Online Photography Course
Self-Discovery in Photography: Where Does Your Passion Lie?

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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Jim Zuckerman
Few people are able to spend most of their time pursuing their passion in life. I'm one of them, and I feel blessed to have had a love affair with photography since I began taking pictures.

In 1970, I decided to abort my intended career as a doctor in favor of photography and have never regretted it. Photography has enriched my life more than I can tell you. My career has taken me to over 60 countries, and I've seen and photographed wondrous things.

I specialize in wildlife and nature, international travel, and digital effects. In addition, I also shoot nudes, photo- and electron microscopy, children, and other subjects that stimulate my visual or emotional sensibilities.

For 25 years, I shot a medium format camera, specifically the Mamiya RZ 67, for its superior quality. When I would lecture, I’d project the large, glass mounted transparencies, and it was really an incredible experience to see the brilliant color saturation and resolution of these slides. However, I went digital in 2004 because the technology finally equaled or surpassed medium format. I now shoot the Canon 1Ds Mark II digital camera with a variety of lenses.

I am the author of 12 books on photography. My work is sold in 30 countries around the world, and my images have appeared on scores of magazine and book covers, calendars, posters, national ads, trade ads, brochures, and corporate promotions.

For many years I've led photography tours to exotic places. These include Papua New Guinea, Thailand, Burma, Greece, The Czech Republic and Slovakia, Spain, Morocco, and Peru.

• Don't miss the BetterPhoto interview with Jim Zuckerman.

A Couple of Photos by the Instructor

© Jim Zuckerman

© Jim Zuckerman

A Couple of Student Photos

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View photos by previous students. You can make pictures like this too!

© Sarah Pilapil - Sel

© Sarah Pilapil - Sel

Course Outline

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Lesson 1: Exploring Landscape Photography
Assignment: Upload three photos. You can submit all three of them as pure landscapes or submit two landscapes plus one that includes a man-made structure. If you do include something man-made in your landscape, make sure that the image can still be considered a landscape. It's OK to submit photos taken previously if time or weather prevent you from getting out to shoot a new landscape.

Lesson 2: Having Fun with Creating Abstracts
Assignment: Upload three photos showing your best abstractions. Make at least one of them unrecognizable, so the entire strength of the image is dependent on form and color. Let me and other students try to guess what it is.

Lesson 3: Classic Outdoor Portraits
Assignment: Upload three outdoor portraits. Mix sunrise/sunset and overcast, and make sure the background environment is complementary and not too busy. If you want to challenge yourself, submit at least one wide-angle portrait as part of the three uploaded shots. You can use fill flash if you wish, but it's not necessary. It's fine to concentrate on using the beauty of natural light. If you travel and want to submit photos from a previous trip that meet the requirements of this assignment, that's perfectly fine as well.

Lesson 4: Great Architecture Photography
Assignment: Upload three photos of architecture. You can use photos from the past if you like, but I'd like you to challenge yourself to find new shots just for this lesson. You can take pictures of any type of home, commercial building, movie theater, outhouse, barn, or whatever appeals to you. If you are stumped as to what would make a compelling picture for this lesson, remember that twilight illumination does wonders for almost any architectural subject.

Lesson 5: Creating Fine Art Black & White
Assignment: Upload three pairs of photos showing the color original and the black and white conversion. Let me know in the caption how you converted it. Make sure the contrast in the black and white rendition is strong.

Lesson 6: Up Close and Personal: Macro Photography
Assignment: Upload 3 macro photos of any subject you like. I've included in this lesson several different types of macro subjects to give you some ideas. The pictures can be taken indoors or outside, and you can use any method of focusing closely to the subject. If you use selective focus, justify in the caption why you used shallow depth of field. You will have the most artistic success if you use diffused light rather than direct sunlight.

Lesson 7: Still Life Photography
Assignment: Upload up to three still life images. If you want to really take your time and make one setup that is perfect, that's fine, too. Pay attention to the lighting and to the graphic arrangement as well as the background. You don't have to use a solid color background, but just make sure the background does not detract from the subjects. You can use flash, ambient daylight, reflectors, a flashlight, or window light - whatever works for you. I would prefer that you submitted photos of elements that you set up at home and not shots of something you found, such as a store window display.

Lesson 8: The Excitement of Shooting Action
Assignment: Upload up to three photos showing blurred motion, either hand held or using a tripod. Make sure you show enough blur so the photo doesn't look like a mistake. For example, if your picture shows only a small amount of blur, it might not be artistic in the way you'd want. And be careful to not show too much blur, unless your goal is complete abstraction of color.

Review: Voting on Best Work

© Jim Zuckerman

© Jim Zuckerman

Requirements

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Digital or film-based camera. Ability to control f/stops and shutter speeds. Tripod strongly recommended. A means of focusing closely.

FAQ

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It’s intended for photographers of all levels,- as long as you understand the basic fundamentals of photography: how your camera works, and f/stops and shutter speeds. 

Yes, it will. The lessons will expose you to many types of picture taking, and the assignments are designed to help you explore areas of photography that you might not investigate on your own.  

Absolutely!  

 I am the only one who writes the critiques. You are getting 36 years of experience in the feedback you receive each week.  

© Jim Zuckerman

© Jim Zuckerman

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.

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