Course Description
Masterclass photography is an advanced level of photography education, focusing on refining technical skills, creative vision, and professional techniques. It delves into the intricate details of camera settings, lighting, composition, and post-processing, guiding photographers to master both technical precision and artistic expression. The classes are often taught by expert photographers who share their unique approaches, helping students develop a deeper understanding of storytelling through images. Participants engage with real-world challenges, learning to capture moments with intent, emotion, and style across various genres like portrait, landscape, street, and commercial photography. This immersive experience elevates one's ability to create impactful, high-quality visual narratives.
What you'll learn in this course
- Camera Basics: Understanding different types of cameras, lenses, and accessories.
- Exposure Triangle: Mastering aperture, shutter speed, and ISO settings to control light and exposure.
- Composition Techniques: Learning framing, rule of thirds, leading lines, symmetry, and other methods to create visually appealing photos.
- Lighting: Exploring natural and artificial lighting techniques, including how to work with soft light, hard light, and shadows.
- Focus and Depth of Field: Using focus techniques and controlling depth of field to achieve sharpness and background blur.
- Shooting Modes: Familiarity with manual, aperture-priority, shutter-priority, and auto modes.
- White Balance: Adjusting white balance for accurate color representation.
- Portrait Photography: Techniques for capturing expressive and dynamic portraits.
- Landscape Photography: Understanding the essentials of shooting vast sceneries and nature.
- Action Photography: Capturing fast-moving subjects with precision.
- Street and Documentary Photography: Telling stories through candid shots in public spaces.
- Post-Processing: Editing and enhancing images using software like Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop.
- File Management: Organizing and storing digital images effectively.
- Photography Gear: Choosing the right equipment for various photography styles and situations.
- Creative Vision: Developing your unique photographic style and artistic perspective.
- Studio Photography: Working with controlled lighting and setups for product, fashion, and editorial shoots.
- Ethics in Photography: Understanding the ethical considerations in professional and personal photography.
- Portfolio Building: Creating a compelling photography portfolio to showcase your work.
- Working with Clients: Learning how to communicate with and photograph people professionally.
- Business Skills: Understanding the basics of building a photography business, including marketing, pricing, and branding.
Requirements
- You should be excited to learn photography, and ready to take action!
- No fancy camera is required, having camera (even a smartphone) will help you learn as we prompt you with practice activities.
- No prior knowledge of photography is required - this course is geared for absolute beginners.
Curriculum
- 25 Lessons
- 0 mins.
- History and evolution of photography
- Types of photography (portrait, landscape, commercial, etc.)
- Overview of photography genres
- Types of cameras: DSLR, mirrorless, point-and-shoot, smartphones
- Camera components: lenses, sensors, and viewfinders
- Photography accessories: tripods, flashes, filters, etc.
- The exposure triangle: aperture, shutter speed, and ISO
- Exposure compensation
- Manual vs. auto exposure modes
- How aperture affects light and depth of field
- Techniques for achieving background blur (bokeh)
- Creative uses of shallow and deep depth of field
- Capturing motion: slow vs. fast shutter speed
- Techniques for freezing action and long exposures
- Using shutter speed creatively
- Controlling light sensitivity with ISO
- Balancing ISO with aperture and shutter speed
- Managing digital noise in low light
- Rule of thirds, leading lines, symmetry, and balance
- Perspective, framing, and cropping
- How to create compelling visual stories
- Types of natural light: golden hour, blue hour, harsh midday light
- Working with artificial light: continuous vs. flash
- Using reflectors, diffusers, and softboxes
- Adjusting white balance for accurate colors
- Understanding color temperature and its creative uses
- Using white balance presets and custom settings
- Manual focus vs. auto-focus modes
- Focus points and tracking moving subjects
- Depth of focus: hyperfocal distance and focus stacking
- Overview of camera modes: Manual, Aperture-priority (Av), Shutter-priority (Tv), Program (P)
- Best practices for using each mode in different scenarios
- Creative applications of different modes
- Lighting for portraits: natural and artificial
- Posing techniques and interaction with subjects
- Focusing on eyes, expressions, and backgrounds
- Composition for wide scenes and foreground interest
- Maximizing sharpness using hyperfocal distance
- Capturing light in landscapes: sunrise, sunset, and beyond
- Freezing motion with fast shutter speeds
- Panning techniques to capture movement
- Anticipating action and timing the shot
- Capturing candid moments in public spaces
- Ethics and privacy considerations
- Working discreetly in urban environments
- Equipment for close-up photography: macro lenses, extension tubes
- Depth of field challenges and lighting for small subjects
- Composition techniques for macro shots
- Long exposures and tripod techniques
- Star trails, light painting, and night cityscapes
- Balancing ISO, aperture, and shutter speed in low light
- Introduction to Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop
- Adjusting exposure, contrast, and colors
- Retouching portraits, cropping, and sharpening images
- RAW vs. JPEG processing
- Organizing photo libraries
- Using metadata and keywords for sorting
- Backup strategies for preserving your work
- Selecting images for a cohesive portfolio
- Layout and presentation techniques
- Digital vs. printed portfolios
- Lighting setups: one-light, three-point lighting
- Studio equipment: backdrops, light modifiers, and props
- Posing and working in a controlled environment
- Copyright laws and image usage rights
- Model releases and client contracts
- Ethical considerations in photojournalism and street photography
- Setting up a photography business
- Pricing strategies and packages
- Marketing and branding for photographers
- Client relations and building a clientele
- High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography
- Panoramas and stitching multiple images
- Time-lapse photography
- Drone photography
- Applying course concepts in a final photo project
- Peer review and constructive critique
- Refining and finalizing a portfolio or gallery display
Your Instructor
Jesus G.
Advanced Educator
The path of Jesús G. Pastor, a journalist by training, led him little by little towards images, always with a connection to social assistance. As an inveterate traveler, he spent two uninterrupted years in Asia, in addition to a month or more in Lebanon, Syria, Mexico, and Cuba, and two years living in the Balkans in the former Yugoslavia. It was during his travels that Jesús developed his photographic style.
