Self-study course · 13 chapters
A practical guide to understanding your camera, reading light, composing frames, and telling stories through photographs.
Start reading Explore the 151-skill checklist151 skills in 10 groups, from camera control to a personal style. Open a group for the matching lesson and practice. Suitable for the Sony A7C and other mirrorless cameras.
Seven-session practice plan151 / 151 skills
Each session combines shooting, selection, and self-assessment. Split sessions across days if needed; these seven sessions build a foundation for continuing through the full checklist.
Make 5–10 frames each in A, S, and M, changing one variable at a time. Compare Multi/Spot, EV compensation, Auto ISO, and Zebra. Record actual shutter speed at the ISO ceiling and retain texture in a white object.
Deliverable: Select three A/S/M frames with EXIF and histograms, explaining exposure choices and their effects on depth, movement, and noise.
Make 5–10 frames per pass with AF-S, AF-C tracking, and back-button AF as someone approaches. Compare a 1/1000-second freeze with roughly 1/30-second panning, adapting to actual subject speed.
Deliverable: Keep a contact sheet, calculate the sharp-eye rate, and select a freeze and a pan, distinguishing AF error, camera shake, and subject blur.
At one location practice thirds, leading lines, symmetry, framing, negative space, center composition, three depth layers, filling the frame, repetition, and balance. Make 5–10 frames per approach, changing position rather than only cropping.
Deliverable: Select ten labeled frames, recording the first visual anchor and one distraction excluded from each composition.
Keep one subject and make 5–10 frames each with front, side, back, and rim light by changing position. Compare hard/soft shadows, add a reflector, and try an intentional silhouette.
Deliverable: Submit four selected frames with light-direction sketches/arrows, explaining which skin, rim, and shadow details matter.
Agree on image use and use 50 mm or a similar field of view for headshot, half-body, full-body, and environmental portraits. Make 5–10 frames per pass, add a reflected-fill backlit portrait, and inspect eyes, catchlights, hands, and background.
Deliverable: Select five portraits including a backlit frame, preserving credible skin and recording one direction that improved expression.
Scout a safe place, build foreground–middle–background layers, and verify depth. Make 5–10 frames per technique: sharp scenery, long-exposure movement/water, and ND if equipped. Meter first, calculate the stop-adjusted time, and confirm with the histogram.
Deliverable: Select three frames with intentional near/far sharpness and water texture, recording calculated/actual times. Without ND, practice in dimmer light and complete the filter exercise when equipped.
Select 5–10 RAW files from earlier sessions, back up, cull, and make neutral versions. Correct WB/Tint, tone, and skin, mask subtly, batch by lighting group, and inspect individually. Export sRGB JPEGs and sequence 5–7 images into a story.
Deliverable: Deliver the album, a before/after pair, a versioned preset, and three self-assessment notes. Preserve natural skin/detail, consistent color, and a beginning–development–ending sequence.