Online Photography Course
Digital Slide Shows

What You Get

Top

	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.
Learn at your pace, with structure. Be guided by a real pro instructor. Get your photos critiqued every week. Join students from around the world. Go far beyond any book or DVD. Make great pictures, again and again!

Instructor

Top

Jon Canfield
Jon Canfield is a landscape and nature photographer living in the Pacific Northwest. He writes for several photography magazines, including PC Photo, Digital Photo Pro, and Shutterbug.

His "Output Options" column in Shutterbug has been a popular resource for thousands of people with questions on digital output and he is a consultant on digital printing for Canon, HP, and Pantone.

Jon is the co-author of Photo Finish: The Digital Photographer's Guide to Printing, Showing, and Selling Images, and the author of RAW 101: Better Images with Photoshop Elements and Photoshop; The Digital SLR Guide; and Print Like a Pro.

Listen to the fascinating BetterPhoto Radio Interview with Jon!

A Couple of Photos by the Instructor

© Jon Canfield

© Jon Canfield

Course Outline

Top

Lesson #1: Introduction to Digital Presentations
Assignment: Download and install ProShow Gold from the Photodex site. Use the free evaluation version if you like - it has the same features as the full product but works for 30 days. After getting ProShow Gold installed, I'd like you to decide what you want to use as the theme for your first show. Possibilities include graduations, weddings, vacation, wildlife, landscape. Once you've decided on your theme, upload 3 to 5 photos to represent your theme for review (you should have received directions in a separate email - let me know if you need help).

Lesson #2: Selecting and Editing Images for Your Show
Assignment: For lesson 2, please select all the images you plan to keep in your show. On average, I would expect each show to have 20 to 50 images. If you don't feel that you can put together this many images for the assignment, don't worry, just select what you can and use those. Save this show, and upload if possible to the Photodex sharing site for review. (Follow directions in the lesson.) Now, upload a representative image with your show name and Photodex user name to the Campus Square

Lesson #3: Transitions, Timing, Music 
Assignment:  I want you to take the slides you selected last week and put together a rough show with transitions and music. Feel free to experiment with different slide transitions, but try to keep my guidelines in mind about the number of changes in your show. I'd also like you to plan the music you'll be using in your final show as well as any sounds that you'll be using (if any). This is the time to experiment with timings for slides and transitions, as well as motion effects, so I expect to see a variety.

Lesson #4: Putting It All Together
Assignment: For your final assignment, I want you to post your finished show on the Photodex sharing site. This show should contain all of your final images, music, and transitions, as well as any title or credit slides you'll be using. Feel free to use any of the tips in this lesson, but they are completely optional.

© Jon Canfield

© Jon Canfield

Requirements

Top

Must have - or take - digital images for use in presentations. Photos can be from a digital camera, or scanned from film. Lessons are based on ProShow Gold from Photodex - a 20-percent discount is available through course, or use a trial version. (Note: Instructor can review presentations made on the Macintosh platform. For Macintosh, LiveShow is the recommended application. Please advice instructor if you will be using a Macintosh.) A hardware calibration system or digital projector are not required.

FAQ

Top

Yes. Whether you shoot landscapes or weddings - or anything in between - the concepts taught in this course will apply.  

You will need to have or take digital images for use in the presentations. Scanning is fine for film users. The course lessons are based on ProShow Gold from Photodex. A discounted version is available through the course, or you can use a trial version.  

Not at all. I recommend them for anyone that wants accurate control over their color, but it is not a requirement to complete the course. 

Nope! Everything you learn will apply to slide shows viewed on your computer or television. For TV use, you'll need a CD or DVD burner. 

Although I use Proshow and a Windows computer for the examples, I recommend LiveShow for Macintosh users. Most of the concepts apply to any presentation software and I can answer specific questions and review presentations regardless of your platform. 

 

© Jon Canfield

No, you do not need to be online at any specific time. The lessons are sent to your email and you are also provided the Campus Square - where you interact with your classmates and instructor. This is also where you upload your photos to be critiqued by your instructor. The instructors are very punctual and respond quickly.

Absolutely! Students can ask questions in the special Q&A forum set up in the course's Campus Square, or can ask the instructor via email.

Yes. We are confident that you will fully enjoy our courses. All the same, for our 8-week classes, we offer a 100% money-back guarantee before the Wednesday that Lesson #3 is sent out. If for any reason, you are not satisfied and let us know that you would like to withdraw before the Wednesday that Lesson #3 is sent, you will be promptly refunded.

For our 4-week courses, we offer a 100% money back guarantee before the Wednesday that Lesson #2 is sent out from BetterPhoto. If for any reason you are not satisfied and you let the ordering department know that you would like to withdraw before the Wednesday that Lesson #2 is sent, you will be refunded within 7 days. After the second lesson has been sent out, no refunds will be given.


If you have further questions about this course, feel free to contact us via the Contact link below.

              What does it mean to "Get Started Today"?