Photography Foundations
Exposure, light and composition — with whatever camera you already have
Created by Yusuf Demir
What you will learn
- Control exposure through aperture, shutter and ISO deliberately
- Read light — direction, quality and colour — before raising the camera
- Compose with intent rather than by rule
- Focus reliably, including on moving subjects
- Shoot in manual without panicking
- Build a practice through weekly assignments
Course content
13 sections · 88 lectures · 13h total length
- What this course covers, and what it does notPreview03:00
- How to get the most out of itPreview04:00
- Setting up and downloading the exercise files06:00
- How a camera seesPreview06:00
- How a camera sees in detail13:00
- A closer look at how a camera sees09:00
- Worked example: how a camera sees05:00
- Where how a camera sees goes wrong11:00
- Exercise: how a camera sees07:00
- How a camera sees in practice14:00
- Two approaches to how a camera sees10:00
Topics covered
Requirements
- Any camera with manual controls, including many phones
- No prior photography experience
Description
The gear question is a distraction for the first year. This course teaches exposure as a set of trade-offs, light as the thing you are actually photographing, and composition as a decision about what to leave out.
Your instructor
Documentary and portrait photographer
Yusuf shoots for magazines and NGOs and teaches the craft as a way of paying attention rather than a gear checklist. Most of his exercises can be done with the camera you already own.
Learner reviews
- 5 star82%
- 4 star16%
- 3 star2%
- 2 star1%
- 1 star1%
- VNViktor N.23 October 2025
Very practical. I applied something from module four at work the same week.
- LALucas A.23 March 2026
I have recommended this to two colleagues already. The structure makes it easy to dip back into.
- CVCarla V.19 April 2026
Concise and honest about what it does not cover, which I appreciated.
- YRYara R.8 January 2026
I came in knowing a bit and still learned plenty. The middle third is the strongest part.
- SLSam L.4 December 2025
Clear explanations without the usual filler. I watched most of it at 1.25x and still followed everything.
- YKYara K.19 November 2025
I have recommended this to two colleagues already. The structure makes it easy to dip back into.
- EFElena F.17 January 2026
Concise and honest about what it does not cover, which I appreciated.
- ICIngrid C.26 September 2025
Exactly what I needed. It assumes you are an adult and does not over-explain.
- NHNiall H.31 October 2025
Excellent. The examples are realistic rather than the usual toy versions.
Showing 9 of 6,218 reviews.
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