Free interactive photography course
Learn photography by turning the dials
A free course in 18 interactive lessons, from composition to style. Move the controls as you would on a camera and see straight away what happens to the photo.
The subject of the simulators is me, Enrico. The scene around me is drawn: aperture, shutter speed and ISO behave as they would on a real camera.
The course
The lessons go from the simplest to the most technical: if you’re starting from scratch, take them in order. Throughout the course each control always has the same colour.
- Aperture
- Shutter speed
- ISO
- Lens and focus
- Light
Beginner
First steps: framing, choosing the focal length, exposing and recognising daylight.
- 1 Composition and geometryRule of thirds, diagonals, a level horizon
- 2 Focal lengthWhat each lens sees and why portraits change
- 3 The exposure triangleAperture, shutter speed and ISO: how they work together
- 4 Shooting modes M, A, S and PWho decides what: you or the camera
- 5 Daylight: hours, shadows and colourGolden hour, blue hour and midday: how shadows and colours change
Intermediate
Background blur, focus, motion and colour under control.
- 6 Depth of field and background blurAperture, distance and focal length: how to blur the background
- 7 Focusing: AF-S, AF-C and AF areasHow the camera chooses what to focus on
- 8 Shutter speeds and Auto ISOThe right shutter speed for every subject, with no blurred shots
- 9 White balance and RAWThe right colours in any light, and why to shoot RAW
- 10 The light meter and metering modesWhy snow comes out grey and how to fix it
Advanced
Reading the light and making the most of the whole sensor.
- 11 The histogram and ETTRReading the light in a photo and using the whole sensor
- 12 Sensors and crop factorFull frame, APS-C, iPhone and Android smartphones: what really changes
- 13 ND filters and polarisersLong exposures in broad daylight and deeper skies
- 14 Hyperfocal distanceEverything sharp, from the foreground to infinity
Expert
Night, flash, macro and technique that becomes style.
- 15 Astrophotography: the 600 and 500 rulesPinpoint stars or trails: how long the exposure can last
- 16 Flash: main light, fill and syncHow flash lights, when it fills in shadows and why there’s a speed limit
- 17 Macro and focus stackingWhen the sharp zone is thinner than a millimetre
- 18 From technique to styleSix technical choices that become artistic choices
