5 Best Digital Photography Tutorials and Sites

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So you want to know what I’m obsessed about lately?

PHOTOGRAPHY!

It’s sort of a no-brainer that I love photography. I have nearly 20,000 pictures and videos. Truth!!

But learning photography has always been daunting. What the heck is an f-stop?? Depth of field? HUH?? What if I’m not smart enough to get the gist of it?!

But if you love photography, you’re probably a crafty person in other areas of your life.

And the truth is that one of the beautiful parts to what we do is brag share our projects with our friends and family! And I don’t know about you, but my pictures are a bit lacking compared to other people’s. They’re sort of…blah.

And I create video tutorials for my YouTube channel (please subscribe!), and I needed a camera that had HD recording options, with a mic input capability.

So in all my research in trying to find the perfect camera and tutorials, I’ve come across some really good sites with tons of useful information on understanding how to use a digital camera.

5 best digital photography tutorials and sites

Keep reading to learn about my favorite digital photography tutorials and sites.

But first, say hello to my ‘lil friend…

Nikon D7100
I finally settled on the Nikon D7100!!

 

Nikon D7100

First, let me say, this baby isn’t thrifty. It was very expensive. But I don’t plan to buy another for a good 4-5 years, so I wanted the latest model so in a year it wouldn’t be totally obsolete. I bought the Nikon D7100 because of its dual card slots (read: TAKE MORE PICS without running out of space!), and I love that it has wireless capabilities. I have found with blogging that my tools (or lack there of) slow me down. I needed something that would allow me to work smarter and more efficiently.

But even if I have the best tools I can afford, I need to know how to use it! Here’s a list of 5 excellent sites and resources that will help you get a leg up on learning everything you need to know about photography!

 

5 Best Photography Tutorials Tutorials and Resources

1. Lynda.com

OH….MY….GOODNESS……This site is probably one of the best sites I have ever used. I’m like a “tutorial junkie” and it contains well over 2,000 tutorial and training videos, of which over 300 are photography training tutorials. There are tutorials in learning Photoshop…..Design…..to How to Ace a Job Interview…..and even 3D+ Animation! Seriously, the trainings are endless! I heard about it about 2 months ago and haven’t been able to get enough. The videos are such high-quality, and most are 2-6 hour trainings right there on your computer. I like that I can learn without having to go to a class. Who has time for that?? I have 3 kids! And for a $25 a month membership, you get access to all of them. I think it’s a great deal. Even if you watch only 1 video per month, you’d still get your money’s worth!

Some of my favorite photography courses are:

  1. Photography 101
  2. Advanced Craft Photography  <– I can’t wait to watch this one!
  3. Foundations of Photography – Macro and Close-Ups
  4. Foundations of Cameras and Shooting

The good thing is that you can get 10 days of free unlimited access to Lynda.com to try it out! WARNING: You may become a bit giddy with all that info at your fingertips! My advice: just add all the classes to your queue and take it one video at a time! lol I guarantee you’ll love it and gain a better perspective on photography, amongst other courses!

Here’s just a little screenshot of the videos they offer. Seriously, hours and hours of learning.

 

Lynda.com Screen Shot

 

 

2. FREE 3-Part Photography Tutorials

I’m excited to list this Impact Images Photography Blog because not only do I know this guy from one of my blogging groups on Google Plus, but he’s an amazing photographer that put together a 3-part series called Taking Your Camera Beyond Auto. After watching Andrew’s series, I walked away with a better grasp of shutter speeds, f-stops, and depth of field. And because he’s a wedding photographer, he blogs about wedding photography tips that you have to check out if you’re planning a wedding. And can I just say his Australian accent is super cute? 😉 Oh, and this is a FREE 3-part series!

 

 3. Nikon School Photography Seminars

I haven’t actually attended any of these (yet), but considering that they’re the official Nikon School photography seminars, it might be interesting to check them out if you live in any of the nearby cities. They even have a Mom’s Night Out course, which sounds amazing! I wonder if they offer wine? 😉 They’re $149, I believe, although I’m not sure if it’s an all-day seminar or not. In November, they’re going to be in my neck ‘a da woods, so I might have to check them out if I am still struggling! lol

 

4. Buy the Book “Understanding Exposure”

Just looking at the Amazon “Look Inside” preview of Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera–wow!–you can view over 40 pages of the beginning of the book! Just leafing through the review, I learned enough to know that I need to own this book. It’s just under $20, and is a good, quick reference. A Facebook friend highly recommended it, and now I’m passing the reference on to you 🙂 Go check out the preview of it and let me know what you think! Pretty amazing, right??

 

5. Photograph Tutorial: A Quick Guide to Understanding Your DSLR Camera

A friend just sent this tutorial link to me via Pinterest and after checking it out, I’m sure it’s got to be one of the easiest tutorials on getting started with your DSLR! Other than using Auto for everything, I’ve never been sure what those dials were at the top (i.e. Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, etc.)….and with this tutorial, now I know! Great stuff, Amanda! Now I’m really started to feel like a real photographer, and hopefully the pics on this blog will begin to reflect that! 🙂

 

MORE TUTORIALS!!!

Okay, this list is supposed to be 5 long….but there are some great ones popping up, so I wouldn’t want to exclude them:

6. A Comprehensive Beginner’s Guide

I really like this free Udemy photography guide. It should have been called “Photography For TRUE Dummies” because it’s so easy to understand and really provides some basics that even from which the most beginner of beginners can benefit!

Before You Go….

If you love floral shots and want to learn a few tips about taking better shots that you can use to make your own do-it-yourself wall art, check out these tips:

10 tips to create your own wall art from your own photography

 

Do you guys have any sites or links to some good photography tutorials? Please leave a comment below and share!

 

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11 Comments

  1. Such a great tutorial and idea share. A lot of information share this post. An also visite this site and so amazing post. Thank you so much for creative idea share.

  2. 500px isn’t exactly a tutorial site or anything, but it’s a great community for both new and experienced photographers. It’s definitely the thing that’s helped me the most when it comes to improving my photography skills 🙂

    1. Glad to see someone mentioned 500px 🙂 Having somewhere to post my photos and have people who actually know about photography compliment/critique them definitely helped me a lot when I was finding my feet in the world of photography.

  3. It contains many important information for me. I will definitely try all your mentioned websites above to increase my usability for photography.
    Please keep sharing such information with us.

  4. Bill Schultz says:

    Anthony Morganti.

  5. Interesting possibilities in your list. I signed at Lynda.com after I got shafted at KelbyOne (Kelby Training & NAPP) A word about KelbyOne (Kelby Training) They combined two different pay sites, NAPP and Kelby Training into one now called KelbyOne the first part of this year. I belonged to both sites when they combined them. Their deal was if you had signed up for NAPP first then you get the a lifetime renewal rate of $99 a year for KelbyOne even if you had signed up the day before they combined the two sites. If you where paying for both sites but signed up for Kelby Training first you got the privilege of paying double ($199) a month for the same KelbyOne someone who had just joined NAPP the day before. The last I looked (months ago) there were close to 500 comments and questions on Kelby’s site asking about the inequitable renewal rates. They never have answered a single one of them.

    1. That sucks, Rick. I hate poor customer service. How do you like Lynda.com? It’s seriously one of the best sites out there. I could spend all day on there!!

  6. I am going to have to check these out. I’m trying to learn how to use my camera to it’s full potential. A friend is helping me but these would help too!

  7. Karl Taylor is commercial photographer from the U.K. He has a ton of free tutorials on his website and he is an amazing instructor/photographer. You may have to dig around a bit to find them but the website is karltaylorphotography.com. He also sells tutorials on DVD if that’s your thing. Check it out, you won’t be disappointed!!

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