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Online Photography Course
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| Benefits: You get direct feedback on your photos from world-acclaimed, professional photographers. You can learn photography in this way from anywhere in the world. |
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Rob SheppardHe also writes a column in Outdoor Photographer called Digital Horizons and teaches around the country, including workshops for the Palm Beach Photographic Centre, Santa Fe Workshops, and the Great American Photography Workshop group. His Web site for workshops, books and photo tips is at www.robshepppardphoto.com and his blog on digital photography is at www.photodigitary.com.
As a photographer, Rob worked for many years in Minnesota (before moving to Los Angeles), including doing work for the Minnesota Department of Transportation, Norwest Banks (now Wells Fargo), Pillsbury, 3M, General Mills, Lutheran Brotherhood, Ciba-Geigy, Anderson Windows, and others. His photography has been published in many magazines, ranging from National Geographic to The Farmer to, of course, Outdoor Photographer and PCPhoto.
He and his wife, Vicky (married 27+ years), live in the Los Angeles area. They have a son working on his Ph.D. in youth fitness and education and a daughter in college studying biology.
 © Rob Sheppard |  © Rob Sheppard |
Lesson 1: Interesting Light
What is "interesting light" and how do you get it? Learn to recognize and use light in dramatic ways. How to use both light and shadow effectively.
Assignment: Experiment and find interesting light that grabs the viewer's attention. Shoot lots of pictures, and upload the selects that show backlight and spotlight.
Lesson 2: Color
Color is treated rather matter-of-fact in most photography. How can you go beyond the fact of color so that color is used with impact? This is not about manipulation or changing colors, but using color more effectively.
Assignment: See color in new ways, not just what the world looks like, but for adding impact to an image. Following tips and examples in the lesson, submit images of color used for impact.
Lesson 3: Lens Choice
Wide-angle or telephoto is only part of the story of how to use focal lengths. Discover how extreme focal lengths can add interest to a photo, and that extreme uses of other focal lengths are important, too.
Assignment: Try working pairs at the extremes of your focal lengths. Also, play with perspective while also trying a paired shooting approach with Depth of Field.
Lesson 4: Angle of View
It has been said that photographers are the only people to constantly see the world from eye-level and at a middle distance. Discover the excitement of new angles to the subject.
Assignment: Let's start with images that feature low-angle (i.e., really "get down" with your subject) and high-angle (something well above normal eye-level) perspectives.
Lesson 5: Use of Technique
Many special techniques are available in photography that can be either silly add-ons to an image or a dramatic way of getting attention for your image. Learn the difference and how to use technique in this way.
Assignment: Look for ways that you can boost the impact of your photo strictly through photographic technique. As described in the text and photo examples, these techniques include high-speed shutter, blurs, flash-blur, etc.
Lesson 6: Timing
Often the difference between a casual photo and one filled with drama is in the timing. Timing your shot is not just for action and sports photographers. Timing can make all the difference for any type of photography.
Assignment: Look for ways to "time" your shot to capture a special, impactful moment. As noted in the lesson, these techniques include high action, the timing of a gesture, etc.
Lesson 7: Compositional Relationships
Effective compositions aren't hard if you pay attention to a few guidelines, such as the rule of thirds. But when you break the rules and look for strong relationships in your composition, you can gain new impact for your images.
Assignment: Play with composition. Look for ways to compose your subject so that it strongly relates in some way to the rest of the image area. Examples: "anti-rule-of-thirds" photos; very deliberate compositions; get edgy!
Lesson 8: The Accessible Image
If you do all the things in the earlier lesson, you can create an image with impact, but one that has little lasting impression with the viewer. Photographs need to be understandable and accessible so that viewers will appreciate your efforts to give them a more interesting image.
Assignment: Explore the idea of working the subject. With the same subject, find different ways of seeing that subject within a short period of time. This is not about shooting one subject at different times of day (which is an interesting exercise, but not for this lesson).
 © Rob Sheppard |  © Rob Sheppard |
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 © Rob Sheppard |  © Rob Sheppard |
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