ask a good accountant. What's two plus two nil? Answer. What do you want it to be? And what's the link between accountancy and photography? Well, when you ask yourself what tone is my subject, you could answer literally. Or you could answer what Tondo I want it to be. This is what we call being creative with tone. The clouds in this scene are like gray. That's one stop brighter than medium time. And if I was to take this photograph of the literal exposure setting, that's the meter reading plus one stop. This is a photograph I would get. Now this picture is okay, but to me, the skies a little bit bland. So how can I change it? Well, yes, I want to make the sky look more dramatic, as if there's a storm rising. What I can do is decide to make those clouds dark grey. That's one stop dark of the medium tone. So I set the camera to minus one exposure compensation, and this is what the picture looks like now. To me, this is a far more dramatic picture For more interesting photograph. You don'...

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Chris Weston

Chris Weston became a professional wildlife photographer in 2001, changing his career to follow instead his passion for what he describes as “the extraordinary behaviour of animals”.

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topics covered in this class

Fundamentals Beginner Digital Photography

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!

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Being Creative With Tone

Being Creative With Tone

Lesson Info

27. Being Creative With Tone

Lessons

Buttons, Dials and Switches: What This Course is All About

Setting Up Your Camera

JPEG or RAW

Compression

Menu Settings for JPEG Shooting

Module 1 Summary

Applying White Balance

Using White Balance Creatively

Auto White Balance

Module 2 Summary

Controlling Exposure

F Numbers

Lens, Aperture, and Shutter Speed

Exposure Modes

Too Little or Too Much Light

Manual Exposure Mode

Aperture Priority Exposure Mode

Module 3 Summary

ISO in Practice

ISO and Noise

An Acceptable ISO

Module 4 Summary

Metering Modes

The Light Meter

The Bucket Test

How To Read Tonality