Dedicated to learning the art of the photograph

Jay Street stop, New York City Subway. Taken with my $200 digital camera.

Photography is a dynamic and exciting exploration of the world around us. When properly taken, a photograph can be a powerful and emotional visual statement. And the best thing about photography is that it is accessible; obtaining the equipment and understanding the techniques is possible for anyone willing to put in the effort.

This is even more true now with the advent and rise in popularity of digital photography. With the elimination of the complexity and expense of darkrooms and the simplified process of printing, making a part-time job or even a career out of photography is easier than ever! Even the casual photographer's vacation, family, and special event photos can benefit greatly from a little basic instruction.

I've been a hobbyist photographer for about four years now, and it's continually one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. All the photos you see on this site are my own, taken with inexpensive, consumer-level equipment. They have won photography contests and hung in galleries. I started with (and still have) no formal training or schooling. Taking photos like these is within the reach of anyone.

This site is a collection of training courses, tips, tricks, and secrets that I've found around the internet. I'm collecting them here in one place as a resource to anyone looking to improve their skills with digital photography (and admittedly to show off my own snapshots a bit!). I hope you find these resources helpful in your efforts to master this wonderful art.

General Digital Photography

Learning the foundations
A woman in traditional Japanese costume, Sakura Festival, Brooklyn NY. Taken with my $200 digital camera

The following tutorials, courses, tips, and e-books teach the general skills you need to know to up your photography skills to ten times what they are now. You don't have to be good with cameras or technology to follow these courses. You'll find out the secrets of composition, depth of field, focus, color, that you need to know in all forms of art as well as the technical details specific to photography like how to adjust for lighting, properly use your flash, and adjust things like shutter speed and aperture to get exactly the effect you're looking for every time!

Digital Photography Mastery - this excellent course for beginners and technophobes covers all you need to get started: the benefits of going digital, basic photography, how to choose a camera, basic lighting methods used by the pros, common tools you'll want to keep on hand (and probably already own!), a camera settings clinic, and even editing and printing your photos on your own computer.

Digital Photography: A Step-by-Step Visual Guide - A unique approach to digital photography and Photoshop. The author of this book decided to take a pictures first, words second approach. This book is great for people who don't want to read a ton of text, they just want to be shown how to do it. Photography is a visual process after all, and the best way to get it across, simply and easily, is visually. The book applies this approach to all areas of digital photography, from composing and taking the shot in the first place, to manipulating the image on a computer, using either Photoshop Elements or Photoshop. The result is a completely unique guide to digital photography.

School of Photography Online - Just what it says: an online school for photography! You get to work, through the internet, with a real photography teacher on actual assignments that will improve your photography immensely from day one. They also have some great free tutorials and awesome online contests for photographers.

Digital Photography Secrets - a wonderful book by David Peterson (look him up, he's a great talent) that covers a lot of ground: 21 foundation skills everyone should have, how to find great locations for photos, unusual subjects that make excellent nighttime shots, how to get the right white balance every time, and even goes into things like basics for weddings, sporting events, and difficult lighting situations. This is a great one to have on your bookshelf.

Digital Photography Success - A great book by photographer and teacher Amy Renfrey goes into detail about the levels of light from complete dark to white, how to select the best lens for the type of photos you want to take, how to use F-stops appropriately, and how to fix the light in any photo using photo editing software in under 30 seconds. Valuable information for any starting photographer.

Advanced and Specialized Techniques

Secrets of the masters for tricky situations
Guard tower, Golan Heights, Israel. Taken with my $200 digital camera.

Once you've got the basics down, you're going to find that there are situations and setups that require special attention and different techniques. Things like beautiful portraits, landscapes, night-time, and live event photography offer a new set of challenges with even greater rewards. During my four years of reasearch I found these great resources that can help you master even the most difficult situations and come out with pictures that will dazzle everyone you show them to.

The Art of Seeing - An outstanding course on landscape photography that uses books, excercises, and videos (that you can even take with you on your iPod!) to help you learn the art of composition. Focusing on landscapes, this excellent course teaches you how to deconstruct the elements you see around you into color, focus, composition, and interest and how to create a beautiful photograph in any surroundings. The coursework includes beautiful photography examples by Erik Gunzel.

Photography Posing Secrets - Taking beautiful portraits is a goal of every photographer. Whether it's friends and family, candid subjects on the streets, or group pictures at weddings and special occasions, every photographer knows what the biggest obstacle to getting a great shot is - the subject themselves! This great course teaches the secrets of how to get a great pose from any subject, anytime, under any conditions. It tells you how to focus on the body to get better poses, how to deal with a subject that doesn't know what to do with their hands, how basic head movements can make major changes to your model's features, and the keys to duplicating or creating any pose. A great secret weapon for anyone serious about taking beautiful and stirring portraits.

Cherry blossom, Brooklyn Botannical Garden, Brooklyn NY. Taken with my $200 digital camera.

Powerful Landscape Photography - another great course by Amy Renfrey, the author of Digital Photgraphy Success. Amy shows you how to avoid "flat line" syndrome and change your landscape photos into lush, dynamic vistas with a few well-kept professional secrets. Excellent tips on how to creat beautiful silhouettes, interesting compositions, how to effectively use clouds and difficult lighting conditions to your advantage (uch, ever ruin a beautiful sunset photo and wonder how? She explains it), when and when not to zoom, and even technical tips on what lenses and filters to use if you have a pro-level camera.

Digital Portrait Photography of Teens and Seniors: Shooting and Selling Techniques for Photographers - Divided into two parts, this guide shows studio owners and photographers how to increase visibility, creativity, and financial rewards in the teen and senior portrait market. The first section is focused on technical mastery, gives tips on how to refine one's technique and remain competitive and providing advice on selecting the appropriate digital equipment and added artistic elements like indoor and outdoor sets, storytelling props, and fashionable backgrounds. The second section is devoted to successful marketing techniques that are low-cost and have a big impact, such as maintaining an Internet presence, offering special promotions, and producing direct-mail marketing pieces. Numerous marketing pieces from top studios are included as reference points.

Starting a Digital Photography Business

Making a living through your passion
Angel, Rockefeller Center, New York City. Taken with my $200 digital camera.

The great thing about photography is that is quick, easy, and natural to pick up. Once you have the basics down and are noticing improvement in your photos, you'll find yourself getting in the habit of taking more - and better - photos every day. Eventually you're bound to think to yourself: "Hey, wouldn't it be great if I could make a living like this?" The following resources will help any amateur photographer, business-minded or not, turn their hobby into a money-making endeavor.

Profitable Photography - Roy Barker creates a complete guide to the business behind being a working photographer. Instead of focusing on technique, he talks about the actual nuts and bolts of running a profitable photography business. Great tips on creating and keeping new clients, the best guerilla marketing techniques, and the art of self-promotion. This is the one that'll get that artistic head of yours out of the clouds and your entrepreneurial feet on the pavement.

How to Photograph a Wedding - A great guide that tells you how to avoid expensive mistakes, how to setup groups for poses quickly and beautifully, how to watch for those special, only-one-chance moments, how to use your clients as your own powerful, word-of-mouth marketing team, and the over 100 shots you should take at every wedding. Also includes a free flash guide with some great mixed-lighting events tips and the author makes himself very available through email.

Photography Income in Two Weeks - A quick, concise, and easy-to-follow video course on how to create your own photography business that guarantees you'll be cashing your first check in two weeks. Highly informative and easy to follow thanks to the downloadable video format, and easy to complete thanks to the program's short, 60-minute run time. Also includes a great database of photography marketing and business articles to browse through and learn some great tricks.

Easy Photography Home Business - Not the most artistic of all the possibilities presented here, but quite possibly the most practical, lucrative, and quickest way to make money through photography. This great course shows you how to start as a freelance photographer for insurance companies, banks, mortgage lending firms, realtors, and other property-related businesses. Now that most banking, business, and insurance claims are handled over the phone or the internet, the need for independently-contracted photographers just keeps growing. The site not only trains you on how to do this sort of work, but also contains a constantly-updated list of companies to contact for work. A great excuse to learn your basics while making about $200 per job.

Links

Here are some other great photography sites I've found. They're full of images for inspiration, tips and tricks, and great tutorials.

Photojojo - cute little photo projects and nice little ideas to get the creative juices flowing.

FILE Magazine - Called "a collection of unexpected photography," you'll find great examples of candid portraits and urban life.

Zazzle - Zazzle's a cool site that lets you print your photos on t-shirts, mugs, mousepads, postcards, posters and - this is so cool - postage stamps. You can also setup a shop for free and sell your products on the internet.

Photobucket - an excellent online gallery service for sharing your photos. Also allows you to print your photos through Piczo, use them on eBay auctions, and output flash galleries. Great resource!

Photo Tips Newsletter

Random foliage

I've been finding a lot of great stuff lately, and it's just too much to keep up with here on the site! That's why I've decided to create an email newsletter that will keep you updated with all the best tips, tricks, resources, books, and talented photographers I find online.

And just to give you some incentive to sign up (and build my audience; hey, it's not all selfless!), I'll send you an email with some great resources to get you started, including the top 5 online communities every digital photographer should be a member of. Just fill out the form below to join!

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