Lessons
Class Introduction
11:45 2Travel Photography: The Challenges
09:49 3Travel Photography: The Rewards
07:03 4Setting Expectations & Research
21:48 5Travel Gear
19:13 6Health, Safety & Security
11:09 7Gear: General Advice
06:20 8Gear: Cameras
15:56Gear: Lenses
12:48 10Gear: Tripods
15:44 11Gear: Filters
04:08 12Gear: Camera Accessories
13:33 13Gear: Final Thoughts
03:55 14Camera Checks
04:20 15Technique: Camera Settings
13:30 16Advanced Techniques
13:00 17Workflow & Composition Ideas
07:42 18Scouting
17:33 19Locations: Blue Mosque & Charles Bridge
06:08 20Locations: Opera House & Dumbo
05:12 21Locations: Ait Ben Haddu & Taksang Monastery
04:51 22Details: Buildings
05:15 23Details: Pattern
14:51 24Details: Collections, Vignette & Close Up
09:20 25People: Street & Candid
08:46 26People: Telephoto & Chaos Theory
07:08 27People: The Walk Away & The T-Shot
08:38 28People: Environmental Portrait
15:37 29People: Building Trust & Classic Portrait
07:05 30Wildlife
08:44 31Events
08:19 32End of the Road
09:35Lesson Info
Gear: Filters
Okay. We're gonna do kinda the round robin, quick stuff of different, other accessories. I do like to use UV Filters. They protect the front of the lens and then I don't have to bother about using lens caps. One of the most valuable filters to use for travel photography is the Polarizing filter. Now the polarizing filter is a unique filter because it blocks certain types of polarized light depending on where it's coming from, depending on what it has struck and how it's coming to the camera. So by putting it on the front of your lens and adjusting it, turning the dial, you'll be able to see this effect right in the camera. And it can have a very strong impact in some cases. So as an example, notice the blue sky as we go from minimum polarizing to maximum polarizing. We go back to minimum. Look at the windows on the building, how their reflections change as we go from minimum to maximum. And so there's a lot of different good places that this can be used to reduce those reflections. The...
re's a lot of reflections. This is a video clip and you can see as I'm rotating the polarizer, how much difference it makes in the saturation. It's gonna have the greatest effect when the sun is 90 degrees to the right or to the left. Here you can see the sun's coming from the right hand side and look at the difference between those two shots. It's amazing as to how much it can change the scene in some but not all situations. So the quick instructions on how to use a polarizer is locate the sun and turn 90 degrees to where the sun is at. And that's where you're gonna get the most impact with that color saturation in the blue skies. And so let's do that real time. We're looking at the sun. Let's turn 90 degrees. Let's add the effect of the polarizer and watch how much it darkens up that sky right there. And so it has a nice, big impact and this is useful in many, many different places. So very, very helpful tool. It's gonna reduce reflections, increase saturation, get a better blue in the sky. There is a bit of a warning though, with this. And it's not for ultra wide lenses. This is an ultra wide lens and you can see when I polarize, it only polarizes the middle portion of the scene. So it just doesn't work well on lenses wider than about 24 millimeters for full frame gear. It also loses about two stops of light, so it's not the best for indoor photography. Another filter that I think is very useful is the graduated neutral density filter and that's because the brightness of the sky and the land can be very different. And by using a graduated neutral density filter, you can darken the sky so you can see the clouds and the sky more easily but the ground is the same. And so these filters are usually square. It's gradated in from nothing to two or three stops in density. The official idea is to put an adapter on your lens and then there's a holder and then you put the filter in there. A lot of times, most of the time I'm simply taking the shortcut route and I'm handholding it in front of the lens so that I can move a little bit more quickly. And in those contrasty scenes where yeah the flowers in the foreground look great but you would like to see the mountain but it's blown out. If you change the exposure well now you can see the mountain but the flowers are all really dark. And if you wanna get the best of both worlds, then we're gonna set it all up so the flowers are natural. Bring down our polarizer and darken that sky. And so this is helpful when you are shooting outdoors and you have a lot of sky in any photograph. You're gonna get a little bit more saturation, better color fidelity and it's just a very, very helpful tool especially at sunrise and sunset. Look at how much difference it makes with that sky. Takes a blown out sky and starts giving you some colors and texture in it. So these are a couple of tools that I don't leave home without. I will usually take a two stop and a three stop. I'll use them about equally and if one breaks at least I have the other one. So at least I have some built-in backup there, you might say.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
TOnya
As usual John has been an awesome instructor. He is so energetic and fun. I love taking his courses and this was no different. I absolutely loved it. I have learned so much by taking his courses. Thanks John for all you do to help us beginners out.
Melissa Maxwell
So inspiring! This class is so comprehensive and I look forward to applying all of Greengo's tips. He is a wonderful instructor and the example photos are breathtaking.
a Creativelive Student
John Greengo was fresh, exciting and entertaining. He was extremely well prepared for this class, and I loved hearing little nuggets from such a seasoned travel photographer. The course provided great content and ideas I can take with me on my next trip!