Lesson Info
26. How To Read Tonality
Lessons
Buttons, Dials and Switches: What This Course is All About
03:37 2Setting Up Your Camera
05:25 3JPEG or RAW
03:11 4Compression
01:38 5Menu Settings for JPEG Shooting
05:19 6Module 1 Summary
01:42 7Applying White Balance
03:41 8Using White Balance Creatively
01:19Auto White Balance
03:07 10Module 2 Summary
01:31 11Controlling Exposure
01:23 12F Numbers
03:06 13Lens, Aperture, and Shutter Speed
03:32 14Exposure Modes
01:48 15Too Little or Too Much Light
02:34 16Manual Exposure Mode
01:37 17Aperture Priority Exposure Mode
02:23 18Module 3 Summary
01:40 19ISO in Practice
01:16 20ISO and Noise
05:03 21An Acceptable ISO
01:23 22Module 4 Summary
01:29 23Metering Modes
03:06 24The Light Meter
02:11 25The Bucket Test
02:12 26How To Read Tonality
02:32 27Being Creative With Tone
01:14 28Exposure Compensation
01:35 29High Contrast Lighting
03:39 30Histogram
02:06 31Highlights Alert
01:32 32Never Underexpose
04:16 33Digital Exposure Mantra
01:25 34Module 5 Summary
02:57 35Focus Modes
01:23 36Autofocus
02:59 37Point of Focus
02:35 38Depth of Field
02:41 39Hyper-Focal Distance Focusing
02:51 40Focus Tracking
04:19 41Manual Focus
01:57 42Predictive Focus
01:03 43Summary
02:32 44Buying Lenses
05:00 45Summary
01:45 46Quality of Light
01:32 47Direction of Light
01:52 48No Such Thing as Good Light
02:00 49Final Word
02:52 50BONUS - In Conversation with Art Wolfe
07:11 51BONUS - The Source of Creativity
06:34Lesson Info
How To Read Tonality
What color is snow? We tend to think of snow is being white on did in bright sunlight. Snow is white, but take a look at my shadow. Snow in shadow isn't white is gray, and this is what I mean when I talk about tonality, Tone refers to a lightness and darkness and is distinct from color. So when you think about color, you don't think about the color itself. But you think about the lightness and darkness of that color are perfect. Example of that is the sky. The sky is blue, but in the morning is a light blue. In the middle of the day, it's a medium blue, and as we get towards dusk, it becomes a dark blue. So let's look at some other examples as well. A snow swan's feathers and a traditional white wedding dress on a sunny day. Also, white clouds are all examples of white tones, early morning blue sky, dry sand in the palm of your hand or examples of light gray tones. Medium tones would be green grass, blue sky at noon, wet sand poppy red on examples of dark tones are black skin, Conifer,...
green storm clouds and coal in terms of black, very little in the world is actually black. Often, what we think of as being black, such as cold, is actually very dark gray but very dense shadows and an unlit night sky. Two examples of black tones A great skill to learn is to mentally see the world in gray tones. Now, to practice, this takes on color images and turn them black and white and study how color translates into shades of gray. Another great way to learn about tone, particularly in the field, is to carry one of these. And this is a medium toned gray card, and what you do is you hold it up against the subject and compare the tone of the subject to the tone of the card. So if I do it against the snow, we can see is very obvious that the tone of the subjects know is much lighter than the card we were holding up against the shadow. Now we can see that the tone of the subject, the shadow is darker than the card. If I hold it up against the sky, well, what do you think? Well, we know that the tone of a blue sky in the middle of the day is a medium tone, and if you compare the subject to the card, will see that, yes, there is a match. And not only that, if I turn this whole scene into black and white and compare the two, we'll see that the tone of the sky and the tone of the card are in fact, the same shade of great. Now, the more you practice is out in the field that easy or get to learn how to read tone on them or instinctive your exposure decisions will become.
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Ratings and Reviews
mark jacobson
What a marvelous course! What a marvelous teacher! When I went to college, my father would always ask me about my professors, more than the courses themselves. He was passionate about learning and although too busy with earning an income to go beyond an undergrad degree, continued to read 50 books a year. I still remember how he'd get almost visibly excited when I'd tell him about some special professor who taught with such enthusiasm and, more than just passion, evident delight and joy in the subject. 'Ah they're the best, son. How wonderful you have such a teacher." Well, he passed away decades ago but if he were still around I'd get a kick out of telling him about Chris Weston, the 'Prof' of this course. He's one of the very special ones: a teacher who's loved and lived his vocation--his avocation--since he was a boy--and still is as excited about it now as he was then. The result: a course that seems to be more a labor of love--of pouring far more energy and thought into the details then one typically finds in these courses--than anything else. Bravo Chris! I'm already on to your next one.
user-6402bf
Chris is an amazing instructor who dissects theory giving amazing analogies that bring concepts to life. I have rarely been able to sit through most video course for more than a half-hour but watched this one from beginning to end. A good refresher course if you've been away from the camera for awhile or there are some concepts that still illude you. I highly recommend this course and look forward to watching his others. Thank you for the clarity and great explanations.
Sky Bergman
This was an amazing class. I have looked at a number of basic photography classes. This one was by far the best I have seen. Chris is an exceptional teacher. He breaks things down into digestible information and then inspires you to be creative. Thank you!
Student Work
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