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25 best FREE online photo courses

25 Best FREE Online Photo Courses

I started the New Year by looking for information that could be helpful to our clients and readers. One thing I always find myself interested in is learning about the art of taking photos. I went looking for topics I could learn inexpensively and came across this article that describes 25 photo courses that are…FREE!

What I like about many of them is that they are always available and quite a few are from university sources like the first one below.

Truth be known I’m not a very good photographer. I use my mobile phone for most of my shots. But in reviewing the recommended courses a few focused on things I believe can even help an amateur like me. Here they are:

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For Beginners

Introduction to Photography and Related Media: Video lectures from a semester-long undergraduate-level course at MIT. Covers the fundamentals of analog and digital SLR, film exposure and development, darkroom techniques, digital imaging, and studio lighting.
Level: Beginner | Duration: Self-paced | Always Available

Basics of Photography: The Complete Guide: A comprehensive resource for beginning photographers, compiled by the friendly folks at Lifehacker. Starts by explaining how a digital camera works and goes on to explain image composition, technique, and editing. Mostly in text format, interspersed with a few explanatory videos.
Level: Beginner | Duration: Self-paced | Always Available

Cambridge in Colour: A great site for beginners to browse tutorials and have their questions answered by a community of learners. And no, that extra “u” in “Colour” is not a typo — this is Cambridge, UK we’re talking about!
Level: Beginner | Duration: Self-paced | Always Available

Strobist: Perhaps the most popular resource for beginners to learn how to use light and their flashes, especially their Lighting 101 course that many photographers swear by.
Level: Beginner to Intermediate | Duration: Self-paced | Always Available

This next course and the ones that follow are more specific.

Pixels After Dark: Shooting the Night: An outstanding talk by three-time Olympic photographer Jeff Cable on shooting images at night.
Level: Intermediate | Duration: 1.5 hours | Always Available

The Art of Photography: This course from Australia’s RMIT University covers both the academic and practical aspects of photography. Instructor Dr. Shane Hulbert, an artist-academic whose work has been shown in Victoria’s National Gallery, covers photography as a visual art practice, explores the work of contemporary photographers, and introduces the idea of a “digital darkroom”.
Level: Beginner | Duration: 4 weeks | Next Start Date: April 28, 2014 was when it was first offered and is still shown in the listing

Documentary Photography and Photojournalism: Still Images of a World in Motion: Want to be the next Steve McCurry? This MIT course for budding photojournalists course requires some prior background in photography, e.g. knowing the difference between f stops and T stops, and being able to find one’s way around a camera.
Level: Intermediate | Duration: 4 weeks | Always Available

I think you can see from these courses I’ve listed that there is quite a bit you can learn. Let me also tell you that one of the items offers a link to Udemy to learn to set up a smugmug photo website. Well, we here at dotPhoto also offer our members a photo website that’s FREE… and we’ll help you build it. You can learn about creating your dotPhoto website here:
https://dotphoto.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/93860-what-is-mywebsite-how-can-i-change-the-photo-on-mywebsite-

You’ll have to become a member to take advantage of the website creation, but once you become a member… and it’s FREE to join… you’re welcome to compare the services and let us know what you think.

You’ll find all the recommended courses mentioned above and more at this address:
https://petapixel.com/2014/07/03/best-free-online-photography-courses-tutorials/

One more thing, at the end of the article there’s mention of a TED talk about “impossible” photography, but the link didn’t show up for me. If that happens to you here’s the link: https://www.ted.com/talks/erik_johansson_impossible_photography

A guide to capturing photo dimensions & cropping

A Guide to Photography in National Parks… Vast Dimensions and Cropping

A while back we published a number of approaches to the “where and how” of street photography. The techniques that we reviewed were interesting and useful for the type of photography usually associated with cityscapes and the places we visit in cities. Since then I’ve been wondering about the types of photos we might take in open spaces where the view is wider and deeper.

This week I searched about and came across an article that focused on taking photos in the vast domain of National Parks. The lesson presented was directed at how to capture the dimensions of the views found there, and, as opposed to capturing personality, varying light settings and changing focus, the lessons were aimed at how wide and high to make the photos and when to crop them…a seemingly much different and appropriate emphasis on what to concentrate on.

However, as I read through the article I saw that there were ways of looking at the advice that would be appropriate for any type of photography. And our writer, Rebecca Latson, got me thinking more broadly when she shared this with us, “Focus and subject are the two keys. Are you happy with the original image, or would you like to place a little more emphasis on some particular item within your image?” That spoke to just about every photo I take.

Where Ms. Latson then takes us is through two distinct methods we can employ to get the most from our shots, Landscape vs. Portrait modes as we take the photos, and the use of a cropping tool once we have them.

First let’s take a look at using Landscape vs. Portrait.

First a landscape view.

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And now the same scene in Portrait mode

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I think that both have attractive features and emphasis. How do you feel?

Next let’s take a look at the results of cropping. First without cropping.

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And now the same photo cropped.

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It looks to me as though the emphasis in the uncropped photo is on the breadth of the mountains and the lake in front while on the cropped photo the focus is on the sun topped distant hills and the clear blue sky, a different emphasis. Yet both have their appeal.

Ms. Latson offers other examples of the two styles and her suggestions and reasons for both. See for yourself.

The article can be reached through the link below.
http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2016/08/photography-national-parks-twofer-crop-or-not-crop-and-horizontal-vs-vertical

Let us know what you think.

Walter Krieg
wkrieg@dotphoto.com
http://www.dotphoto.com

Impressive and unusual photography collections

Impressive Unusual Photography Collections, and How to Create Them

Here at dotPhoto we subscribe to many regular publications, notices and updates that cover a truly wide range of photography topics. And although I personally look forward to reviewing many of these publications, I’ve become a bit skeptical of the claims they often make in their headlines. Superlatives are everywhere. You’ve probably noticed yourself how often terms like “the best”, “the finest”, “the greatest”, and of course “awesome” are used to grab your attention. It’s gotten to the point that I pay very little, if any, attention to the headlines and titles of articles. So I smiled the other day when an article I was reviewing had a link entitled “The Ultimate Photography Roundup”. Then I started reading…

I don’t know about “ultimate” but I have to admit to being very impressed with a number of the unusual collections and the tips they offered on taking these types of photos. I’m going to share five collections I genuinely enjoyed and think there’s a good chance you might enjoy at least a few of them as well.

The first type of photography to view is High Speed Photography which seems to freeze time. A few samples and the link for you to see more follow…

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You’ll find the link entitled Celebration Of High-Speed Photography in the reviewed article points to https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/11/when-time-freezes-50-beautiful-examples-of-freeze-photography/ where you’ll see beautiful examples of high-speed photography.

Next we’ll take a look at a type of photography I never before experienced, Tilt-Shift Photography. Tilt-Shift Photography is a process in which a photograph of a life-sized location or object is manipulated so that it looks like a photograph of a miniature-scale model. Here’s what it looks like and where you can see more.

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The link in our article, 50 Beautiful Examples Of Tilt-Shift Photography, takes you here. https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/11/beautiful-examples-of-tilt-shift-photography/

Next we’ll take a look at Motion Blur Photography. Motion Blur is frequently used to show a sense of speed.

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Our parent article has a link to 45 Beautiful Motion Blur Photos. It takes you here:

https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/08/45-beautiful-motion-blur-photos/

Next we take a look at photos where smoke plays a big role. Some subjects you go looking for and others you create yourself.

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See more in the link in our article entitled Smoke Photography and Smoke Art which takes you here: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/10/celebration-of-smoke-photography-and-smoke-art/

And finally another unusual type of photography covered in the main article is Macro Photography. Macro photography is the art of taking close-up pictures that reveal details which can’t be seen with the naked eye.

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I hope the quality of the photos above gives you some idea of why I was impressed with these out of the ordinary types of photos. The main article referenced here can be seen at: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/04/the-ultimate-photography-round-up/

It also points out impressive examples of Black and White Photography, Night Photography and a few others. But I thought I’d let you visit the article and explore those collections for yourself.

Let us know what you think.

Walter Krieg
wkrieg@dotphoto.com
http://www.dotphoto.com

The holiday season – photograph christmas lights

Capture the Holiday Season – Photograph Christmas Lights

If you’re anything like us here at dotPhoto you and your family members always take lots and lots of holiday photos. Most of the time our homes and families are the subjects and many of these photos are of the Christmas tree, opening presents and gathering around the dinner table. We wind up with many pictures that help us remember the gathering and the time we all shared.

In the few weeks before the family gathering we like to ride around town and look at all the decorations that folks put up. While we’re riding we stop to snap a few shots and then head home to sit around the table and look at them. We usually just take a leisurely ride and snap the photos without much thought. Some of the decorations we see are well done and could make great subjects for carefully taken photos. So this year I decided to get a little more particular and try to take photos that really capture the beauty and good feelings that these decorations give us. But before starting I decided to look into how expert photographers snap their outdoor holiday photos to get a few hints on techniques.

Here are three articles I discovered that focus on taking photos of holiday lighting decorations and these are what I mostly take photos of. I think these suggestions will definitely help me do much better this year…if I take my time preparing and shooting the photos.

Interestingly, the recommendations suggest taking some photos when there is still a bit of daylight. I hadn’t thought of that. The articles are all good and are presented here in the order I found them.

The first article by Noella Ballenger is entitled “Christmas Lights Photography – How To Capture The Season” and can be seen at http://www.apogeephoto.com/photographing-christmas-lights/. Noella offers some advice, on white balance, camera modes, shutter speeds and more. Here are two of her photos.

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Our next article is entitled “How to Photograph Christmas Lights” and is written by the community at wikiHow. Here are two of their examples. They also offer eight suggestions for ways to take good Christmas light photos. See the article here, http://www.wikihow.com/Photograph-Christmas-Lights.

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Our third article is entitled, “How to Take Great Photos of Holiday Lights”, and was created by the staff at the New York Institute of Photography. This article also offers good and easy to follow advice for snapping our holiday photos. Here are four things for us to consider:
• Turn off your flash unless you have a very good reason to use it.
• Use a fast ISO — we suggest ISO 800, 1600 or above.
• Avoid camera shake.
• Use a tripod…or, at least, brace the camera. Trust your camera’s built-in meter.

And now for two of their photos.

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If we do a good job taking the photos we’ll upload them and print the best pictures on cards and other products and pass them around to family members and friends. They’ll like that.

Let us know what you think.

Walter Krieg
wkrieg@dotphoto.com
http://www.dotphoto.com

A visual history of thanksgiving

A Visual Take on The Feast of Thanksgiving

Since the invention of the camera photos of people and art focused on Thanksgiving has allowed us to trace much of what our society holds dear for this feast of thanks. Honestly, these photos and photos like them allow us to know the varieties of ways that the holiday was and is viewed.

Let’s start by looking at photos from 1910 – 1915. Many are available from the Library of Congress, but this article we refer to here shows a truly representative set of photos that give a feel for the Thanksgiving celebration of that era. Take a look at a few and then head over to the article to see more.

Be ready because “Elaborate costumes and masks were commonplace, some rode horses or bicycles, throwing confetti and flour on pedestrians was “an allowable pastime,” and masquerade balls would take place across the country.”

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You can see more of this old time tradition here: http://petapixel.com/2014/11/26/old-photos-reveal-odd-thanksgiving-traditions-100-years-ago/

Our next look at Thanksgiving traditions takes us to the beginnings of one that continues today. From our linked article, “The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade started in 1924, though then it was called the Christmas Parade. In its earliest years, entertainment came in the form of animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo. The first float, Felix the Cat, appeared three years later in 1927.”

Here are two photos from 1938

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See more of the Macy’s Parade tradition here: https://www.wired.com/2013/11/the-macys-thanksgiving-parade-was-way-cooler-in-black-and-white/. Yes, the photos are in black and white.

Another look at the history of the Thanksgiving Feast comes from the covers of the Saturday Evening Post. The Post long ago began to place Thanksgiving themes on their cover.

Here are two from 1907 and 1913.

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You can see more of these classic Saturday Evening Post covers here: http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2015/11/18/art-entertainment/turkey-time.html

And one last photo to remind us of much of what Thanksgiving means. A photo of Norman Rockwell’s famous 1942 painting, Freedom from Want.

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Let us know what you think.

Walter Krieg
wkrieg@dotphoto.com
http://www.dotphoto.com

A complete iPhone 7 plus camera review

An In Depth Look at the iPhone 7 Plus Cameras

The iPhone 7 Plus has been available since September 7th and we’ve been on the lookout for a complete top to bottom review of the cameras that takes us through all its features and capabilities. Today we received a review from dpreview.com that we believe is what we’ve been looking for. Here are the features, functions, abilities, etc. that this series of articles reports on.

To tickle your interest and get you started here are a few of the comments and examples you will see.

In the Introduction: “Judging by design, screen size and resolution, the new iPhone 7 Plus is nothing new. While its major specs are nearly identical to the iPhone 6s Plus, it’s in the camera department where a lot of innovation has happened.” And “There are a lot of new camera features to explore on the new iPhone 7 Plus and we have done exactly that. Read our full review to see…”

Here’s the phone and here we go starting with a shot from the Introduction!

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From the Design and Hardware article comes this, “Without a doubt, the most exciting new component on the iPhone 7 Plus is its dual-camera.”

And from Camera Operation we are told, “As in the past, the iPhone camera is very much focused on ease of use and does a very good job at that” and “The iPhone 7 Plus comes with the same physical control layout as previous iPhone generations”. A new portrait mode has been added but here’s a landscape view.

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The Features section points out that “the stock camera app comes with a good range of built-in features”. Examples offered are Panorama, HDR Mode and Zoom.

Here’s a look at three of the Zoom results.

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Fairly impressive I think.

So you wouldn’t be left wondering, here’s a sample of the new Portrait Mode.

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From the Image Quality and Performance section, “the iPhone wide-angle camera delivers a very good performance in bright light.” And an example…

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More sample photos and a thorough set of feature descriptions are presented. A complete write-up comes at the end. Be aware, they pull no punches. According to this review there are pros and cons to the iPhone 7 Plus.

That said, from my point of view one of the final evaluations was important, “Its unique selling point is its dual-camera with a 56mm ‘tele-lens.’ It allows for the best zooming of all current smartphones, offers an alternative angle of view to the wide-angle and works well in Apple’s new portrait mode.” I think you’ll find this series as complete and well put together a review as there’s been. Decide for yourself what’s important as you read the article.

Here’s another link to the Introduction to get you started:

https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/iphone-7-plus-camera

I hope you find it informative and interesting, and, as always…
Let us know what you think.

Walter Krieg
wkrieg@dotphoto.com
http://www.dotphoto.com

Two great and very different photographers

Two Great and Completely Different Photographers

Photography can be directed at many subjects; family, friends, events, travel, outdoors, and much more. Here we’ll take a look at two widely different views of photography. Our first photographer, Gordon Parks, was orphaned at 14 and after many difficult directions began his career as a photographer dedicated to portraying people. His 1943 photographic study of the lives of the people of Harlem, New York began his photography career. Mr. Parks later went on to work of Life magazine and the film industry. One of the movies he created was “Shaft” in 1971.

To give you a feel for his work here are two of Mr. Parks early Harlem photos.

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See more about Gordon Parks here: http://firsttoknow.com/1943-harlem-photographer-gordon-parks/

Our second photographer has often concentrated in an entirely different realm of photography, the photography of large places and their historical context. His name is Thomas Struth and he is from Germany. Mr. Struth started out as a painter which may account for an interest he has in large museum spaces and family portraits, while his interest in grand places and spaces has caught the attention of photography enthusiasts the world over.

Here are a few of Mr. Struth’s photos. As you can see they concentrate on entirely different subjects and point out our human experiences in an entirely different way than Mr. Parks.

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You can view more of Thomas Struth’s works and career in these articles:

https://theculturetrip.com/europe/germany/articles/thomas-struth-10-things-you-should-know/ and

http://www.npr.org/2016/10/31/499443750/photography-writ-large-the-monumental-art-of-thomas-struth

As you see above two people have taken entirely different approaches to photography that stem from their early lives and interests. If we stop to think about it we could also have our own unique life view that we could display with our photography.

Let us know what you think.

Walter Krieg
wkrieg@dotphoto.com
http://www.dotphoto.com

creating different styles of street photography

A guide to creating different styles of street photography

In the past most of my exposure to street photography has seen it associated with visiting big city scenes and snapping photos that catch folks walking about. Lately I’ve been looking into it more deeply and it turns out there are quite a few different places to take photos in what’s known as street photography and there are many interesting techniques that create different types of attractive photos. I’ll offer you five (5) different approaches to street photography that can help to open your eyes to what experts have made available to us.

The first view we’ll look at is straight from my preconceived notion of street photography with some well done photos that reinforce the genre. The photo you see here is my favorite from the article. It’s from this article: http://slrcamera.org/street-photography-tips-techniques-in-new-york-city/

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Now we move along to a variety of places and subjects that go to other “street” locations. Here’s a photo from an article that offers photos and lessons the author learned and is passing along to us about street photography, specifically “10 Valuable Lessons ”. https://www.slrlounge.com/10-valuable-lessons-ive-learned-street-photography/

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A few more lessons for beginners at Street Photography are worth seeing in this article from which the next picture is taken: http://erickimphotography.com/blog/the-ultimate-beginners-guide-for-street-photography/

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Next we’ll take a look at photos that are more closely attached to my original thoughts but in mostly black and white. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/content/street-life-tips-successful-street-photography

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And more from an article that pushes us away from what are normally thought to be street photos:
Dynamic Street Photography

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And our last review really expands the definition of Street Photography: Indoor Street Photography – The Museum

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As you can see Street Photography explores locations that are more diverse than my original interpretation of “street”, and with a wide array of methods and techniques.

Let us know what you think.

Walter Krieg
wkrieg@dotphoto.com
http://www.dotphoto.com