Digital Photography Training

Cape Breton Highlands National Park, Nova Scotia, Canada

Do you want to rise up and out of the digital photography fog? Are you frustrated that you don’t fully understand your digital camera or its manual? Would you like to take better photo images? Do you want to learn how to use Adobe Photoshop Elements? Do you want to understand photographic terms such as f-stop and ISO and know why they are important? Do you need help in mastering one certain skill, such as proper exposure? Are you tired of trying to learn on your own or through specialized classes taught here and there? If so, read on. 

The evolution of digital photography in the past decade has been astonishing. When digital SLR (single lens reflex) cameras were first introduced, they were extremely expensive and used almost exclusively by professionals. But the consumer market blossomed with Canon’s introduction of the first digital Rebel in 2003 and Nikon’s release of the D70 model in early 2004. Suddenly, digital SLRs were affordable for most photography enthusiasts. Fast-forward to today, and most households have at least one digital point-and-shoot or SLR camera. 

With the explosion of availability and complexity of equipment, it is no wonder that I hear frequent complaints. Folks confess to me that they don’t fully understand how to use their digital camera or processing software. And they don't know where to turn for help. When I converted to digital in 2005, I experienced my own frustrations. I had a good background with film SRLs, but I was a complete novice when it came to digital processing. At first, I let Jim process my images. In 2008, I started doing my own processing using Adobe Photoshop Elements. My training plan consisted of trial-and-error, free tutorials on the web, some books, and a magazine subscription. When we upgraded to Photoshop CS5 in late 2009, we knew the continuation of that strategy would not be satisfactory. 

Thank goodness we found a great web site for training! It’s called lynda.com. It provides video training for a wide variety of software applications. It has 171 courses on the subject of photography, including photographic techniques. Videos tutorials are available 24/7 and taught by seasoned professionals. The training is also affordable, with monthly access at $25/month for basic subscribers and no long-term commitment. Sample video tutorials are available for every course, so you can get an idea of the subject matter addressed and judge the clarity of the instructor. 

Here are a few of the courses that may be of interest to you: 

• Digital Photography Principles (5+ hours) 
• Digital Photography Principles: The Camera (3+ hours) 
• Foundations of Photography: Exposure (3+ hours) 
• Foundations of Photography: Composition (5+ hours) 
• Foundations of Photography: Black and White (3+ hours) 
• Foundations of Photography: Night and Low Light Photography (4 hours) 
• Foundations of Photography: Lenses (2+ hours) 
• Up and Running with Photoshop Elements (2+ hours) 
• Photoshop Elements 10 Essential Training (11+ hours) 

I can confidently recommend lynda.com training because we’ve used it and it has helped us tremendously. In fact, we just started up a new subscription so that we can learn all the features in our new Adobe Photoshop CS6 program and get a general refresher of image processing techniques. I invite you to check out the web site and see for yourself whether it can assist you too. 

Special Note: I am not an affiliate of lynda.com, and I receive no compensation from the company.