It's All a Blur | A beginner's photography course

A beginner's guide to photography

(or how to tame a digital camera)

For most, ourselves included, a love of photography is often sparked by the desire to simply capture and share the world around us. And while we say ‘simply’ capture the world, the truth is that for many beginners, picking up a camera for the first time can be anything but simple.

Modern digital cameras are incredibly powerful and packed full of features. As we write this, our main camera and lens combination has 27 buttons, dials and control rings, 33 menu screens and over 150 settings! Add to that a bunch of different shooting modes like Av, Tv, Fv, P and M, and it’s little wonder that beginners can often feel overwhelmed and frustrated as they struggle to turn their creative vision into reality. Does that sound like you?

Camera manufacturers are well aware of this which is why they include fully automatic shooting modes as well as, in many cameras, scene modes like Portrait, Landscape, Macro and Sports mode to name a few. But as useful as these modes are, it means relying on your camera to ‘see’ what you see, and interpret your subject and the scene in the same way as you - and that’s simply not possible.

You can of course take great photos using Full Auto and Scene modes. It’s just that these modes don’t give you complete creative control of your camera, and sometimes, the photo you end up with is not the photo you had in mind. And that’s where this course can help.

Instead of leaving everything up to the camera, we’ll show you step-by-step how you can take control, giving you the skills and confidence to use your camera in any mode you choose, all while getting creative and having fun as you learn the fundamentals of photography.

But before we get into the details of what the course has to offer, let’s put to bed a particular myth that you may have come across online, and hopefully take away some of the anxiety you might be feeling as a beginner photographer.

MYTH: You’re not a proper photographer unless you always shoot in full manual (M) mode

If anyone tries to tell you this or claims that Manual is the ‘best’ mode, just smile and nod politely and then walk away knowing that they’re wrong. Experienced photographers, including many professional photographers, make use of the semi-automatic features of their cameras all the time. For professionals in particular, the best modes and settings are the ones that allow them to get the shot they need, as efficiently and effectively as possible.

That’s not to say that you’ll never need to shoot in Manual mode. The more you challenge yourself as a photographer, the more you will encounter situations where shooting in Manual really does make most sense. But, as this course will show you, on your journey towards becoming a great photographer, you don’t have to run before you can walk, especially if you can have fun along the way.

So now that we’ve cleared that up, who is this course actually for?

Who is this course for and what equipment will you need?

Never used a camera before and don’t know where to start? Then this course is for you. Or perhaps, like many, you enjoy using your smartphone camera but now you’re ready to transition to a DSLR or mirrorless camera. Well this course is for you too. In fact, many of the fundamental principles we cover in this course also apply to smartphone photography, so you can enjoy the best of both worlds.

While this is definitely a beginner course, as lifelong learners ourselves, we believe that nobody is too old or too experienced to learn something new. So if you’re a hobby photographer looking to refine your skills or see familiar concepts from a fresh perspective, this course has something for you too.

As for gear requirements, the only thing you’ll need is a digital camera. This could be a DSLR, a mirrorless or an advanced compact camera that allows for manual setting adjustments.

HOW IS THIS COURSE DIFFERENT?

Photography is a blend of creative expression and technical execution which is part of the reason why it appeals to so many people. You can approach photography with a purely creative mindset or a highly technical mindset and be equally fulfilled either way.

From our experience, having reviewed many beginner photography courses and tutorials over the years, we’ve found that most seem to dive very quickly into the technical details of exposure and how to manually control the brightness of photos using aperture, shutter speed and ISO. And while ‘proper’ exposure is of course important and, as you will learn in this course, a creative tool in its own right, looking back on our own journey, we think that exposure is the least exciting aspect of photography to learn. Plus there’s the fact that you don’t have to be a ‘technical’ photographer to enjoy photography, or be considered a good photographer.

We’ve approached things differently. In our course, you’ll start out by using your camera’s semi-automatic shooting modes called aperture priority and shutter priority. These modes will do much of the heavy lifting when it comes to exposure, and will free you up to focus on learning, understanding and, most importantly, practicing the creative effects that make photography interesting and fun. You’ll soon come to realise just how powerful these shooting modes are and why they are the go-to modes for many experienced photographers, ourselves included.

Then, once you have these modes and their creative powers under your belt, we’ll guide you step-by-step towards taking complete control of exposure, giving you the confidence you need to use your camera in any mode you choose, including manual mode when necessary. That’s what we call creative freedom!

Now if you’re more technically minded and feel that this more creative approach may be a little ‘light on details’, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Our course content is rated as either Core or In Focus.

Core modules are intended for everyone. They cover the fundamentals and try, as much as possible, to avoid in-depth technical explanations. The aim of our Core modules is to give you enough information to be able to start using your camera with confidence in just a few hours.

In Focus guides are more technical in nature. They will give you an in-depth understanding of how your camera actually works and introduce you to camera features, settings and shooting techniques that you may find useful as your skills develop. You can choose to read these guides where referenced as you work through the core modules, or you can initially skip them and come back later. Either way, this valuable content will help to round out your photography knowledge.

It’s worth mentioning at this point that while we do touch on several photography genres in this course including landscape, portrait, macro (close-up) and long-exposure photography, each one of these genres is worthy of its own dedicated course.

So rather than trying to be a ‘jack of all trades,master of none’ kind of course, our aim is to help you master the fundamentals that apply to all types of photography. We will in future be adding dedicated courses that will cover individual genres in depth, but we highly recommend starting with this course if you’re a beginner.

WHAT'S BLUR GOT TO DO WITH IT?

Course contents and our goal for you

This course is made up of nine core modules containing a mix of theory, practical assignments and real-world examples. While the first two modules lay the foundations, each subsequent module focuses on one core concept or skill that you can immediately put into practice.

Our goal for you is that by the end of this course, you will:

Know when and how to use the creative effects of focus blur and motion blur
Be able to confidently capture well-composed and well-exposed photos in a variety of conditions
Have the confidence and freedom to choose and use all of your cameras shooting modes, including full manual mode

Here’s an overview of what each module will cover.

Module 1: Set for success

Digital cameras have a lot of settings, but there are only a few that you need to configure to get started. In this module, we’ll list these settings and explain what each one should be set to in preparation for the practical assignments you’ll complete throughout this course.

Module 2: Go with the flow

As a beginner, learning to shoot with intent will help you to achieve more consistent results, and will set you up for success. In this module we’ll share a very simple process, or Shooting Workflow, which describes the intentional thought process and steps we follow, from when we see a subject or scene we want to capture, to the moment we press the shutter button. This module sets the scene for the rest of this course.

Module 3: Play with depth

We’re calling this the focus blur or blurry background module. In this module we’ll introduce you to something called depth of field. We’ll explain what it is, the creative choices that it gives you, and how you can control it to create your own blurry, or not so blurry photos.

Module 4: Master motion

Things have a habit of moving. Capturing them can be both fun and at the same time challenging. In this module we’ll take a look at motion blur and how we can minimise the effects of unintended motion blur, or enhance the effects of motion blur for creative effect.

Module 5: See the light

We all understand that without light, there can be no photography. As photographers however, we need to have a much deeper understanding and appreciation for light and its counterpart, shadow. In this module we’ll look at some of the characteristics of light and how we can use light and shadow for creative effect.

Module 6: Picture the frame

In this module, we’ll cover composition, the special sauce that can make the difference between a good photo and a great photo. Having covered most of the fundamentals in the previous modules, the pieces of the puzzle will come together in this module as you go from ‘taking photos’ to ‘creating photos’.

Module 7: Find the balance

In this module we’ll dive into the details of exposure, in other words, controlling the amount of light that your camera captures. We’ll explain what we mean by the term ‘good’ exposure, demystify the relationship between aperture and shutter speed, and dispel some of the misconceptions around ISO in digital cameras.

Module 8: Refine your vision

In this module we’ll cover the basic principles of photo editing or processing as it’s also known. This is where you’ll learn to let the artist in you shine, taking the RAW image data from your camera and turning it into an image that tells your story and captivates your viewers.

Module 9: Where to next?

At this point you’ll have all the theory you need to become a good photographer. But how do you go from good to great? In this module we’ll share our thoughts on how to take your photography to the next level and avoid some likely pitfalls like G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome - it’s a real thing), pixel peeping and Insta-envy.

While we do occasionally update our core modules based on student feedback, we are always adding new In Focus guides based on requests we get from our students via the course community. And speaking of community…

Make some blurry friends

Everyone who signs up for this course will have access to our private online community. This is a friendly and supportive space where you can, amongst other things:

Chat with like-minded photographers who are at the same point in their photography journey as you
Ask questions (there is no such thing as a stupid question) and get answers from us and from students who have progressed from beginner status and want to help others do the same
Share your photos for honest, constructive feedback

We’re here to guide you, but the real magic happens when you connect, share, and grow alongside others. So jump in, say hello, and start making some blurry friends - you’re in good company here!

About us

And speaking of friends, you’d probably like to know a little about us. Blurry Media is a husband and wife team, Martin and Debbie (Debs to her friends), and we live in a small town called Taupo, located in the centre of New Zealand’s North Island. Photography and the outdoors are our passions and as Blurry Media, we get to showcase New Zealand’s great outdoors while promoting brands that get us out there.

We love what we do as outdoor and adventure lifestyle photographers and truly appreciate the opportunities that photography gives us. Plus our clients seem to like our work, so we must be doing something right ;-)

While we don’t claim to be the ‘ultimate experts’ on all genres of photography, over the course of many years, we've learnt a thing or two as successful commercial outdoor lifestyle photographers. The knowledge we share in this course comes from real-world experience, and covers photography fundamentals that we wish we had known when we were starting out.

Our hope is that this course not only helps you become a better photographer but that it also sparks a lifelong love for capturing the world through your lens. And if we can do it, so can you!

JOIN THE WAITLIST

We’ll be launching this course in October 2025. Prior to this we’ll be releasing a preview with access to one full module so you can get a feel for what this course is like. For access to this preview (when it’s released) and to be notified when the full course goes live, join our waitlist.

We hate spam as much as you and your details are safe with us. We will only contact you with updates about this course.