Course Content
Introduction
A pre-lesson to help prepare you for Lesson 1.
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Lesson 1: Getting Started
Collect the photography gear that you'll need for the course
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Lesson 2: The Workings of a Camera (Technical Lesson 1)
In this lesson, we'll discuss how a camera works - including digital cameras!
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Lesson 3: Background vs. Foreground (Composition 1)
In this lesson, we will look at the three basic elements of every photograph - the foreground, the background, and the subject.
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Lesson 4: Light (Technical Lesson 2)
Everything in a photograph is based on light. In this lesson, we will study light and how to use it to your advantage while taking pictures.
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Lesson 5: Tell a Story (Composition 2)
In this lesson, we will discuss how to compose pictures in such a way as to draw viewers into the photo via the story it tells.
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Lesson 6: The Direction of Light (Technical Lesson 3)
In this lesson, we will look at how the direction of light affects our photographs - and why this is important.
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Wilderness Photography 101
About Lesson
Jacob Hamblin Arch in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah
Jacob Hamblin Arch in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah

You don’t need a fancy camera for this course.  In fact, I took the above picture with a mid-priced bridge camera – not exactly a DSLR.   But if you have a fancy camera, you’ll enjoy this course even more!   No matter if you have a DSLR and multiple lenses or a cell phone you barely know how to use, you’ll be learning to take photos to its fullest extent and how to get the very best photos of landscapes and the natural world.   We will be covering traditional photography topics like exposure and aperture (don’t worry if you don’t know what those are; we’ll get to that later), but much of this course will be devoted to the composition of landscape and other outdoor photography.  We’ll talk about how to “see” a perfect photo opportunity, what to have in the frame (and what to leave out), and how to capture the “feel” of a place.

Photographing a photographer at a mine in Death Valley National Park, California
Photographing a photographer at a mine in Death Valley National Park, California

I’m very excited to share with you some of the photography techniques I’ve learned over the last 20+ years of photographing the wilderness areas of the United States.  Each lesson contains a written lecture, photographic examples, a short quiz, and a photography assignment.  Most of the assignments should be completed outside, though you don’t have to visit a wilderness area – a local park will work for most, if not all, of the assignments.   Buckle your seatbelt or get ready to fly, because we’re about to take off!   (Disclosure: This course contains affiliate links.  By clicking on the link and then purchasing a product, you will support me at no extra cost to you.  You are not obligated or even encouraged to buy any of the specific products mentioned in this course.)