Focus on Wide Angle Photography

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Course Brief :

Wide angle lenses are for getting close, not for "fitting it all in."  They're for putting you and the viewer right in the middle of the situation - face-to-face with street demonstrators or the excited faces of children at a birthday celebration.  Used correctly, wide-angle lenses grab the viewer and put him or her right in the heart of the situation - right there where you were when the picture was made.  In this exciting 4-lesson online photography course instructed by award-winning photographer David Bathgate, you'll come to feel comfortable getting right in there with the subject and using wide angle lenses to powerful and dramatic effect. 

A lot of photographers believe wide angle lenses are only for the "Big Scene," or for jockeying in cramped and crowded quarters. Truth is - there's expansively more to these powerful focal lengths than that.  Wide angles are not just a means to a practical end, they're tools for exploration and dramatic expression that should have a priorty place right at the top of your camera bag.  These online photography classes will put you to reorganizing that kit and moving your wide angle lens to where it belongs - on top of the picture!

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Select the best wide-angle focal length to effectively express how you see and feel about a particular subject or situation
• Establish strong foregrounds in your photos - "hallmarks" of powerful wide-angle photographs
• Create "layers" of interest in your wide-angle photographs
• Skillfully handle an expansive perspective and be in control of the frame - front to back

What you will need:

• Digital SLR or compact mirrorless camera (film is also fine, but you'll need to scan images for upload to the TCI website)
• Prime or zoom lens(es) in the 16-24mm range
• Computer with photo-processing software (e.g. Photoshop or Adobe Lightroom)

Instructor :

David Bathgate is an award-winning documentary and travel photographer whose work appears in such publications as Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, Geo, Stern, The Guardian, The Times of London and the London Sunday Times.

Holding doctoral and masters degrees in anthropology and journalism, respectively, David Bathgate works regularly in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe, covering topics of social, political, cultural and environmental interest.

David is Founder and President of The Compelling Image - online and interactive school of photography and multimedia storytelling, contributing editor to Photojournale and conducts photography and photojournalism workshops in India and Morocco.  He is also featured Official Fuji X Photographer.

Visit David's website

Follow David on Instagram

Reviews :

One of several online courses I've taken with TCI and David Bathgate, in particular. This class really piqued my interest in using (mild / 28mm and 24mm) wide angle lenses. Something I haven't done much in the past. I also have become much more comfortable getting in close to situations and really like having the viewer feel as if he or she is right there amidsth the action. Great course, David. Thanks a lot!

- By anonymous

This was a fabulous class. It really pushed me to use my wide angle lens in ways I had not thought of before, and improved my landscape photography a lot. David's comments were extremely prompt, detailed, and useful. He opened whole new areas of photo ideas for me, too. I defnitely would recommend this class to photographers exploring a more expansive and expressive view.

- By Antoinette Addison