared to the under exposure how everything is speaking mawr in the middle section of the history. Graham, as opposed to the left or right sides because of the environment, the white since and because our shooting towards the sun, the history Graham is speaking quite high between the whites and highlights. This indicates an overexposed photo, which is, however, exactly what I want it. Well, it's not correct to say that there is a perfect hissed, a grim as this depends on the style and the kind of photo that you're going for as shown in the examples. But in most cases, you do want to go and aim for a well balanced photo with a good spread of stones. So next time you're taking a photo, be sure to review it using the history. Graham. It's a much more accurate way in seeing that you're either under exposing overexposing or correctly exposing your photo. Um, now it might be that you have to enable the instagram in your menu somewhere, So just go and play through it and see if you can find somewhere. And if you can't, then just go and grab your cameras manual. 16. Understanding White Balance in Digital Photography: have you ever taken a photo endorse and wondered why it Wessel, orange or so blue I have now understanding the concept of wide balance is key into making your photos look correct. One of the beautiful things about modern digital cameras is that you have different possibilities in changing wide bones. You can choose from different presets, or you can mentally citywide builds yourself. Or you could use the great cards and get the white balance correct. Or you can let the camera decide by using the auto wide billons. Now I have to start off by saying that if you're shooting in raw format, you could just leave your wide balance on the on a wide balance. Ah, the reason for that is because your cameras not yet converted any white balance on it. This, um, it hasn't touched it yet, so you can actually go into Prospero's Issing, and you can set the white balance completely as you like. That's another great reason to go in shooting Rome. Now, If you are shooting in Jay Peak, however, you will have to learn how to set the white balance yourself. And the reason for that is simply because um when you take a photo, your camera will already sit a wide balance on it. And if you said an increase y billons, you will be stuck with that one. Of course, you can't make some adjustments impulse processing, but not as effectively as in raw format. And so if you said an incorrect wide balance your photos, they might end up looking more orange or blue than it should. So let's go over the basic presets to choose from. For most scenarios, the outer wide balance does a fine job off gassing. The riots wide billons. I was just leaving your camera on auto. For most of your photographs, it's only four redder treaty relied situations. Or, if you want a different color temperature that you may have to switch to the following daylights slash sunny. This is for shooting outdoors. This mood adds, a more orangey color thesis is great for sense. It's as well. And, of course, for shape Johnston. This mode is strictly for shooting indoors under tungsten incidents and lighting. It cools down the colors in the photo, applying more blue use under fluorescent lights. It compensates the cool lights, and we'll warm up your shots When using the on camera flesh, the light of your flesh creates a cool lights and the smoke compasses that adding a touch of warmth. This sitting will warm things up a touch more than in daylights or sunlight moot with the above presets. What you are doing issue actually set a color temperature. They work for many situations very well, however, day to have a limitation because you can't really go and find, um, or actually through the color temperature that you once in your photo. This is where the Kelvin scale comes in. Gilding is a scale for measuring temperature, as in heat color. Temperatures are also described using this by setting your camera to decay the Kelvin boats . You can go in and mentally adjusted color temperature where 8000 is hot or reds and going up to 10,000 schools or blue. Take a look at this car to get a better sense of the killed in values. A final option to set your white balance is by using an 18% 3 cards, and they are especially designed for this. You got smaller ones, too. This one is just Ah, nice, because it's kind of big, so your subject can kind of hold it and you take a photo of it. This man, it is quick and easy to do. You just have to know how to sit up. So the first step is to go into your white billons. Now, some cameras have a button forties. And for other cameras you have to go into the menu for that. And in there you select the pre moat. Now, this could be called differently for you. For Sony cameras. Forget, for example, it's gold dust. Um, sit up. So just have a look and see I would school for you. And once you select that, you take out your great cards and you put it against your subject. You take a photo off that now, also depending on your camera, some cameras already automatically, uh, said the image for you and in other cameras you have to go into the menu and you have to sell selected the image. And once that is done, you will take 100% of an accurate wide billions of the current surrounding that you're shooting in. Now if you don't know where to finalise the best thing to go into is to open up your cameras manual and look it up in there. Even if you're shooting your off. Using a great cards isn't a bad idea. It's not necessary. But it will give you a correct white balance. The work with also know that once you're done, be sure to reset your white bones. Um, else you are. You might end up with weird color kiss because you're shooting on their different lights. 17. The Importance of Light in Photography: Okay. Do you want some water as well? Yeah. No, no. I could get you in there. Okay. All right. Here you go. Just nothing better than water, maybe beer, and sometimes a good photographer. It's more than just someone who knows how it operates. Camera and they photos with you also have to become a master of observation and a flighting Thrace later from the Greek. The ward photo means lights and your drab means drawing. It's a very beautiful and metaphorical description of what the photographer is because as a photographer, you and I, we are. We are artists off lights and becoming a mestre off that is key in photography light. It's more than just how dark or bright something is. It will affect the whole look, the atmosphere and the mood off your images. And although there are many sources and different forms at life comes from, uh, lied broadly, you could broadly categorize slides into categories, namely in natural lights and in artificial lights. Natural light includes such things as flames theme moon stars, the sun, all the natural light sources producing vastly different life characteristics. Flames, for example, will produce a warmer color kissed While the moonlights will produce a much cooler lights, I'm also depending on the size, you will have different light characteristics. So a small candle lights or a bushfire, the full moon or the half moon and the sun even produces various difference life characteristics throughout the day. So the morning light will be much diffuser and softer, and the midday sun will be much harsher. This is life created by US humans at it also comes in many different forms, sources and always different like characteristics. Um, fluorescent light, for example, has much cooler blue lights while dunks. The light gives a much warmer orange color, Um, but of course, there's also specific for Darfur lighting, which is usually better balance to, ah, simulate the satellites. Besides natural and artificial light, we also have two types of flights. Hard and soft lights. And in a nutshell, heart lights produces hard shadows, and soft light produces stuffed Cheetos. It's white, self explaining. The way this is produced is a turban by the light source relative to your subjects position . Heart light is created by a small light source, while soft lights is created by a filtered or a much larger light source. The direction of a light source will affect the shadows he creates, which again will affect how did picture any form off. Your subject will appear. The sun, for example, a very multi light source produces on a clear sunny meets a very hard life. Do its high position in the sky. You often see beginning photographers shooting Portrait's under the slights, which is not the best decision as it creates redder, unflattering results. The eyes of your model will be dark and there will be shadows under the nose, and the shin hartline is best avoided in most cases, except if you want to emphasize harshness or bleakness in a particular scene. Sunrise and sunset on the other hands produces a much softer and better light quality. For the majority of the time, you want to stick to soft lights as gives a better range of bone spur and more detail in highlights and shadows. Cloudy days work very well to as thes. Some produces a much softer lights because it's being fielded by the clouds. By now, you might have noticed there's a lot more to life than appears at first. Beside the characteristics, equality, hard or soft light. We have one more points the direction off the lights. There are mainly three directions off lights. This direction off light has a flaring effect, all subjects, because shadow falls behind the subject, making image look less three dimensional. Front light also produces the least dramatic effects were shooting from the sites. On the whole, this is the easiest light. Work with fewer shadows mean more predictable results. Front life is very good when taking family portrait or get drinks such as weddings or graduations. Thief let Luke produces fluttering results for everyone faces as it shows less detail. Your granny will be quite happy with that site. Light Works rate for more creative photography, it emphasized. Picture defines depth and brings out patrons. It's very effective when used correctly for portrait's, because it allows you to emphasize emotions in a more dramatic way. Bakelite is the most challenging light to photograph with. One of the main reasons for this is because it confused the light meter. But then again, it is also the one which can produce the most interesting dramatic photos, as the name suggests. With this, the light source is located behind your subject which means you're shooting into the lights . This increases the tree dimensional. Feel off many subjects as you will see less highlighted area and, moreover, the darker, shadowy areas. It's a beautiful direction to shoot with annual bring landscapes to life at visual interest to portrait's and create beautiful silhouettes. You concretely improve your photographs simply by thinking about lied before you're taking a picture, start observing light and start paying attention to it. And not a little when you're looking to your lens, but also in everyday activities to observe how it falls with subjects, how it changes and in chances, their appearance and how it changed. Strategy holds a and also possess yourself at different angles off subjects while observing it and see how the light is different at each sites. Now we don't let new information it's your turn to use it and to start becoming a true master off lights 18. When and Why to Use Flash: flash photography isn't just to shoot only in low light conditions. It's an art of its own and can be used for way more than only that feel. The flesh photography is almost as wide as normal photography. So for the purpose off discourse, we will only touch upon the in built camera, many cameras going with an in built pulp of flesh. I personally can't really say that I can recommend using the pop up flesh as the light it produces is redder, poor, harsh and direct light, which result most of the time in very unflattering pictures. However, there are certain scenarios where it might come in handy to use it, and there are a few things you can do to help reduce a less harsh lights. Many cameras will allow you to just the strength off the pulp of flesh. This is a great way to reduce some of that harsh light coming from it. Check your cameras manual if you have that option and, if so, where to find its the smaller delight source. The hard lights, the bigger delight source thesis after it spreads. Now, the public flesh on your camera is a tiny light source, And that's the reason why it has such a harsh light. Now, you could do something to improve this. You can defuse it by putting something in front of it, and one thing would be a soft screen. Now, this sub screen is for off built camera flesh. But the small off screen that I had 40 bump of flesh, I lost it somewhere. But it's just to show you. So you got, like, smaller ones do that you can put in front of your papa flesh. Another thing that you can do is just simply using a piece off paper, a scenario where the pulp of flesh might be very handy east when you use it as a feel flesh . Now, for example, you are, um, you're shooting your subject against the sun, which will results in a silhouettes. But for the photo that you have reminds, you want the face off your subject to be exposed correctly as well away. To go and achieve this is by using your bump up flesh. Another reason to use the pulp of flesh when we move to the realm of the off camera flesh is to use it to trigger the off camera flesh. Um, if you have a semi professional or a professional camera and it has a flesh because many professional glamorous actually don't have a flesh, there's a high chance that your papa flesh will be able to trigger a off camera flesh. Flash photography opens up a whole new range of photo possibilities. If you are interested to dive much deeper in this, you should go and find a good course specifically on that, Um, there's just so much to flash photography and the pulp of flesh is not the best thing to go and take Actually, photo Switz. Um, but he gets a lot more interesting once you're actually used and off built camera flesh. And that's where you're able to take very good flesh photos with, and you also get the possibility to be a lot more creative 19. How Photography Helps You See True Beauty in Life: Let's step outside one less time and let me share with you one final philosophy that I have , namely, how photography will show you to beauty in life. True beauty Life is found within life's little details, and truly it's It's in fact, the small things that make the big things so impressive. Someone once asked me why I became a photographer, to which I answered. I became a photographer because of the world's. I never really grew up knowing that I wanted to be a photographer, and I certainly never knew that I that I was going to make my living doing this. But when I was 18 years old and I started traveling and I was and I started seeing what more this world had to offer, I just had captured. I just had to share it with my friends and family and with the rest of the world. I just felt this strong urge because I just couldn't believe it myself. What I was seeing. And when I was 18 I started traveling for three years around the world until I was 21 on that tree year journey are really filling off with photography. The more and more that I started traveling and seeing off the world. Because I only this urge off capturing what the world was showing me on Lee became stronger and two time I just really fell in love with foot RV in the whole, Everything around for Diarra fee now slowly but steadily Thing what authority started showing me Waas Life's little details and the way how it showed me was because when you are taking a shot, you have to stand still. You have to stand still and really pay attention to what you're seeing. You have to stand still to compose your shots and to be sure that didn't seem focus. It's your camera that was actually forcing you to stand stealing life. And that's something we don't do much anymore. We are so busy just walking around and just so got within everything. Phone. Not really thinking that I'm anymore too much to just slow down and to stand still. And when you take a photo, you do exactly that. You have to slow down. You have to stand still, and you have to pay attention to what you're seeing, and the more and more and more you start doing this, the mawr em or you also starts seeing and noticing those small details in life. While I'm sitting here, I can see lives, beauty everywhere and not just the obvious trees that are around here. But I can see the clouds really moving. I can see little insects going by here everywhere. I can see really and focus into the small details of just the grass and really pick out one individual aggress. The more and more I started doing this with my camera trying to capture that particular scene, the more and more I also started noticing the details in life without my camera and I can promise you, and I'm very grateful in a way that you started this journey of being a photographer and being more serious now in photography as you're taking this course because it will lead you to so so much more than you could possibly imagine. And it comes to time, the more you will come to frame your shots, and the more you will come to take notice of the details because it's really those details that you're putting into a photo that will make it so unique. and so beautiful. And the more you will come to do this over time, you will also come to start noticing beauty everywhere. Because as of Darfur, you're actually looking for beauty within anything, right? You will come to see beauty. And those details are what beauty is. If you could start noticing that those unique and small details within life and within anything, those things are what beauty is, and those things are what life is about. It's about being able to see those little details in life because, like I said, they are infect the big things. It's the small things that are building up and becoming the big thing, but were just too much lost in just looking too much Iran everywhere and not really focusing down on one particular scene with your camera. When you're framing a shot, you're just taking out one seed, one particular spot over the whole everything is going on and you have to stand steel and really look at it. And that way, through time you will come to only Seymour beauty life simply because off your camera. Now, I hope you enjoyed this philosophy lessons here, or at least some of them. And let me tell you, Dad, these are not just some mumbo jumbo things that I just made up your own spot. This are effect things that Dorothy really has steep dot me. And And I really appreciate photography so much because of that. And let me tell you that next time after now you've watched those philosophy lessons really paid attention to the things that I said in those lessons because, well, you're out next time taking some photos, you will come to see that they are, in fact, true. Everything that I've said so really, really tried to acknowledge this words here that I'm trying to bring to you and you will come to see that infect. It is true before we jump banking sites. Let me just say that if you have come to acknowledge and you're the philosophies or any of the words that I've said here, please share with me and your other students taking your scores. I would love to hear them also, if it RVs not use something different, please come and share it with me and your students. I always love to talk about this stuff. X two in photography because, like I said, photography is way more than than just simply pressing down a button. There is way more to it, and you will come. You will come to see that, too, if you keep just taking photos. And if you put this words within your head as well, you will come to see and appreciate photography on a whole different level. And with that, let's go back inside and let's finish off of you remaining lessons. 20. Composition Techniques that Will Improve your Photography: Hey, where do you get the head from? Yeah, it looks really great, right? It looks pretty good, right? Can I try it? Yeah. Okay. What do you think, Huh? Eddie? No. No. Okay. Yeah. I just give it back to you, then. You want to drive? No. No. Okay. Did you really will? Um, yeah. There aren't any real rules in photography. The only rule, as in all art, is that there is no rule. However, there are a couple of guidelines that you can follow to dress. Likely improve and incense your photos. One of the first things that I tell anyone who asks before so far for tips is just simply to go. And really look what you're going to take a photo off. Really? Look into the details of its Just don't just go in and take a photo of it. Not even like really looking at it with your own eyes. First, just really observe and taking the landscape of just taking that. What? You're going to take a picture off and then where you are Look to you. If you find not just in the middle. Not just that the subject, but look at every corner. Look at all the cores and see if they all fit together. This is something that is many times overlooked by many beginning photographers. And the result of that is that you end up with a sort of messy photo because they're like things going through the quarters that don't really should be there. And you're gonna go and think how you you just have a one Jan's shut off Telling a complete story s so it's important that you just you put everything in there and you leave everything our there that you don't want in this story to be. But in order to tell a right story, you have to know. You have to see the whole picture of it. So you have to go and look through all the corners and see if they all match for the photo that you want to take. Now we're going to cover a lot of photos in this lesson of composition, and I want you to really go and examine all of those photos and really see how d how everything fits together in the photo by just applying this simple tip by just looking at what you're going to take a foot off and really looking into details. You can already dress tickly, improve your photos. The rule of thirds is a very common technique used by many photographers. Once we're done with this lesson, if you will come to see that many photos are composed this way and there's a reason for that. But before I tell you, let's take a look what the rule of thirds is when you're about to take a photo, imagine a grits of tours on the lines and two vertical lines in your few final or LCD screen, as shown in this image here. The theory is that when you frame your picture, you position the important elements in your scene along those lines or at the points where they meet. So why does the rule of thirds work? It creates a dynamic picture if your subject is framed in the middle aesthetic, your ice, if nowhere else to go to. But if you place your subject more to the left or right, there is room for your eyes to move, making the picture a whole. Moreover, interactive experience grew off. Theirs is very versatile and can be applied to any subject know that your subject doesn't have to be perfectly located on one of the lines. As long as they're close, it works. I'm also some cameras will actually allow you to to show this grit with the two, um, horizontal lines and your vertical lines Checking your camera. It might be that your camera has this sitting. Of course, you don't have to compose every shot this way. Sometimes breaking rule can result in a more interesting photo. I would say. Learn first to use the rule of thirds effectively and then go ahead and break it to see what other sorts of shots you discover. Ask yourself what you want to emphasize and what moot you want to lay in your shots. If the rule of thirds will help you achieve any of these, then go ahead and use it. If it doesn't, then don't let it get in the way off the shelf that you have in mind. Photography is a two dimensional medium, and because of that, your photo skin a times look redder flits. Nevertheless, you can add more depth your shots by including objects in the foreground. Middle ground and background are human eye is used to seeing objects appeared to overlap, and it naturally recognize this layers immensely separates them out, creating an image. Whitmore depths. It is quite easy to get caught up in the subject totally while forgetting to pay attention to what is going on behind it, ruining an otherwise create photo. Your background should be an extra layer and should contribute to your final image. So take note of its recompose your frame. Zoom in or out, move closer or further away. Or sometimes you just have to wait a minute or two, whether people, for example, for some shots. It could also work very real to use a wider temperature to blur out your backgrounds. The viewpoint. You show your photos in dress sickly changes, the moods and the overall experience you give through. The fewer shoot your subject from above, and it will seem smaller shooting from below, and it will emphasize the height redder than just shooting from my level. Try a different few points high above, down at ground level from far away from very close up. Just not to say that you should not take force from my level, but this is the viewpoint were all sea going to life most of the time, and you can create a much more interesting photo simply by shooting from a few points which were not used to seeing. Let's take now, these two photos off these beautiful horses as an example, the 1st 1 is shot from eye level. Anyone standing next to me would have seen it this way, too. But the next shot's not many people would. It's would have seen it from this perspective, and you can clearly see here how the few point dramatically changed the mood over a photo. The one on the right is a lot more intimates than the photo on the left. We're surrounded by patterns, lines and textures all around us. Um, boats natural and men mates bay Good attention to them, as they make for some very catchy compositions. Lives very Anna coming many different forms. Straight diagonal, curvy, six, etcetera. Our eyes are naturally drawn along them, and they effect off the insurance. A strong sense off perspective. Give a three dimensional dipped, drawing you into the image, horizontal and vertical lines at a sense of structure, while curved lines give a more relaxed feel sick about how you can place lines here. Composition. They will help to lead the viewer's eye through the scene. The brain love, symmetry and patterns, observed Sue Monnin, move closer and showed US patterns in symmetry. Be careful to avoid of sterile distractions. They could spoil the symmetry. Or better, as so, you can maximize the effect. Texture is very similar to pattern, but with more regards of how to show. It actually feels it speaks to us at a deeper level than simply visuals. Often times less say it's more. Your picture can become very cluttered and messy if you try to add too many points of interests. This results in no clear single point of focus, which leads to a photo that likes impact. Be selective about what you includes and what you excludes and have a clear subject and point of interest. This will help the viewer to be to be more drawn and engaged within the shots. At the end of the day, you are as a photographer, a storyteller, and really seeing yourself in that role will will allow you to develop a deeper connection with you, the world's and the shot that you're taking, use all the guidelines that we just covered to help you to still a stronger and mawr engaging story. 21. Develop an Efficient Workflow and Learn Basic Post Processing: once everything is done and you've taken all your pictures and you're happy with your catch of the day, it's time to go to the next stage workflow. What is workflow? Workflow is the steps you take from capture to output, and the work looking event from photographer to photographer ends also from the type all photography that you do. But every effective workflow shares similar steps and techniques. It's important when you're starting out in photography to develop the habit off using an effective workflow. It will save you a lot of time, headaches and lost images. And the workflow I will be sharing here is the one that I use. It will cover the basics every 15 African use. Now along that we will also go into plus processing. And I will actually take you with me to my computer, and I will show you. Um, all the basic things off past processing and how to make your images look really amazing. Starting with the camera, your workflow could already look different, depending on the file format you're shooting in Jay Peak or role roll ferment will be a little more complicated than if you're shooting in J pick because the raw images still require you to process them into a usable image before you can print or publish them. A good photo application is one of the key features for a smooth workflow. Now there are free options, such as raw therapy or be Kasa. And while they do offer some decent tools, I highly recommend, if you want to take your photography at all seriously to go for a paid application such as Light Room, which cost 12 year over months. Plus comes with photo shop or capture one, which is a single price of 219. Implications like light room and capture, won't give you very smooth waste transfer, organized, sort and export your images. But they also over very powerful editing and post processing tools to improve your images. They both have a 30 day of free trial, so you have the chance to play around with, um, comparing the site. Which one you prefer decided to say which one is better? Requires a whole other lesson. Um, but boat are similar your difference and have their pros and guns. Now, I would say light room is, if you are just starting in Prospero's using light room has a better overview of everything . What capture wasn't seems a lot more clunky, however. Kept your one applies a much better sharpening to your images. Keeping your photos of Bell organized will save you a lot of pain. And yes, if use applications such as slight room or capture one, you will have a whole set off options to help you. They allow you to easily great structured Fullers and a good structure, for example, with Luke s follow. So first you got the route Fuller called photos that we have the sub folders for each year . Then we got another sub Fuller's for each event or destination. If you're not using a photo application and you really shoot, though, yeah, but if you're not, you can use the same structure of Fuller's on your desktop. Next step will be the actual boss processing off your images, and this is not a step to miss if you are shooting in raw, since your camera will not have put the images yet through any boss processing adul like it does with J picks, All right, so why do you come and sit here next to me then I can show you the basics off plus processing. All right, so here we are in light room. Now, I'm only going to show a light room and I capture one as well. And the reason for that is because if you know how to work with these tools here you have the same ones in capture one. But they're just located differently. Of course, there are also some other tools. But if you get these basic settings down, you will also be able to work with capture one. So we're going to go and turn this image of his beautiful flower here into a really amazing looking photo. Because at the moment, this looks kind of great eso We're gonna go and bring these more to life, and I'm going to go over the process of how I edit photos. So let's go and start. So the first thing I do is I go to lengths corrections and I click on enable profile corrections. Now, it's not really doing something here right now, but what it does is eat results any, um, any lens distortions. So be sure to always click on this and the next thing a Dewey's Let Me Go is I mean for that's I click on remove chromatic aberration and you can see here the blue line, and when you click on it, it will actually g o and remove that blue line. As you can see, Let me just enabled it again. And then there you go and this is sort off a color correction, So ah, yeah, be sure to also click on There's always and then we move on to the detail. A. Let's go assuming here. Let's also zoom in here because this is the point where are focused on and so because it's a raw file. There is no sharpening a blight on it yet, so we have to go and do that. So let's go and do about 85 85 years. You have to see for your picture because 85 might be too much. Just see that it's not getting too much broken that there's not too much noise appearing, Um, but it's still okay. And then when you go on masking and you click on the vault and then the left mouse button, you get this and we're the Blakey's 30. Sharpening its not applied on on where the widest dirtiest. So let's go and put it like this. That's good. And so and let's also put some north reduction on about. That's good. All right, Now let's go into the basic. And here is where we're going to go and really play And bring these photo more to life. My photos got under exposed as you can see So I'm gonna go and bring the exposure more up I'm gonna add some clarity and I'm gonna bring the highlights to be down to get some or details visible on the Leafs Ah, the shadows. The whites beat up blacks bit down and the vibrance here you can see the picture coming a lot more to life and a little bit of saturation about this. That looks that looks good. Now let's play with the tone curve. Ah, a little bit the lights, uh, leave that bit of the shadows. Some line that looks good. Okay. And you're in color. You can actually go and Atmore situation to one specific a war instead of the whole picture . So let's go. And it's amore situation on the green about this and also on the orange about that. That looks good. Okay, let's go to Camelot. Camera collaboration and some what's put a bit more of a kind of a moods in the photo. So let's some at so some more things to the shadows. That's taking a bit. Yeah, there we go. Um, that looks Daleks. Good. Also, uh, at a push of the Kareen. Okay, that looks great. Um, now, with the adjustment brush here, this is actually where you can go and do some really cool adjustments on one specific part . So let's go and zoom in here and let's make some adjustments on the inside here of flour. And by clicking on this year, you can actually see where you're drawing. It's colored it in. I'm not completely gonna calorie in in just a this part. I'm going to leave this year without any coloring. And if you, for example, accidentally ah, colored out where you didn't by clicking on the old button, you get your razor and you can easily go and raisel that So about that. And I did kind of did some there. All right, let's see. Okay. And some Let's go and add to be more clarity on there, you can see the difference and maybe a bit of the temperature, and that's that's about it. Now, here you can. Actually, on this button, you can click on it and you can see the before and the after. Now it's not a enormous difference, but when you're editing, that's gonna born that you just bring, like, this small kind adjustments and they can create the picture. So this is a very kind of small adjustment, but it does something. Another thing that I do with a lot of photos decided he graduated filter. And, um, I put one here and also one of the top, and I put the exposure but down. Now what is thus sees it will create more of a dramatic kind of photo, and it also brings all the attention to deflower. So let's bring that down to, and I'll do a bit more here and a little bit less No. Okay, I think that's actually OK. Now let's see the difference. There we go. This looks, um Oh, yeah. Maybe because it looks bids bit more bit to this, um, big canna unstrung rate. So let's put it a bit more straighter. but that Dallas get There we go. Um, now you can see the before and the after, and this is a enormous off a difference. And I just show you now the very basics off editing and the possibilities that you have by just making some kind of small adjustments here. Ah, you can already improve your photos. So much so from coming from this to this. But I have to say, if you got a raw formats, if you have a rough while, you really have to go and edit. Um otherwise, you will have a ferry Cray photo. But we do. You can create it into something as this after completing your edits. The next step is, of course, to go and export your images in for printing or refuse. Once you're done with editing your photo, you, of course want to go and export it to age. A pick and a way to do this Easter. Go to file and you click on exports now in here. Be sure they have the image format on Jay Peak and the color space on S RGB and equality heavy on hundreds on the resolution. You could just leave on three hundreds and, um, that you could go and click on exports. And there you go. Now, if you are, If you intend to use these image for your website, then you will have to decrease your file size. Otherwise, it's gonna go and slow down your website ful lots, and you best sitting for that ease the following. So the quality go you put to 65 and click on recites to Fitz and have the whites on 1000 180. Any heights on 880 and the Resolution on 72. And I would also put the output sharpening on and heavy on screen and amounts heights. And this will give you a good balance off having a small file size while having while having steal a sharp photo. Now imprinting your image. Depending on the printing company, um, you either have to select the image format to eight. If and heavy on adobe RGB have the resolution on three hundreds, and you you might apply the output. Your opening. You might click on them, and you can choose between mets or Colossi. But if if they could also ask for just a J pick and then you just select the Jay Peak. Of course, every color space on S RGB quality hundreds. And you could also apply some output sharpening on its last but definitely not least and a step you should never, ever forget. Make bake ups. I could tell you couples of heart breaking stories from people who never made backups and lost everything. Your hearts rifle fail at some boards, and when he does, all your images will be lost. Creating backups doesn't take too much extra time, and an external hard drive doesn't just that much, at least not when you consider the amount of trouble increased they prevent. I recommend you to buy to external hard drives off two terabytes or four. This means you will have a total off three places where your files are stored. Take note of what I mentioned earlier. Hard drives will fail. The best option is to make a note off when you first used a hard drive and replace it after three years. This will minimize the risk of running into the not so pleasant scenario where your hard drive tells you you can't read your files anymore or just doesn't do a hit thing at all. Extra security that I can highly recommend you to do is well used to keep one off your external hard drives somewhere else. Now I keep those two external hard drives here safe in my car, and I have at my home to other external hard drives with same copies on Now, if someone will come and break into my house and steal those, then at least I have all those files still safe here in my car. Along with that, I would also recommend you to store your finished Jay Peak files onto a cloud storage application, such as a Google drive, Dropbox or I drive the older pretty much the same. Now I personally use Google Drive. It has 15 gigabytes of free storage, and for a subscription off 1 99 year old, you will have 100 gigabyte, which where you can literally store hundreds off images. On overtime, you will develop a more involved workflow that suits your situation and your preferences more. Don't miss out a workflow. It's the other half that makes for a good for Darfur. 22. Final Thoughts: Wow, you just did it. You just finished the ultimate authority course for beginners. I have to. We both re board after applying for this. You? That's amazing. Really? And I sincerely hope that this course gave you the right knowledge and really help you to understand the basics off photography. I know that you want to go out there and take some photos, but we do. I hope photography will also go and show you something that he showed me and that he's to go and look and pay attention to details in life. Because when you think photos you are you are looking for details to capture. And with that, you're actually training your visuals and your training to see them more and more. So I hope that you will also come to see these where you're not taking photos. And having that said, it's time for you to go now to venture out there in the world because you already you have everything. Do you have your gamer? Okay, so this is where we say goodbye. But you know where to find me. We'll keep in touch. And, uh well, you were incredible students. I hope you just had this much fun, this idea. And now it's time for you to go out there and venturing. It takes a great fathers soothe.