Online Photography Course
Creative Close-ups

Overview
What You Get
Instructor
Course Outline
Requirements
FAQ

Your Instructor

Kerry Drager

Have a pro at your side - online, all the time

Join 's Course: 4-Week Short Course: Creative Close-ups

Find out how close-at-hand subjects can result in larger-than-life images - whether you're shooting in spring, summer, autumn, or winter. Detail photos provide the accent that can set a mood, reveal pattern, line, and shape, and add visual variety to your collection of photographs. As instructor and author Kerry Drager will show you, the more intimate view can often reveal more about a subject than the broader scene! This class will show you how to use either everyday camera gear or specialized macro equipment to capture great close-up (and sometimes abstract) images of everything from butterflies to poppies to water droplets and more.

Key Features

Developing an Eye for Details
Compositional Choices
Natural Light: Mastering It and Fixing It
Going to the Extremes - Close-ups and Macro

Perfect for serious hobbyists through intermediates.
Covers creative and technical aspects that apply to the following: 1) tight close-ups with regular lenses, and 2) extreme close-ups with a macro lens or macro accessory.
Expand your vision to include details of nature, architecture, etc.
Covers a key issue in photographing close-ups: critical focusing.
Learn to handle the inherently narrow Depth of Field in close-up and macro photography.

What You Get

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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.

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

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Kerry Drager

The content manager and an instructor for BetterPhoto.com, Kerry Drager is also the author of Scenic Photography 101. In addition, he teaches two online photography courses at BetterPhoto: Creative Light & Composition and Creative Close-ups.

Kerry's Pro BetterPholio Web site offers an assortment of galleries and illustrated how-to articles on photography. In addition, kerrydrager.com was featured in Shutterbug magazine.

His work has appeared in Outdoor Photographer and other major magazines; Hallmark cards and Sierra Club Calendars; and in advertising campaigns for American Express and Sinar Bron Imaging. He is also the photographer of the photo-essay books The Golden Dream: California from Gold Rush to Statehood and California Desert, and is a contributing photographer for the books Daybreak 2000 and Portrait of California.

He lives with his wife, Mary, in the country near Sacramento, California, with their six Newfoundland dogs, a Himalayan cat, a Bengal cat, a Siamese cat, three mixed-breed cats, two horses, and a mixed terrier.

A Couple of Photos by the Instructor

Course Outline

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Week 1: Developing an Eye for Details
Introduction: Why a photogenic part sometimes is stronger than the whole. How to find eye-catching subjects. The art and technique of exploring and experimenting. Sidebar #1: Tripods and other camera supports. Sidebar #2: Macro equipment: A rundown (again, macro gear is optional in this course).
Assignment: Isolate the small view within the big scene - close-up or macro.

Week 2: Compositional Choices
Lens focal length options - moving physically closer vs. zooming in tighter. Zeroing in as tight as possible with standard lenses or with macro equipment. Positioning the subject. Simplifying a scene (by eliminating distracting elements). Sidebar: Depth of Field.
Assignment: Shoot the same subject with different compositions (close-up or macro).

Week 3: Light: Mastering It and Fixing It
How light can impact a photo: late/early day for warm light and striking shadows for small scenes; soft overcast light for close-ups and macro shots; sidelight vs. backlight; etc. Working in challenging conditions (light-vs.-dark contrast): “fixing” things with fill flash, a reflector, or diffusion disc, or by shifting the camera to eliminate a distracting bright “hot” spot, etc. Also: Using a polarizing filter.
Assignment: Shoot the same subject in different light - close-up or macro.

Week 4: Going to the Extremes - Close-ups and Macro
An introduction to extreme close-up and macro photography: Shooting survival strategies: i.e., dealing with a razor-thin depth of field, paying attention to backgrounds, etc. More tips, tricks, and techniques for successful macro photography.
Assignment: Experiment with viewpoint and sharpness – via close-focusing with a standard lens or moving in tight with macro gear.

Requirements

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Digital or film-based camera.
Knowledge of - and the ability to control - aperture and shutter speed.
Zoom lens
Tripod highly recommended
Polarizing filter suggested, but not required
Macro equipment optional

Recommended Gear:
Tripod (strongly urged). Macro lens, mode, or accessory (optional). Polarizing filter (suggested).

FAQ

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Is this course intended only for beginning/intermediate photographers or can advanced photographers take part too?

This course is open to any photographer who wants to explore the realm of detail and macro photography.

What kind of equipment will I need to complete the photo assignments?

Any camera that allows for creative adjustments - i.e., the ability to control shutter speed and aperture - will do. This course doesn't require an arsenal of lenses, but you will need either a zoom lens or a few fixed-focal-length lense.

Optional: Macro gear (i.e., a macro function on camera, a macro lens, close-up filters, or extension tubes), a tripod, and a portable reflector.

If you shoot film, you will also need a way to digitize your images. You can use your own scanner to do this or you might try using a scanning service at your local photo lab or copy shop.

What about flash photography?

This course focuses mostly on natural, non-flash outdoor light - plus window light and available light indoors. The subject of fill flash will come up briefly from time to time, but it won't be required for any assignments.

For those of us who have it, can we use photo imaging software on our weekly submissions?

Yes, but only if the software is used as a corrective tool and for routine post-processing (in particular, Raw images need work). Don't lean on it too much for creativity. For example, please avoid using the digital darkroom for things such as adding motion effects, creating soft backgrounds, or cleaning up or eliminating large distractions, such as trees or telephone poles. And, please, no major cropping! This course is making great images with your camera. It is not about what you can do with digital imaging programs after the fact (BetterPhoto has some terrific courses designed specifically for working in the digital darkroom).

Do I have to be online at any specific time?

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.

Will I have access to the instructor to ask questions during the photo course?

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.

Do you offer a money back guarantee?

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.

Only $198.00 USD

What does it mean to "Get Started Today"?

In a Nutshell

4-Week Short Course
Skill Level: 2 - Serious Hobbyist
Category: Composition Courses

$198.00 USD

What does this mean?

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First Assignment Sent:
Nov 4, 2009

Average Customer Rating: 5 out of 5

Read all 20 reviews

Course Reviews:

4.5 out of 5

By
Kelly McNaughton
member since: 4/11/2005

This course is a great introduction to the world of closeup photography. I learned to take pictures of subjects I never would have thought to be "photo worthy" and ended up with some unusual but spectacular shots. The instructor, Kerry Drager, is extremely knowledgeable about the topic area, and provides honest and fair critiques of assignment photos. Photos were reviewed as they were posted (i.e. there is not one specific day of the week that assignments photos are looked at). As well, Kerry is very open to students posting non-assignment work and having it critiqued. The online discussion section of the course is active with lots of students posting feedback and comments. If a question was asked, the instructor posted a reply right away. I highly recommend this course to anyone interested in closeup photography, plus I also highly recommend this instructor for any BetterPhoto course.

- 10/5/2009 10:48:09 AM

5 out of 5

By
Cyndi M. BANE
member since: 8/4/2009

This is my second class with betterphoto. Ierry's class is so helpful. He doesn't just critique my photos but also give ideas on other ways to work the Picture.
I have learned so much from Kerry's class. I would love to take another class from him.

- 9/23/2009 7:12:33 PM

5 out of 5

Arlene Krauss
member since: 6/3/2006

just a slight correction of my testimonial. Reading it again, it should say - at the end "A tireless instructor" - and a great online experience.

- 6/6/2009 10:09:07 AM

5 out of 5

Arlene Krauss
member since: 6/3/2006

Please read my review of Kerry Drager's 8 week course, Creative Light and Composition. That this is my second course with Kerry, won't be a surprise. I can't imagine a better instructor. His lessons are jam packed with information, the assignments are critiqued by a person who's a master photographer with a gentle touch. They're detailed, personalized and - his energy continues to astound me. It's common practice when working with Kerry to find him revisiting his critiques and giving further advice if you have a question or six or ten. A tireless, extraordinary online experience. He just sets that bar too high and I wish he'd teach a few more courses. Thank-you, Kerry, for another amazing experience. You are the best.

- 6/5/2009 3:47:09 PM

5 out of 5

Joanne A. Puyat
member since: 7/29/2007

This is for me one of the BEST courses here in BetterPhoto. It has changed my angle of perspective and has brought out my creativity!

Kerry is such a great teacher! :)

- 3/30/2009 6:13:01 PM

Read all 20 course reviews...

Better Than Money Back Guarantee
We're confident you'll be delighted.

More Delighted Customers:

"Kerry gives, by far, the best constructive critiques. I have learned so much from his critiques of all of the shots during the course. His lessons are detailed, but written simply enough that a beginning photographer can understand. I will definitely take another of Kerry's courses!" -Cathy Jo Wheeler

"Kerry's course was excellent! He made very helpful suggestions in his critiques of my photos. He let me know what I did well and where I needed to improve. Thank you, Kerry, for a very informative and fun class!" -Phil Burdick

"Kerry Drager is a fine instructor. He gives explanations suited to the novice photographer as well as those more experienced. He even includes 'bonus lessons' and sidebars to give more detailed explanations of concepts. His critiques are helpful and always encouraging... His course helped me become more aware of details and of how more interesting and dynamic a close-up photo can be. I highly recommend his course!" -Susan D. Eginton

"I really enjoyed taking this course. Kerry Drager is a great teacher! His critiques were most helpful and he always answered questions very quickly. I hope to take another course with him in the near future. Thanks, Kerry!" -Toni Vavra

Online Photography Course Creative Close-ups

Have a pro at your side - online, all the time

What You Get

Instructor

A Couple of Photos by the Instructor

Course Outline

Requirements

FAQ

Course Reviews:

More Delighted Customers:

Online Photography Course
Creative Close-ups