LEVEL 1 - Basic Exposure

STEP 1: Watch Lesson #1 STEP 2: Watch Lesson #2

In this level you will use your SLR camera’s manual settings to achieve an accurate exposure. It is highly recommended that you take photographs for the assignment under very bright light in order to avoid unintentional blur from camera shake with slow shutter speeds and so that you are not limited in the range of apertures and shutter speeds available to you. Don’t worry we’ll learn more about shutter speeds later for now you are just trying to take a picture that isn’t too dark and isn’t too light.

Don’t forget to focus. Sometimes it is easy to spend so much attention on setting your exposure that you forget to focus. Dial in your exposure, focus, shoot. Again dial in your exposure, focus, shoot. One more time, say it with me, dial in your exposure, focus, shoot.

STEP 3: Complete Assignment #1

LEVEL 2 - Mastering Exposure

STEP 1: Watch Lesson #3 STEP 2: Watch Lesson #4 STEP 3: Watch Lesson #5

In most scenes auto exposure works pretty darn good. However, there are other times and places where auto exposure will completely and utterly fail you. In these cases, it is good to know how to adjust your exposure to compensate for these more challenging situations.

Additionally, one of the of the biggest hesitations new photographers have is moving in just a little bit closer to the subject when taking pictures. This hesitation often results in images that include a lot of distracting background elements that draw your attention away from the primary subject being photographed. For this level the challenge will be to fill the entire frame with your subject. Be creative in how you do this. It doesn’t have to fit the frame exactly. You may choose to move in ridiculously close so that a lot of your subject has been cropped out leaving you with the most visually interesting parts of your subject.

STEP 4: Complete Assignment #2

LEVEL 3 - Mastering Depth of Field

STEP 1: Watch Lesson #6 STEP 2: Watch Lesson #7

Depth of Field: The definition of depth of field is the region of what appears to be in acceptably sharp focus in front and behind the point of critical focus in a photograph. The extremes of depth of field are known as minimum, shallow, or narrow (where only the point of critical focus is sharp and everything else is blurry) and maximum, large, or extended (where everything appears to be sharp). In this level, you will learn how to control both extremes and discover what depth of field looks like at different aperture settings. Also REMEMBER THAT IF THE SHUTTER SPEED DROPS BELOW THE MINIMUM HANDHELD SHUTTER SPEED PUT YOUR CAMERA ON A TRIPOD!

STEP 3: Complete Assignment #3

LEVEL 4 - Mastering Shutter Speeds

STEP 1: Watch Lesson #8

Shutter Control: The speed of your shutter in relation to speed your subject is moving is the primary factor to controlling the amount of motion blur in your final photograph. Generally speaking, a faster shutter speed will freeze motion and a slower shutter speed will blur motion. In this assignment, you will explore both ends of the spectrum, both freezing and blurring action. Be sure to photograph subjects under several different lighting conditions, the brightness of the light will impact your ability to freeze and blur motion. Also REMEMBER THAT IF THE SHUTTER SPEED DROPS BELOW THE MINIMUM HANDHELD SHUTTER SPEED PUT YOUR CAMERA ON A TRIPOD!

STEP 2: Complete Assignment #4

LEVEL 5 - Mastering Composition

STEP 1: Watch Lesson #9

The arrangement of objects/subjects in your photograph can dramatically impact whether your viewer is drawn into your image and stays in your image, or whether that image ends up boring and distracting your viewer so that they lose interest quickly. In this level we’ll explore the different principles of composition and how they impact your final image. I’m going to push your creativity and problem solving skills a bit by setting some limitations with this assignment, do the best you can and see what you can come up with.

STEP 2: Complete Assignment #5 Image Analyzer Composition Checklist Composition Checklist with Examples

LEVEL 6 - Mastering Light

STEP 1: Watch Lesson #9

As you think about what you’ve learned in this level regarding light quality, direction, and color try think about the emotional impact of light and then photograph your subject with the intent to set a pre-visualized mood or invoke a feeling using different light principles discussed in this lesson. Try and visualize the effect of the light on the subject before you shoot and then make that vision a reality.

STEP 2: Complete Assignment #6 STEP 3: Watch the Final Challenge

Course Resources

Download these resources that are mentioned and used throughout the course.

Exposure Log Full-Stop Numbers & How they Affect Exposure