Take your digital photography skills to the next level!

Course details

Now that you've mastered the basics of your DSLR camera it's time to take your photography skills to the next level without wasting any time!

This course was designed as a follow-up intermediate digital photography course to another Udemy course of mine called Digital Photography for Beginners with DSLR cameras, but anyone with a sound basic photographic knowledge and a DSLR camera will find value in this course.

Learn how to turn good photographs into great photographs!

• Learn what to consider when you upgrade your camera gear.
• Understand how different camera settings work together to ensure perfect exposures.
• See the value of a hot shoe flash, which can be used both on the camera or remotely.
• Push your creative limits by photographing everything from sun stars to the Milky Way.
• Get introduced to Lightroom - the best photography software on the market!

Photographers never stop learning…

Switching over from Automatic Mode or Program Mode to Aperture or Shutter Priority is just the first step in becoming an excellent photographer. As a beginner, you would have been introduced to a lot of new settings, like ISO, exposure compensation, f-values amongst many others, but the key is to understand how these settings work together to give you perfect exposures. And that is one of the main goals of this course - to help you understand the relationship between the camera's most important settings.

As your photography knowledge increases, so will the likelihood of you wanting to upgrade your entry-level camera gear, so this course discusses different photographic equipment, including camera bodies, lenses, teleconverters, filters, bags and accessories, as well as hot shoe flashes.

Armed with the right gear and settings, the sky's the limit when it comes to creativity, and this course covers everything from moon and star photography to painting with light and HDR imaging.

Last, but not least, you'll be introduced to every photographer's best friend: Adobe Lightroom Classic CC. It's the most powerful and user-friendly photography software out there and not only allows you to import, view and sort your photos, but also to edit them and export them for specific uses.

Content and Overview

This course is divided into five broad components: first we look at photographic equipment and what you can consider adding to your current setup; secondly we look at more advanced camera settings and especially the relationship between different settings and how they work together; thirdly we look at flash photography, focussing on hot shoe flashes, remote flash work and studio photography; next we look at a number of more advanced creative tips and techniques that will help you to take images that you've only ever dreamed of taking before; and lastly, we look at post-processing of your photos in Adobe Lightroom Classic CC.

Lectures are short and concise (usually between 3 and 10 minutes long) and consist of either video clips (where I talk to you directly), screen casts (where I show you examples, diagrams or recorded workflow in Lightroom), or a combination of the two.

THIS IS WHAT YOU WILL LEARN FROM THIS COURSE:

What camera equipment to buy next:

• Upgrading from entry-level to mid-range level gear.
• When to use teleconverters / extenders.
• Which filters to use for which conditions.
• What other small photographic accessories to keep in your camera bag.
• How to choose a new camera bag once you've upgraded your gear.

The relationship between the camera's most important settings:

• Jpeg vs RAW files (advantages and disadvantages of both).
• Choosing the right shooting mode for the right situation.
• Master aperture once and for all by looking at an Aperture Scale.
• The Exposure Triangle (how Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO work together).
• Metering mode vs Exposure compensation (which one is best?).
• Calculating depth of field (so you know exactly how much or how little is in focus).
• Stay in focus by mastering auto focus modes and focus points.
• Auto ISO (choose a lower maximum ISO).

How to use a hot shoe flash:

• How a hot shoe flash works and enables you to light your subjects up creatively and much better than your camera's pop-up flash.
• How to use a hot shoe flash remotely with the help of transmitters and transceivers.
• The basic difference between hot shoe flash photography and a studio setup.

How to become an even more Creative photographer:

• How to isolate your subject.
• How to capture movement and light with long exposures.
• How to photograph the full moon and the Milky Way.
• How to create sun stars.
• How to paint with light.
• How to overcome high contrast with the help of HDR imaging.

How valuable Lightroom Classic CC is:

• How to safely store and import your photos.
• How to view, filter and sort your photos.
• How to edit your RAW files.
• How to export your edited RAW photos for different uses.

Take a moment to view the course Promo Video, as well as those lectures that have been made available as free previews.

Keep in mind, if you're not happy with the material, there's a 30-day no-questions-asked full money back guarantee! So don't hesitate and enrol today, and take your photography to the next level!

"Villiers's presentation skills are superb and better than anything else I've attended or enrolled in before. Not only is his technical knowledge of his subject outstanding, but he is also willing to share practical advice accumulated over years."

Helgard de Preez - South Africa