Photography: Zero to Professional
Learn a real camera from the inside out — exposure, focus, lenses, light and composition — then the work that pays: portraits, events, product shots, photographing dark skin properly, and running it as a business.
What you'll learn
- Shoot in full manual mode and know why you chose each setting
- Read a histogram and expose a picture correctly on purpose
- Choose focus modes, file types and white balance deliberately
- Understand what each lens and focal length does to an image
- See and shape light — hard, soft, warm, cool, natural and flash
- Compose photographs people want to keep looking at
- Expose and light dark skin properly
- Pose ordinary people so they look like themselves at their best
- Shoot events, portraits and product photos clients will pay for
- Price your work, take deposits and find your first clients
Course content
Part 1. Start here5 lessons
- How this course works
- Basic photography made easy, with Kelechi Amadi-Obiby Kelechi Amadi-Obi12 min
- Photography for beginners course overviewby Parker Photographic3 min
- DSLR vs Mirrorless (Camera Types Explained)by Parker Photographic5 min
- How a Camera Sensor Works · 5 Quick Tips for Sharper Photosby Parker Photographic10 min
Part 2. What to buy, and what not to3 lessons
Part 3. Exposure: the three dials that decide everything15 lessons
- ISO Explained: What it is & when to change itby Parker Photographic6 min
- Aperture Explained: Depth of Fieldby Parker Photographic3 min
- Understanding f-stops (Aperture Deep Dive)by Parker Photographic17 min
- Shutter Speed: Freezing Action vs. Motion Blurby Parker Photographic4 min
- Long Exposure Photography (Shutter Deep Dive)by Parker Photographic10 min
- Why Auto Mode Fails (Exposure Metering)by Parker Photographic4 min
- Metering Modes (Matrix, Center, Spot)by Parker Photographic10 min
- How to use Exposure Compensationby Parker Photographic4 min
- Dynamic Range vs. Tonal Rangeby Parker Photographic5 min
- How to Read a Histogramby Parker Photographic7 min
- Histogram Deep Dive (Exposing to the Right)by Parker Photographic9 min
- The Exposure Triangle Visualizedby Parker Photographic5 min
- How to Shoot in Manual Modeby Parker Photographic5 min
- Shooting manual in ten minutes — a second explanationby Hyun Ralph Jeong12 min
- Quiz: exposure
Part 4. Focus, files and white balance5 lessons
- Focus Modes (Single vs Continuous/Servo)by Parker Photographic9 min
- Drive Modes & Self Timerby Parker Photographic4 min
- Auto Exposure Bracketing (HDR Photography) · RAW vs. JPEG (Image Quality Modes)by Parker Photographic7 min
- White Balance & Kelvin Temperatureby Parker Photographic3 min
- Practice: the manual-mode challenge
Part 5. Lenses, and what they do to a picture5 lessons
- Intro to Lenses · Zoom Lenses vs. Prime Lensesby Parker Photographic5 min
- Focal Lengths (Wide Angle vs Telephoto)by Parker Photographic3 min
- Specialty Lenses (Macro, Fisheye, Tilt Shift)by Parker Photographic10 min
- Understanding Lens Compression (Deep Dive) · Name Brand vs. Third Party Lenses (Tamron/Sigma)by Parker Photographic5 min
- Buying Used Lenses vs Newby Parker Photographic2 min
Part 6. Light: the only thing a camera records5 lessons
- What Is Photography? (The Physics of Light) · Where Does Light Come From?by Parker Photographic4 min
- The Electromagnetic Spectrum · Color Temperature (Warm vs Cool Light)by Parker Photographic3 min
- How Your Eyes Work vs. Camera Sensorsby Parker Photographic4 min
- Color Theory & Perception · Reflection, Refraction & Absorptionby Parker Photographic7 min
- Hard Light vs. Soft Light (Characteristics)by Parker Photographic10 min
Part 7. Composition: why one photo holds you and another doesn't5 lessons
Part 8. Portraits — and photographing dark skin properly7 lessons
- Better natural-light portraitsby Julia Trotti12 min
- How to pose clients for a portrait shootby Julia Trotti10 min
- Posing people who aren't modelsby Matthew Ruderman8 min
- Why your camera gets dark skin wrong, and what to do about it
- Five tips for photographing Black skin tonesby B&H Photo Video Pro Audio4 min
- Getting the exposure right for dark skin every timeby Brittney Janae10 min
- Better dark skin tones in photographyby Tommy Omolabi4 min
Part 9. Flash and studio light4 lessons
Part 10. The work that pays7 lessons
- Event photography: the six shots you must getby Mik Milman10 min
- Better event photographyby Jesse DeYoung10 min
- Ten critical tips for your first weddingby Adorama12 min
- Product photography at home, cheaplyby Will Simpson - Exploring Photography12 min
- Product photography on a budget, with a phoneby Learn With Shopify14 min
- Professional photos with the phone you ownby Alex Armitage23 min
- Phone photography tips that change your picturesby Drew Tooley7 min
Part 11. Editing, briefly2 lessons
Part 12. Making it a business4 lessons
Part 13. Final project1 lesson
Capstone project: Final project: a portfolio and one real shoot. You finish by building something real; a mentor reviews it before your certificate is issued.
About this course
Most people with a camera never leave auto mode, and their pictures always look slightly wrong without them knowing why. This course fixes that properly. You'll learn what the camera is actually doing: ISO, aperture and shutter speed, metering, the histogram, dynamic range, focus modes, RAW versus JPEG, white balance and how lenses change a picture — then manual mode, where you decide instead of the camera. From there it becomes about people and money: natural-light portraits, posing people who are not models, flash and one-light studio setups, and a full section on exposing and lighting dark skin, which nearly every tutorial skips and which matters most here. Then the jobs that actually pay in Africa — events and weddings, product photography you can do at home for market sellers, and getting professional results from the phone you already own — followed by pricing, deposits and finding clients. Taught by working photographers, including Nigeria's Kelechi Amadi-Obi. About 8 hours of video.
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