We start the course off with some camera basics and terminology. This may be a review for you, or it could be new information. In this first lesson, we’ll cover: ISO: What is it? What does it control? Shutter Speed: what is it, what does it control? How to calculate how slow you can go…

In this second lesson you will learn all about various elements of composition, why it’s important, and how to use them to create more dynamic images. Some of the things you’ll learn and see examples of include: The Rule Guideline of thirds Leading lines – vertical, horizontal, diagonal and curved Color – warm, cool, analogous,…

After a quick review of White Balance and Color of Light, you will learn about severap aspects of light to help you know how to recognize “good” light, and how to use it to create better photos. Quality of Light – soft versus hard Direction of light – including how to use it to create…

Low Light & Night Photography In this, your fourth and final lesson you will learn about low light and night photography including: Equipment for night photography Camera settings Starting exposures for different night scenes – cityscapes, sparklers, neon lights, starry nights, star trails, fireworks, campfires and light painting People photography Does the thought of photographing…

In a portrait, you want to make sure you get clear focus, so there’s a few settings I recommend. In this lesson, you’ll learn some of the settings you can use on your camera to help get sharper images. We discuss drive mode, autofocus, continuous focus, auto mode and autofocus area.

There is very little you need in order to do portraits with natural light. In this lesson, we walk through the various items you absolutely must have and a few optional items.

In this lesson you’ll learn about angles. Angles of the face on your subject, otherwise known as facial view, the angle of the camera in relation to your subject and angles of your subject’s body. You’ll also see how to place your subject’s body in relation to the light for the best portrait.

A brief overview of working with flash on and off camera. Understand why you would use it as well as the pros and cons of on and off-camera flash.

In this lesson you’ll learn about basic flash mechanics. Get to know everything about your flash including TTL vs Manual mode, flash exposure compensation, adjusting your flash settings, sync speed and high speed sync mode.

In this lesson your become really familiar with your speedlight and be more comfortable with your flash. You’ll learn about the latest Canon and Nikon flashes, transmitters, modes and dials, flash exposure compensation, custom functions, zooming your flash, rear curtain sync, high speed sync, rotating your flash, flash stands and batteries.

Bruce goes through a selection of flash gear that you will either need for lighting your portraits, or would be good to have.

Now that we’ve seen the equipment needed for off-camera flash, Bruce will show you how it all gets put together for use. You’ll learn about using sync cords, infrared triggers, radio technology and why each is used. In addition, you’ll come to understand light stands, flash modifiers, how they are used and the effect each has on your portrait.

In this on location portrait shoot using natural light you’ll learn about finding the direction of light, choosing a good background that suits your needs and determining the quality of light.

For this lesson, Bruce takes the same scene Darlene used for natural light and introduces flash for a different result. See how an indoor photo shoot for a portrait is setup with multiple speedlights

Watch and learn as Bruce demonstrates a two light portrait setup for a business portrait in indoor location. You’ll see how to build your flash setup one light at a time, how to meter for multiple flashes and calculate lighting ratios as well as using a softbox and reflector.

In this lesson, Darlene demonstrates an outdoor portrait shoot using natural lighting. You’ll learn about finding quality light, how to find shade at midday, things to avoid in your backgrounds and tips for working with groups or families.

In this second part of the outdoor portrait shoot, Bruce takes over from where Darlene left off and shows us how to use off-camera flash to make up for limited natural lighting or other outdoor lighting issues.