How It’s Done

This is a series of photography lessons written for DSLR owners. The goal is to take a complete novice and give him/her the tools to create great photos in any situation. Does that sound daunting? I am sure you can make it through. Believe it or not, taking good looking photos is pretty easy. Photography concepts aren’t that complicated and neither is Photoshop. The most difficult part of learning to be a good digital photographer is finding all the pieces of knowledge and putting them together in a coherent whole. That’s what these lessons are all about. The way I learned photography was a disorganized mess. I’d read a dated 1970’s era book about composition in the morning and then that evening watch Photoshop tutorials on Youtube. What I found during all my digging were a few gold nuggets of information and the rest could be tossed aside. With this series of lessons I am going to lay out my photographic philosophy and techniques in the most straight forward way possible. By the end of it you should be able to visualize the photo before you take it. Before you even press the shutter button you will know what Photoshop moves you will use to process the photo. You will know the excitement that confidence brings. Imagine having the ability to get great photos anywhere, anytime. Stick with these lessons and we’ll get there.

Introduction

Part 1 – Understanding the Technicalities

Lesson 1 — Disillusionment is a Positive First Step

Lesson 2 — Your Eyes are a Miracle, Your Camera is a Machine

Lesson 3 — Understand Exposure One Pixel at a Time

Lesson 4 — What is Aperture and Aperture Value

Lesson 5 — Depth of Field

Lesson 6 — It’s All About Focus

Lesson 7 — What is ISO and a Deeper Look at Your Image Sensor

Lesson 8 — Setting Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO, and Exposure Modes

Lesson 9 — Exposure Compensation

Lesson 10 — Shooting in Manual Mode

Lesson 11 — A Path Into the Woods

Part 2 – Photoshop for Photographers

I’ve started writing this section. I will post each new lesson as I finish them. Sorry that it is taking so long. My family just moved across the country. I have little time to write a free course. Leave a comment if you have a question or want me to explain something differently

Introduction

Lesson 1 — How to Set White Balance in Photoshop

Lesson 2 — Introduction to Photoshop Layers

Lesson 3 — Introduction to Photoshop Layer Masks

Lesson 4 — Photoshop Layers and Masks in Action

Part 3 – Photographer at Work

Part two is barely even started, but I wanted to get going on this section for the more advanced readers and those that like to look ahead. Here I will explain how I make specific photos. I will show a photo or group of photos and explain specific techniques or camera settings. When I was learning photography one of the most powerful learning tools I found was simply looking at photos and then reverse engineering the photo and thought process in my head. In this part of my series I am going to try to let you into my head and show you how I planned out various photos. Once you get a handle on the technical side of photography covered in Part 1 this part of the series should accelerate your development as a photographer.

Unlocking Photo Composition

An Afternoon at the Fair

Inertial Motivation

The Limits of Human Perception, Time and Photography

Precariously Perched High Above the Sea

Harveter of the Sea

Seeing Shapes in Photos

How Not to Take a Photo

Breakdown in Potter Nebraska

Always Bring Your Tripod!

Bolt of Inspiration

Turn That Dial All the Way Shoot Me Like a Rocket into Space