Good resource/classes to learn photography

[Dioni A]

I'm tired of taking crappy pictures. I've read a couple books but I need something more involved.
I purchased a Sony a6000 last year from camera land and love it but I know I'm not doing this thing justice.
Are there any online courses or really well explaind books that do a good job of explaining everything. I'd even be willing to take an in person class at this point.
If there was anything on digiscoping that would be a huge bonus also.

 

[WolfpackNOgun]

interested as well

 

[CrzyTrekker]

That's a good camera. It's important to learn the fundamentals first including aperture, ISO, and shutter speed. Those three fundamentals are more or less the same on every camera, and once you understand how those three things work together, you can shoot most cameras well.

Check out some "how to" books from the library. This is free. I like e-books.

National Geographic has a number of quick "how to" articles online. How to shoot the milky way, how to shoot portraits, etc.

Numerous photography blogs specializing in adventure photography, expedition photography, backcountry, etc. These sites often offer technical tips. Plus, you can get good ideas by looking at good photos. Jimmy Chin is a serious adventurer and has a lot of content on the web.

Look at Flickr and study photos taken with your camera & lens model. This will give you ideas.

But learn aperture, ISO and shutter speed and how they interrelate.

 

[CrzyTrekker]

Forgive me, but I thought of a couple more things:

Study up on the "rules" of artistic composition like the rule of thirds, etc. This will help you compose pictures in your mind. Then once you get good at them, break them!

To really improve your skill set you have to take 10,000 photos. Challenge yourself to one challenge at a time. For example, go out to a busy street and night and challenge yourself to take one good "panning" shot of a car driving by. There are many online articles about how to do this. Then, challenge yourself to get one good shot of the milky way at night. There are many online articles about how to do this. This will force you to spend hours outside shooting in the cold. Then, challenge yourself to take one good picture with good "bokeh" in the background. There are many articles about how to do this. Etc., etc.

You shouldn't have to spend any money to become a good photographer.

If you go through all the articles on the Nat Geo website, for example, you will have run yourself through many challenges and you'll have a much larger repertoire of skills.

 

[wesfromky]

Within the frame - https://www.amazon.com/Within-Frame-Journey-Photographic-Vision/dp/0321605020

https://www.creativelive.com/photography

Lots of other stuff out there with a google search.

 

[Akwoodchuck]

Everything CrzyTrekker said is pretty spot on, I will add: good photos are all about good light! Learn to read the light for your particular application, and you will be successful. Soft overcast light for macro/ wildflowers, sunset/ sunrise for landscapes, low angled light on your 6 for wildlife, birds, etc etc.....

......personally I caught a break when my dad offered to buy me a new camera for my birthday one year. Course I wanted every bell whistle and doodah, he said, "nope, you're getting an all manual Nikon FM, and you're gonna learn how to use it...".....so I did.

..took classes from a couple who did large-format fine art photography a la Ansel Adams....learned the basics and how to develop film and print in the darkroom...can't recommend this type of experience enough.

....and I read LOTS of Galen Rowell....

 

[sneaky]

The guy's name escapes me at the moment, but there's a guy who does an online tutorial video series for most of the higher end cameras on the market. Everyone says he is an excellent resource, I'll have to see if I can find his info for you. Goes through each button and its setting, the features, and how to make it all work together.

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[Dos XX]

" Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson. You can get it on Amazon.

It covers shutter speed, aperture, ISO, which are the three fundamentals. He has exercises for each, so you actually see what they do on a photograph you took.

He also goes into composition, rule of thirds, etc.

 

[sneaky]

Tomsguide.com, Gary Fong on YouTube, Udemy has online video courses on the a6000.

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[jspradley]

Tony Northrup's "Stunning Digital Photography" is excellent as well.

 

[BuckSnort]

https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Photography-Best-Picture-Everytime/dp/0831765070

This one was great for me..

 

[Skyhigh]

Youtube also has some great resources. I can't recall all of the videos I have watched, but there is a ton out there. While not directly photography related, Steven Drake, who is a photographer associated with a lot of Sitka Gear's media, has a pretty informative blog about photography and video editing. Not every episode is photography related, but many have tips and tricks that he uses.

 

[bigmoose]

I will second Tony Northrup's book. Lots of information and many hours of video tips on YouTube

https://www.amazon.com/How-Create-S...DSLR+book&qid=1549997168&s=books&sr=1-2-fkmr1

 

[Smithblacktail]

Thanks for the info!

 

[Beau]

I've watched quite a few of Tony Northrup's videos on YouTube (mainly the drone related ones). Here's his main channel. (<--

I found it helpful to get some visual examples, but of course, I'm partial to learning via video. I've heard awesome things about his books though, as evidenced above, and I may have to pick some up now.

 

[ATX_Tyler]

YouTube has been my best friend when it comes to learning new techniques. If you like landscapes, there is a guy named Thomas Heaton that has some great work and is pretty helpful at explaining settings and things like that. There is another channel from a guy named Steve Matheis (might have spelled that wrong) but he mainly takes photos of wildlife in Grand Teton and shows all his camera settings on his shots.

 

[skyler_2010]

Aarons kifarucast three podcast series helped me out a lot to learn the basics.

 

[boco7]

Helpful info...much appreciated


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[stephenk22]

For other random photography information, I also really have enjoyed Digital Revtv https://www.youtube.com/user/DigitalRevCom they unfortunately dont make videos anymore, but some good tips.

Also, Aaron Nace's Phlearn is amazing https://www.youtube.com/user/PhlearnLLC tons of good free info.

 

[Clinch]

Fototripper on YouTube. If nothing else, the guy is a kick.


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