Everyone who gets the photography itch gets to the point where they realise they need to learn photography basics in order to really take control of the images they are creating. We have all been at that point.
You’re starting to realise you can have quite an effect on how your shots turn out simply by thinking about it. What could your images be like if you just put a bit more effort into learning the fundamentals? What if you actually knew how to use a camera? What if you knew just the basics of composition? What if you could capture that gorgeous light on command rather than by luck?
You make the realisation that you should learn photography more deeply than just the snapshots you have been taking.
But what comes next?
For a lot of people, they turn to thick tomes – photography books that start from the very beginnings of theory and camera craft and take them all the way into the specifics of different genres. How light works. Refraction. Reflection. Not unlike something you’d read about in a physics textbook.
And there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing it that way. We have all read books like that and benefited from them greatly. Hell, most of us still have a lot of those books right on our bookshelves – I have many.
But let’s be honest…
Trawling through a huge book about theory is about as fun as doing maths homework. It becomes a real chore to keep going. Especially when you want to be actually shooting. They are usually very dry reads. And while they are full of detail, you do start to wonder how often you are going to use the intricacies of what they are describing in such detail.
And yet still, others of us turn to apps and post-production to turn our images into instant masterpieces. All it takes is a few clicks and suddenly your snapshot of a flower could be gracing the cover of National Geographic?
Well…. No.
Again, all of us have at least tried the fast track to awesome photography. And again, while sometimes you can improve a solid image with a bit of good post-production, you quickly realise that there are a lot of very average shots between the good ones. You come to know that there are no substitutes for learning to shoot properly.
The least lucky of us go out and spend a small fortune on new gear. Now, I don’t blame anyone for this. The huge camera companies have entire departments of people to ensure we are all hungry for the next new piece of kit. Again, we have all fallen for this and we have all been disappointed that spending $3k on a new camera didn’t turn us into the next Ansel Adams.
Apps and post-production and even fancy new gear certainly have their places in photography, but they are absolutely no threat to people who learn the fundamentals of the craft well and apply those lessons in practice. To those who take the time to find out how to learn photography well.
But what does “well” mean in this context?
This goes to the heart of how people learn.
One of the things we have always strongly believed at Light Stalking is that to learn photography basics, you are usually best suited to combine your learning with practical shooting.
Learn while doing.
In fact, the idea is kind of an obsession for us.
We believe that if you literally have your camera in your hand as you are absorbing vital lessons about the basics of photography then you are far more likely to learn those lessons in a practical way and you are far more likely to incorporate them into your future habits.
That is why we developed our “Practical Photography Drills.”
These are designed as mini-lessons that you print out and take out shooting with you. Each drill covers one key concept of photography and ONLY that one concept.
And you get to practice that concept with your camera. Right there. As you’re learning it.
A drill is anything from 4 to 8 pages long and we try to convey as much of the information in a visual manner as possible so you’re not stuck there trying to remember where you’re up to like a normal book or something of the like.
Now this isn’t designed to take you into the fiery depths of photography theory. It’s designed along the lines of the 80-20 rule where you can get 80% of the information you really need in 20% of the time. From there you can choose your own path as to whether you want to go deeper with the concept.
There are Drills covering basic photography concepts such as:
- Composition – Where to place major elements within your frame can really make or break an image. These Drills show you the strongest likely options.
- Light – We have a couple of drills on the basics of exposure and how to control it.
- Editing – Every image needs to be edited (either by the camera chip or by you). This gives you the fundamentals of where to start.
- ISO – Learn to control your exposure via ISO in this creative drill.
- Aperture – Central to any understanding of how to use a camera and to get a creamy blurred (or sharp) background depending on your taste.
- Shutter Speed – A core part of camera craft that can be used creatively for various effects.
As you will appreciate, these are the core things we photographers have to get our heads around as soon as possible when we are looking to take our game up a notch. And these Practical Photography Drills get us through that in a useful and enjoyable way. Without a tome of theory in sight.
Moreover, you are simply going to get a LOT more images that you are proud of by doing our drills than you are by spending a fortune on new gear. Learning beats gear every single time.
Now look, we are not saying you need these drills. You can simply read this very blog and everything you need to know is right here for free, usually in a lot of detail. And we strongly encourage you to read it all.
With that said…
What we are offering is these gorgeous Drills in one place with exactly the information you need to immediately apply the core lessons of photography in one easy place.
Moreover, as we only launched them this week they are on a serious 86% discount with a STACK of bonuses. But that isn’t for too much longer.
You won’t regret it.
