PHOTOGRAPHY EDUCATION

Improve the quality of your images with Courses and Training.

Icono Curso 1
  • PERSONAL COURSE

    On-Line Classes

  • us$ 25 per Hour (60 minutes)
  • Duration: Agreement between the Student and the Teacher.
  • Schedule: Agreement between the Student and the Teacher.
  • Minimum Investment: us$100, 4 Hours of Class.
  • Topics: According to the needs and priorities of the student.
  • Requirements: Due to the Teacher's Diagnosis, it can be: Tripod, Camera with interchangeable lenses, Flash, Tripod, Exposure Meter, Laptop, Photoshop, Capture One, etc.
Icono Curso 2
  • PERSONAL COURSE

    On-site Classes or Practices

  • us$ 40 per Hour (60 minutes)
  • Duration: Agreement between the Student and the Teacher.
  • Schedule: Agreement between the Student and the Teacher.
  • Minimum Investment: us$120, 3 Hours of Class.
  • Topics: According to the needs and priorities of the student.
  • Requirements: Due to the Teacher's Diagnosis, it can be: Tripod, Camera with interchangeable lenses, Flash, Tripod, Exposure Meter, Laptop, Photoshop, Capture One, etc.

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE COURSES

›› Personal Lessons are open at the request of one (1) Student who wishes to acquire knowledge. By mutual agreement between the Student and the Teacher, the following are defined: the Themes and Contents, the Number of Course Hours (with a maximum of 2 hours per assignment), the Days and Times of the Courses, the Means or Applications to connect (Skype, Google Meet, Zoom, Face Time, etc.) and the places and times of appointments for the Practical Courses in a personalized way.

›› Course students receive advice on purchasing equipment.

›› Course students receive a certificate issued directly by Tulio Sampayo.

›› Ask for more information by email to: tulio.sampayo@gmail.com. When you send an e-mail, you do not assume any commitment or contract, you will simply receive a reply message from my e-mail with the information in PDF of the course requested. Your data will remain confidential and we simply stay in touch.

FREQUENT QUESTIONS

This is the initial advice to acquire your first equipment.

Tipo Camara 1

NO – Cell Phone with Camera

Mobile phones with built-in camera functions. Increasingly sophisticated, with more megapixels, zoom settings, ISO and white balances.

›› They are not suitable for the photography course because their options are too limited.

Tipo Camara 2

NO – Compact Camera (Point and Shoot)

Small and compact cameras, with integrated lens, flash, exposure and autofocus. Useful for simple shots but don’t offer manual controls.

›› They are useless because their options are limited (no “M” mode on the wheel).

Tipo Camara 3

Advanced Camera (Semi-Professional)

Medium cameras with an integrated lens. It has some of the manual controls of SLR cameras, but is a bit smaller and less expensive.

›› Only works for the “Basic Course” (because it has “M” mode on the wheel).

Tipo Camara 4

Mirrorless System Camera (Mirrorless)

Medium cameras with interchangeable lenses and electronic viewfinder system. It has a wide range of controls, adjustments and accessories.

›› Perfect for all Photography Courses (because it has manual options and its creative control is almost unlimited).

Tipo Camara 5

Reflex Camera (DSLR-Digital Single Lens Reflex)

Larger cameras, with interchangeable lenses, corrections for external flash, high-quality sensors and processors. Reflex optical viewfinder system. It has a wide range of controls, adjustments and accessories.

›› Perfect for all Photography Courses (because it has manual options and its creative control is almost unlimited.

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For any Basic and Advanced course a DSLR Camera is necessary.

This is a difficult and impossible question to solve in a few words, it almost always requires a long and very precise answer for each case.
If you are one of those who simply want to know: what is the best camera? Keep this simple answer: The best camera is the most expensive camera on the market.
Otherwise, be clear about the following steps to get serious advice from a professional:

1st Step: What do you intend to use the camera for?
If it is for fun or regular use: you may not need a DSLR and you may not need a photography course. The vast majority of people use cameras in automatic mode, without major concerns, doing what they can, shooting with flash all the time, mainly on trips and meetings. For me, this is not wrong, but it’s not right either, it’s just the most common thing to do. A pocket camera will do… or maybe a cell phone is enough.
If you want to overcome the average knowledge and improve the quality of your images: buy a DSLR. This camera will allow you an exploratory exercise in photography and will allow you to approach each subject in a precise way. Additionally, with a photography course you will fill your questions with knowledge and little by little you will be able to overcome the technical problem to move on to creative results. No need to buy the most expensive camera, read the next step.

Step 2: What is your budget?
Define how much you intend to spend initially and consider the following:
> The value of the camera body.
> The value of the lens or lenses for the camera. I suggest you dedicate more budget to this part (More on this in the next question: How to choose a lens for your camera).
> You should always buy a spare battery (original) and a memory card (I recommend: Sandisk or Lexar).
> Other items: Bag, Tripod, Filters, Flash, Shutter, etc. Initially they are not indispensable but photographic equipment always tends to grow.
Avoid kits that have all of the above. Usually only the body is worth it, the rest are of poor quality and are sold to the unwary.
Also be aware of the difference in costs domestically and internationally, along with delivery times.
Online stores are a great help for the above and used equipment is part of the options.
At the end of this step you should have narrowed it down to a few options in the price range, almost always one option in each brand: Nikon, Canon and Sony.

Step 3: What year was the camera you want released?
Most DSLRs are renewed every 2 years, with a new model appearing that surpasses them. Keep this in mind when buying and selling your equipment. Avoid buying models 4 years old or older.

Step 4: What More Considerations?
Surely more arguments will appear along the way and as everything is new you will surely have more questions than answers: How many Megapixels? Full Frame or Cropped Sensor? Weight and Size? Video Features? Frames per second? Minimum and Maximum Speed? Brands? Compatibilities? Etc.
At this point you begin to see why you need a Photography Course in addition to the camera.
Do your research, read forums and opinions… and take the last step.

5th Step: Professional Advice.
This professional advice can be just another opinion or it can be very revealing.
Warning: We professionals are already used to a single brand (Nikon, Canon, Sony, Pentax, Leica, etc), we hardly change it for another or recommend a different one. Sensibly, the brands are in constant competition and all have more or less the same. It almost always doesn’t matter which brand you choose, but since the equipment is not compatible with each other, this choice is almost for life. I chose Nikon and I don’t regret it.
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Every DSLR camera must have at least one lens.
This is a question a little easier to solve in a nutshell: The best optics (lenses) are the most expensive ones.
Considering that lenses are the most important part of the camera, it should not sound strange that good lenses are usually more expensive than camera bodies. Lenses last on the market for 10 years or more until a new model comes along to renew them, while most DSLRs are renewed every 2 years. So over time we all had (or started with) cheap lenses and then moved on to the best optics.

1st Recommendation: If your budget allows, spend more money to start your photography career with the best lenses instead of starting with the best cameras. Specifically with these two lenses that correspond to your camera brand: 50mm f1.8 and 18-200mm (or better).
Otherwise, buy the 18-55mm lens that corresponds to the brand of your camera, which will then buy more lenses.

2nd Recommendation: Beware, Cropped Sensor lenses are not useful on Full Frame cameras. On the other hand, Full Frame lenses are useful on Cropped Sensor cameras. Full Frame optics are always more expensive.

3rd Recommendation: Focal Distance, is the data that appears in millimeters (mm) and according to your interests (topics) should be understood as follows:

– 24mm or less, wide angle shots and subjects such as landscape.
– 35mm to 50mm, (wide-angle-normal) medium-angle shots to almost any subject.
– 50mm, normal, almost any subject.
– 50mm to 85mm, (normal-tele) from almost any subject to portrait (face-only).
– 85mm to 200mm, (tele) from portrait to far-away element shots.
– 200mm or more, (super-tele) for very distant element shots.
To go through and try all subjects, in the first recommendation is an 18-200mm (or better). This lens is a zoom lens, which means that it changes its focal length from 18mm to 200mm, going through almost all the focal ranges described above.

4th Recommendation: Aperture, this is the number that appears after the letter “f” and the smaller the number the better the lens.
– Zoom lenses do not have a good aperture and almost always start at f3.5 and end at a higher number.
– A special category of Zoom lenses always maintain an f2.8 parity while changing focal length, these are superior and very expensive optics.
– Fixed lenses (non-zoom lenses, which do not change their focal length) have better apertures, such as f1.8 or less. The lower the f-number, the more expensive the lens.
For access to excellent optics at a low price, a 50mm f1.8 is listed in the first recommendation.

5th Recommendation: There are other brands such as Sigma, Tanrom, Tokina, Carl Zeiss, Rokinon, Vivitar, etc. That may work for your camera. Do your research, consult the forums, opinions and comparisons between lenses. Get advice from a professional.
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For the Basic and Advanced Courses it is necessary to have a tripod.

The first thing is to understand that the tripod is the support for the camera and the lens, in charge of their stability.

1st Recommendation: The tripod should be heavier than the equipment it supports. Small tabletop tripods are totally useless.

2nd Recommendation: Avoid cheap, lightweight tripods made of plastic and aluminum, regardless of brand. These tripods usually fall out of adjustment quickly as the plastic fasteners give way with use. It is very common for them to break and lose their parts with no place to buy them back.

3rd Recommendation: Choose heavy, metal or carbon fiber tripods. The recommended brands are: Manfrotto. Giotto, Gitzo or any other quality brand. Quality brands have the ability to sell spares or parts separately.

4th Recommendation: The best tripods are expensive and sell the Legs and Head (or Rotula) separately. Start by choosing tripod legs that will support the total weight of the head, the camera and the largest lens you own. When choosing a Tripod Head, make sure that it can support the total weight of the Camera and the largest Lens you own. The shape or ergonomics of the Head should be the most comfortable for its use, usually the Heads with Handlebars are useful for video.

5th Recommendation: Apart from the price, weight and material, a tripod has more features to check: The maximum weight it supports, The maximum height it reaches, The minimum height, the minimum length with the legs folded, the height of the head, The type of plate (base that is screwed to the camera) it uses and the accessories it may have.

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For the Advanced Course it is necessary to have an external flash.

Usually all digital cameras have a built-in flash, with low power and an average range of 3 meters. This flash consumes the camera’s battery, produces the “red-eye” problem, has a limited lifetime and cannot be replaced in case of damage or wear.

The most suggested way to solve the above problems is to buy an external flash. In addition, external flashes have other advantages such as: Manual light controls, Light assist for focusing, Ability to change the direction of light (and bounce it), Ability to control other flash units, Ability to use modifiers and Synchronization with high speeds.

When buying an external flash I recommend:

> Take into account the hot shoe compatibility (or “Hot Shoe”), to be sure choose a flash of the same brand of your camera: Nikon, Canon, Sony or Youngnuo (which manufactures flashes for the different brands).

> Define your maximum budget: Usually the more expensive the flash is the better, and with more options.

> The Guide Number is equivalent to the power or range of the flash, the higher the Guide Number the better.

> The “Recycling Speed” is the speed at which the flash replenishes or recharges between shots, a minimum recharge time is best.

> Manual override capability.

> Other connections: Apart from the hot shoe a flash, an external flash can be connected by cable, wireless triggering (“slave” mode) and wireless connections.

> Head swivel or angle change.

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