Start Your Photography Journey
Are you new to photography?
We’ve created guides on many of the basic concepts you need to understand to master your camera. Many include videos from the Photography Masterclass, which you can watch for free in each of the lessons below.
You can take them in order (recommended for brand new photographers) or jump to a lesson you need help with. Enjoy!
- Lesson 1: How does a camera work?
- Lesson 2: What is exposure?
- Lesson 3: What is aperture?
- Lesson 4: What is shutter speed?
- Lesson 5: What is ISO?
- Lesson 6: What is the exposure triangle?
- Lesson 7: How to expose with your camera’s light meter?
- Lesson 8: Understanding exposure / metering modes
- Lesson 9: What is exposure compensation?
- Lesson 10: Understanding automatic camera exposure modes
- Lesson 11: What is dynamic range?
- Lesson 12: What is HDR photography?
- Lesson 13: How to read exposure with a histogram
- Lesson 14: What is an exposure stop?
- Lesson 15: What is composition?
- Lesson 16: What is the rule of thirds?
- Lesson 17: What is the golden ratio?
- Lesson 18: Using negative space in your composition
- Lesson 19: Using leading lines in your composition
- Lesson 20: Using balance and symmetry in your composition
- Lesson 21: Using perspective & angle in your composition
- Lesson 22: Choosing the right background
- Lesson 23: Using shapes in your composition
- Lesson 24: Create depth with layering
- Lesson 25: What is depth of field?
- Lesson 26: How to get a blurry background (more bokeh)
- Lesson 27: Manual vs. auto focus
- Lesson 28: Understanding autofocus modes
- Lesson 29: Tips for shooting fast subjects
- Lesson 30: How to take sharp photos
- Lesson 31: Low light photography tips
- Lesson 32: Focusing in low light
- Lesson 33: What is bokeh?
- Lesson 34: Back button focus tutorial
- Lesson 35: The diopter: viewfinder focus
- Lesson 36: Understanding the main features of most cameras
- Lesson 37: Understanding camera scene modes
- Lesson 38: File types: RAW vs JPEG
- Lesson 39: Understanding your camera’s sensor
- Lesson 40: Understanding photo resolution
- Lesson 41: DSLR vs mirrorless cameras
- Lesson 42: What is crop factor?
- Lesson 43: What is white balance?
- Lesson 44: What is the kelvin temperature scale?
- Lesson 45: White balance modes & auto white balance
- Lesson 46: Understanding picture profiles and in-camera color presets
- Lesson 47: How to set custom white balance
- Lesson 48: Continuous / burst modes
- What’s next?