4 hour

• Four key ingredients to master in photography: camera equipment, light, composition, and editing
• Quick start guide on photography includes:

  • Five pro tips for starting your photography journey
  • Importance of painting with light as the foundation for the course
• First ingredient for mastering photography is knowing your camera gear and how to control light and paint with light
• Exploring and harnessing light: discover the four characteristics of light and how they shape subjects
• Introduction to composition and how it can elevate photography skills and images
• Pro tips on editing images, including:

  • Not needing expensive software for editing
  • Where editing should start
  • More tips to improve photos
• Camera types:

  • Compact cameras
  • SLR or DSLR cameras
  • Mirrorless cameras
  • Smartphones
• SLR stands for single lens reflex, DSLR stands for digital single lens reflex
• Mirrorless cameras are similar to DSLR/SLR but do not have a mirror inside
• Compact cameras do not offer the option to change lenses and are considered point and shoot
• Smartphones have advanced camera capabilities and are convenient for everyday use
• Medium and large format cameras are used by professionals for high-quality images
• How your camera works:

  • Light passes through the lens
  • Mirror reflects light into the viewfinder
  • Shutter restricts light until the photo is taken
  • Sensor records the light data and saves it to a media card
• Five quick tips for creating amazing photos:

  • Start in program or auto mode
  • Switch to aperture priority mode for creative control
  • Aperture priority mode allows for blurry or sharp backgrounds
  • Practice in aperture priority mode to understand effects
  • Check camera manual for setting up aperture priority mode
• When taking photos, it's recommended to take two photos of every subject:

  • Set the lens aperture to the smallest number (e.g. 4, 2.8 or smaller) for the first photo
  • Change the aperture to the largest number of your lens (e.g. 11, 16 or higher) for the second photo
• Compare the images taken with the lowest and highest aperture numbers to see the difference in the background
• Shooting in RAW format provides more details of the scene compared to JPEG
• RAW files are better than JPEG as they contain more detail and vibrant colors
• To reduce blurry images, stabilize the camera by:

  • Properly gripping the camera
  • Supporting the camera with the other hand under the body
  • Bringing elbows into the body for more stabilization
  • Holding your breath and squeezing the shutter release button when taking the photo
• Adjust the diopter setting on the camera to ensure clear focus through the viewfinder
• Have your photos reviewed by other photographers to accelerate your learning curve
• Master light and composition before investing in expensive camera gear:

  • Light and composition are essential for creating amazing images
  • Understanding how to use light and composition is more important than the camera gear
• Recommended lens for beginners is a 50mm lens over a kit lens:

  • A 50mm lens provides sharper images compared to a kit lens
• Matrix mode evaluates light in five different sections
• If one or more sections have a dominant brightness level, it will overcompensate for that, resulting in an over or underexposed image
• Matrix mode is great for lighting situations like this or on cloudy days when the light is muted
• Center-weighted metering mode restricts the light meter to the center area
• All light outside of the center area is ignored
• Camera may overcompensate for dark areas, resulting in an overexposed image
• Spot metering mode meters the exposure to a specific point, such as the face
• Camera compensates for brightness levels, resulting in underexposing the skin around two-thirds stops
• Results may vary based on how your camera is programmed
• Exposure compensation is manually adjusting the exposure when the camera doesn't give desired results
• Adjusting exposure compensation is easier than it sounds
• A stop in photography refers to doubling or halving the amount of light reaching the camera
• Exposure compensation can be adjusted by pressing a button on the camera and rotating the dial
• Each turn of the dial increases or decreases the amount of light by roughly one-third
• Positive numbers increase the light, negative numbers decrease the light
• Exposure compensation is useful when using auto modes and the image is still under or overexposed
• Adjusting exposure compensation can help correct under or overexposed images