Online Photography Course
Fine Art Flower 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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Tony Sweet
After 20 years as a professional jazz artist, Tony changed careers and directed his creative juices towards nature photography. The improvisational, spontaneous, and abstract nature of jazz are also integral elements of nature photography.

Today, Tony's work is published worldwide and is represented by The Getty Picture Agency.

Tony conducts his "Visual Artistry" photography and digital printing workshops from March through October throughout the continental United States and Canada. Tony's articles and photography are featured in Shutterbug and Rangefinder magazines, and as contributor to Nikonnet.com. He’s also a columnist for Nikon World Magazine.

He has authored three books on the art of photography: Fine Art Nature Photography, Fine Art Flower Photography, and Fine Art Photography: Water, Rain, Fog. All are published by Stackpole Books.

He maintains an active speaking schedule on the subjects of nature and flower photography and marketing, addressing professional photography organizations, universities, seminars, and workshops.

Tony is on the instructor staff of BetterPhoto.com, and is a member of the Baltimore chapter of ASMP. And he has been named a Nikon Legend Behind the Lens and is a charter member or nikSoftwares TeamNik!

To learn more about Tony, visit his Web sites:

• http://www.tonytsweet.com
• http://www.tonysweet.com

• Don't miss the BetterPhoto interview with Tony Sweet.

A Couple of Photos by the Instructor

© Tony Sweet

© Tony Sweet

A Couple of Student Photos

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

© Laurie Meehan-Elmer

© Laurie Meehan-Elmer

Course Outline

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Week 1: Flower Portraits
Assignment: Upload favorite photos illustrating floral portraiture. You can try to duplicate the ideas shown here, which is a great way to learn. That's how I learned (and continue to), or begin with your own unique vision. It's important to not be inhibited during the learning process.

Week 2: Repetition
Assignment: Upload photos illustrating "repetition". You can try to duplicate the ideas shown here, or begin with your own unique vision. It's important to not be inhibited during the learning process. Always, feel free to try ANYTHING, even if you think it's a little weird.

Week 3: Shooting Through Material
A good way to add a soft, impressionist look to your images is to "shoot through" a translucent foreground. That is to say to focus on your subject while focusing past or through a foreground subject, which becomes a soft tonality.
Assignment: Upload images illustrating "Shooting through". You can try to duplicate the ideas shown here, or begin with your own unique vision.

Week 4: Macro
Flowers are perfect for close-up and macro interpretations. The patterns, colors, visual rhythm, layers of texture, and their pristine nature present endless subject material for personal and artistic expression. Also, flowers are one of the largest selling items in the world of stock photography.
Assignment: Upload photos illustrating "close-up and macro". You can try to duplicate the ideas shown here, or begin with your own unique vision.

Week 5: Sandwiching
I find this look very attractive and right up my alley. It fits with my particular style of shooting. Subject selection, lens selection, and quality of light is of utmost importance.
Assignment: Upload up to three images illustrating the sandwiching technique - either with slides or digitally.

Week 6: Multiple Exposures
This technique can create a truly impressionist look and, while appearing to be the luck of the draw, so to speak, is quite predictable with practice. One learns to see a situation and immediately pre-visualize how a certain technique will appear.
Assignment: Start getting a handle on this creative technique - either with film or digitally.

Week 7: Special Conditions / Working A Subject
The working pattern of professional landscape photographers is to start wide, which is to say to photograph the scene with a wide-angle lens. Then isolate smaller sections of the scene using longer focal length lenses. We can also do that in flower photography, as you will see in the following examples.
Assignment: Upload photos illustrating "working your subject". You can try to duplicate the ideas shown here, or begin with your own unique vision. It's important to not be inhibited during the learning process.

Week 8: Using Reflectors, Diffusers, and Filters
Now that most of the heavy stuff is pounding away in your brain, we're going to finish up with a couple of indispensable photo accessories this week, and a rather extensive filter workshop.
Assignment: If you do not own a gold reflector and a diffuser, either make one, or buy one of each. Photograph the same subject in bright sunlight first, then with the diffuser. If there are some shadows that need to be lit up, use your reflector to pop some light back onto the subject.

Review: Voting on Best Work

© Tony Sweet

© Tony Sweet

Requirements

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Digital or film-based camera. Knowledge of aperture & shutter speed. A love of flowers!

FAQ

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This course is open to any photographer who wants to learn more about fine art flower photography. You should already have a working knowledge aperture and shutter speed.  

Students should have a working knowledge of exposure and how their equipment works. An SLR camera (digital or film) is preferred. 

Out of the three images that you are asked to upload each week, at least 2 should be from the assignment. You can submit one from previously created work.  

Yes, but this is not primarily what the course is about. Use it as a corrective tool. Don't lean on it too much for creativity.  

© Tony Sweet

© Tony Sweet

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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