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Online Photography Course
Fine Art Flower Photography

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

Join 's Course: Fine Art Flower PhotographyAvoid cliches in flower photography and learn to create personal, unique, and well-lit images of wildflowers, roses, tulips, lilies, sunflowers, and more. Join Tony Sweet for an inspiring and creative 8-week course on fine art flower photography. Tools and techniques used by successful professional stock and fine art photographers will be discussed and illustrated. Spring, summer, fall, or winter... the season doesn't matter - whether you shoot cut flowers, a rose, tulip, lily, or sunflower in your garden, or wildflowers out on a trail, this class is guaranteed to get your creative juices going!
Key Features

  1. Flower Portraits
  2. Repetition
  3. Shooting Through Material
  4. Macro
  5. Sandwiching
  6. Multiple Exposures
  7. Special Conditions / Working A Subject
  8. Using Reflectors, Diffusers, and Filters


  • Unique flower photographs.
  • Working with special conditions.
  • Creative use of filters & reflectors.

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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Photography Instructor: Tony  Sweet 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:

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

What are the requirements for the course? What equipment will I need to complete the projects?
Students should have a working knowledge of exposure and how their equipment works. An SLR camera (digital or film) is preferred. 

Is is okay with you if we submit previously created work for critique? Or do we have to do the assignments each week?
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.  

Can I use photo imaging software such as Photoshop?
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 

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.

Still have questions about this course? Ask Us


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Only $348.00 USD

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"In a Nutshell"
8-Week Photo Course
Skill Level: 4 - Advanced
Category: Nature / Travel

$348.00 USD
Add to Cart

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First Assignment Sent:
Mar 7, 2012

Average Customer Rating: 5 out of 5
5 out of 5 5 out of 5 5 out of 5 5 out of 5 5 out of 5
Read all 56 reviews


Course Reviews:

5 out of 5 5 out of 5 5 out of 5 5 out of 5 5 out of 5 5 out of 5
BetterPhoto Member Steinar Kibsgaard
Steinar Kibsgaard
member since: 5/31/2006
Tony Sweet is the master of photographing flowers - everybody can say yes to that, and the photos he showed us during the course was so inspiring.


I mostly go for the critique in those courses here, because I have been on so many courses (about 20), that some of the stuff is repetition for me, but in those lessons here, there was really stuff to learn.

And you just want to go out and try it out at once, because of the inspiring pictures.

This is a real skill 4 course - you have to work ;);), but it pays off.

And the critique was spot on - not many words, but precise and enough to learn from = he has the ability to point you in the right direction with few words - just "listen."

I can see, that some former reviews was not happy with his critique, but did you listen carefully ? and I also feel, that he can judge if you put more or less effort in your pictures, and the critique will mirror that, I think.

- 12/28/2011 10:18:29 PM


5 out of 5 5 out of 5 5 out of 5 5 out of 5 5 out of 5 5 out of 5
BetterPhoto Member Stephanie Lewis
Stephanie Lewis
member since: 11/27/2009
This is an excellent course for those who are focused on strengthening their flower and macro photography. Tony's lesson plans provided useful information on specific techniques to incorporate into one's skill set. In my personal experience, his critiques were specific to my photos and they always included useful suggestions. I also thought that he really honed in on the areas he thought I needed to work on until I got it. The critiques were certainly worth the wait. I really grew because of this class.

- 11/9/2011 5:37:28 PM


5 out of 5 5 out of 5 5 out of 5 5 out of 5 5 out of 5 1.5 out of 5
BetterPhoto Member Joan C. Lewis
Joan C. Lewis
member since: 1/1/2009
Learned new and exciting ways to photograph flowers I guess the best thing is that we had an assignment that FORCED US to practice. As far as the instructor, I always had respect for Tony Sweet. However, perhaps he is much too busy. His critiques were late to very late. He must have a macro because most of everyone's critique ended the same. His personalized critiquing was extremely short. Way too much money for a few sentences(suggestion run spell check). It will be a long time before sign up for class.

- 5/11/2011 11:07:27 AM


5 out of 5 5 out of 5 5 out of 5 5 out of 5 5 out of 5 5 out of 5
By
James M. Hunt
member since: 9/13/2010
This was a very solid course. I found the lessons particularly useful in that they push you to try a variety of techniques and compositional strategies. The result for me is that I feel I've got a much stronger and broader tool kit for some of the nature projects I'm currently planning. Tony's critiques are direct and helpful. Obviously you can't "master" new techniques in such a short time frame, but Tony's feedback did help me identify some areas for continued improvement. I do have one bit of advice for students taking the course. Read the lesson plans very carefully, several times before you source your subjects and start shooting. Though Tony does encourage experimentation, I found, not having utilized some of these techniques before, just trying to mimic some of the instructor's examples was quite helpful. In doing so I was able to get a better sense of just what effective use of a particular technique meant both in terms of shooting (specific apertures, composition, etc.) and in terms of results. Finally, I'd recommend printing out the lesson plans for future reference. Again, you can't master this stuff in two months.

- 3/10/2011 12:42:36 PM


5 out of 5 5 out of 5 5 out of 5 5 out of 5 5 out of 5 5 out of 5
BetterPhoto Member Karen Anderson
Karen Anderson
member since: 2/19/2007
Well, this class is the absolutely outstanding, but not for those who don't want to strive for perfection ...sometimes more than once per lesson!! I learned so much! Tony was kind, helpful and direct in his critiques. He made me work hard and in the process I learned to love photography even more!!! I can honestly say he helped me put it all together as a photographer while finding my niche which I really didn't think would be close-up/macro/creative work with flowers/nature. I would highly recommend this course to those who want to really learn how to photograph flowers. I've never taken a better on-line class!

- 3/1/2011 5:20:21 PM


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More Delighted Customers:

"I highly recommend this course if you are looking to improve your floral photographs and creating more artistic images. Thank you, Tony, for all your critiques and knowledge!!! I have a whole new look on flowers." -Beverley Lu Latter 

"Thanks for another terrifc class! I learned a lot and really enjoyed it - especially doing flowers in winter here. I feel better prepared to shoot outdoors after all these indoor shots because I learned about controlling and using backgound and other tools." -Frieda Weise 

"Thank you, Tony! I am a different photographer today because of you. I will never shoot flowers (or bugs and butterflies) in the old way again, and much of what I learned has carried over into how I shoot in general. ... Fellow students, I thoroughly enjoyed and learned so much from your work. Happy shooting to all of you!" -Janis Herd 

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