Lynda Photography Courses and Online Classes Review

A good photo, captured at the right place in the right time, is one of the most satisfying and elating experiences out there. This is true now as it was back in the early days of film photography in the beginning of the 20th century.

Lynda.com offers courses across a wide range of topics, and the Lynda photography courses section is huge. It has over 570 courses, and around 26,300 video tutorials. It has courses that explain and provide guidance for software like Photoshop and Lightroom, and other courses which discuss exposure, composition, and other fundamentals. Some courses are in the form of challenges, and others are more informative and straightforward.

Old-school camera

Old-school camera

Ever since its inception, photography has captivated the minds of countless individuals. The ability to capture a moment, a frame, is nothing short of divine. These days, many individuals walk around with a smartphone, which is essentially a professional portable photography studio.

There are many people who are interested in making a living as photographers, but others simply love taking pictures for art’s sake. Trained professional instructors teach students in-depth courses in photography. Students will learn how to shoot storytelling photos, and how to pick the most appropriate kind of gear. They will get to create their very own photo book, as well as get tips on photo editing, studio photography, and lighting.

Cameras and Gear

Many of us have very advanced tools at our disposal, whether it is on a smartphone camera or a digital camera. In spite of the abundance of tools and techniques, not many people take full advantage of their cameras.

The courses in this section teach students how to make the most of their digital cameras, and how to make smart choices and get the proper gear for their particular needs.

There are 96 different courses on cameras and gear at Lynda online courses photography section. From shooting nighttime time-lapse videos through travel equipment and panoramic shooting, to learning about different lenses and tethered shooting fundamentals, there is a lot to learn. Lynda’s experts are here to take your photography to the next level and beyond.

Richard Harrington

Richard Harrington

One of the most popular instructors at Lynda photography is Richard Harrington, who is a digital video expert. He is a certified Apple and Adobe instructor, and is a member of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. Harrington teaches 98 different courses on Lynda.com, and 20 of them are located in the cameras and gear section. They range from getting students up and running with various digital cameras, lenses, or effects, to detailed lectures on shooting with GoPro or shooting motion time-lapse.

Raw Processing

Raw images are sometimes called digital negatives. Why? Because – much like the traditional negatives – they include everything that is needed to produce a finished photograph, but are not too usable in their original form.

In other words, raw images are files which are awaiting manipulation or editing of some kind. They are images which have been captured by a camera’s sensors, but are not yet ready to be printed.

There are different programs out there which are used to process raw image files, and several of them are discussed in Lynda.com’s courses on raw images file processing. Adobe Camera Raw, which is included in Photoshop, is a very popular piece of software. There are also courses on Capture One Pro 8, Lightroom, iPhoto, and others.

There are 69 different courses on raw processing in Lynda’s photography section. They are all about opening, editing, enhancing, and processing raw files. These include courses like Enhancing a Black-and-White Wedding Photo with Lightroom, Exploring Adobe Camera Raw: Workflow Power Tips, and Creative Cloud 2015 Updates.

Masking and Compositing

This particular set of skills is one which many digital artists will agree is absolutely essential to those who are drawing, photographing, and designing in this wonderful digital age we live in.

Computers have brought with them such immense power. They invited an entire world of options and possibilities into our lives, and this is especially true of those who wish to create visual art. Photographers, designers, fine artists, illustrators, animators, and others now have the option of creating realistic and surrealistic images in a way that was never before possible.

Camera

Photography: Not Just for Professionals Anymore

Masking and compositing are skills which include combining selections, refining selections, compositing green screen footage, and more. It is the art of using different combinations of images, and manipulating them in such a way that it becomes impossible to tell where one image stops and another begins.

There are 62 courses on masking and compositing at Lynda’s photography page. They range from introductory courses on Photoshop compositing, through detailed courses on compositing 3D worlds and objects, to advanced photo restoration techniques. One of the most popular courses in the masking and compositing section is Pictures that Move: Creating Cinemagraphs with Photoshop, After Effects, Flixel, and Cliplets. It is an advanced course, taught by none other than Richard Harrington, whom we encountered earlier in this post.

Besides the straight-up educational courses which are offered to Lynda.com members, there are also 14 documentaries which serve to educate and inspire a new generation of students. They feature different artists and go in-depth to document their creative processes. The industry’s experts share their views, their passions, and their knowledge from years of experience.

Artists like Becci Manson, Douglas Kirkland, Brooke Shaden, and Brian Kaufman are featured in these documentaries, which are produced wonderfully and showcase the magnificence of this unique visual art and those who master the craft of photography.

One of the most popular courses in the Lynda.com photography section is Foundations of Photography: Exposure, instructed by Ben Long. This course teaches students the subtle art and exact science that is lens exposure. It gets to the core of concepts and practices having to do with shutter speed, aperture, International Standards Organization (ISO) settings, and other intricacies.

The topics of this course include:

What is exposure?

Exploring camera modes

Light metering

Shooting sharp images

Controlling shutter speed

Understanding f-stops

Controlling motion

Working with a shallow depth of field

Measuring aperture

Shooting in low light conditions

Performing manual light balance

Working with the histogram

Using fill flash

Understanding reciprocity

The course runs three hours and 24 minutes long. It has gotten over 111,000 views ever since it was uploaded back in December 2010. It is not geared towards any particular level of student, and is appropriate for anyone who is interested in learning more about exposure and its role in documenting a moment. All of its sections are closed captioned and transcribed.

Long is a teacher, photographer, and writer, based in California. He has written over 25 books on digital photography and video. Long has spoken and taught classes around the world, and appeared in many conferences and workshops. He teaches 35 courses on Lynda.com. They range from the fundamentals of photography, through reviews of different cameras and gear, to travel photography and copyright law. Long is extremely knowledgeable, and thoroughly enjoys passing on his secrets and personal tools of the trade. Watching a master craftsman at work is always an amazing thing to witness, and Long’s courses are just that.

Lynda Tutorials: Photoshop

Another very popular class is Photoshop CC Essential Training (2015), as instructed by Julieanne Kost, who was named one of the “100 most creative people in business” by Fast Company. This course teaches students how to get the most out of their images. It educates them on the basics and advanced features, and gets the job done. Kost offers a way of teaching which cancels out the unnecessary complexity and disorientation which some associate with Photoshop.

This course is for any student who may be new to the world of digital art and photography. However, even though this course is mainly meant for beginners, even more experienced creative professionals will be able to benefit from Kost’s years of experience and Photoshop expertise.

The topics for this course are:

Customizing Photoshop’s interface

Resizing and resampling images

Comparing raw and JPEG files

An overview of Camera Raw

Cropping and straightening

Photoshop

Photoshop

Working with layers

Transforming, distorting, and warping

Taking advantage of Smart Objects

Working with layer masks and blend modes

Making selections

Adding adjustment layers

Retouching portraits, including skin, teeth, hair, and eyes

Combining multiple images

Working with filters

Creating character, paragraph, and type along a path

Shape layers and layer effects

Painting in Photoshop

Creating time-lapse videos and animated GIFs

Working with video

Sharing images

This detailed and popular course runs 10 hours and 20 minutes. It is very long, and has gotten over 27,500 views since it was first published in June of 2015. The amount of information which a student gets from this course is enough to get them to a level in which they are comfortable with Photoshop, and are ready to get amazing results. Obviously, practice makes perfect. There is always room for improvement. However, this course is extensive and empowering.

Julieanne Kost is a renowned speaker, and an Adobe Systems professional ambassador. She has created and published more than 1,000 videos on Adobe software, and has instructed countless people in Photoshop and Lightroom. She has also authored several books on digital photography.

Kost teaches 7 courses on Lynda.com, all on Adobe’s Creative Cloud software. They instruct students in Photoshop, Camera Raw, and Bridge. Her unique educational approach, which blends humor, creativity, and practicality, is one which has students learning with a smile. She is an award-winning professional who loves teaching and contributing to the world of photography.

Lynda’s courses on photography will not only make you a better photographer, but will also give you the tools you need to advance beyond the scope of Lynda’s instructors. Giving you the wings you need to take flight is what Lynda training is all about, and it accomplishes this by providing students with the skills necessary to succeed and grow, and to realize their full potential.

Keep up your online learning by exploring further courses available through Udemy!

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