How to Take Great Photos with a Nikon DSLR Camera

Know your camera, understand it inside out, and learn how to use it to document memories and earn from your little gadget too.

Description of the Course (Udemy)

We are in a world where photos and images speak louder than text.

How good are your photos? Those you have posted on your social platforms or in your gallery?

Ask those around you why they have thousands of photos in their galleries that they’ve never shared.

Most will complain of them not being beautiful enough to be shared.

They can change this, and you too can!

This beginner course teaches how to use your DSLR camera.

If you have a NIKON, then it directly addresses you.

But regardless of the brand, you will still learn the concepts of a DSLR, its features, and how to use it intuitively.

JP Pullos is your instructor in today’s course.

He is an expert photographer who has chosen to share his skills and experience through online courses, and this is one of the five he has compiled so far.

His courses have been identified as some of the best in New York City.

Being in the photography industry for over half a decade means he has learned tips, tricks, and techniques that work.

His works have been published in the New York Times, Women’s Wear Daily, New York Magazine, The Village Voice, Time Out New York, and The New York Observer.

I had to mention this so you would be confident of the instructor’s abilities and yourself once you complete the course.

If you have read or seen any of the above publications, you know they don’t gamble on the quality of their photos.

Just so you are sure enough that your bucks won’t go to waste if you plan to enrol in the course, it is one of the HIGHEST RATED photography courses on Udemy.

It means so much for a course to earn this badge.

The course has an enrollment of 28,900+ students and is rated at 4.7 stars when writing this review.

I wasn’t surprised at the statistics because, with the ever-changing world and today’s era where your photos give lasting impressions, many are eager to learn and change how the world sees their photographs.

You, too, can be part of the figures and improve your social media, blog, or album.

If you are zealous enough, make photography your new venture.

I love an updated course.

When I was a rookie at blogging and creating website courses, I enrolled in many classes to learn everything I could.

And I regretted it quite a bit because I later discovered most of them were outdated and couldn’t help much.

A waste of time, money, energy and every resource spent!

Don’t be like me!

Here’s an updated course with the latest additions and omissions made in January this year.

Currently, the course is available in English, Indonesian, Italian, Thai, Romanian, and Polish.

I love how JP has tried to make it available to more people by adding more languages.

It is a one-hour, ten-minute course and among the short and impactful ones you can get.

You can plan to complete the course depending on your schedule, but there is no rush to finish.

The course only has one section talking about the Nikon DSLR camera for beginners; however, the section is divided into seven lectures, each lasting 3 to 15 minutes depending on the depth of the topic.

Since the topic revolves around Nikon DSLRs, there is only one downloadable resource as the scope of the course is limited to the brand of the camera.

Not so much to cover, but it can be accessed offline and used during and after the course for reference.

Once you enrol in the course, you get full lifetime access to it and log in to Udemy to check for updates.

A certificate of completion is available for download once you complete the course.

Add it to your CV or portfolio if you wish.

You never know; some clients bank on it to verify your knowledge and experience in the field.

And if you feel dissatisfied with any aspect of the course, there is a 30-days money-back guarantee without any questions.

Course Content and Overview

You might be a DSLR type of buddy – either because you love the gadgets because of the quality of photos or videos they take or because you have one and have one and have never used it before.

You are in the right place if you’d like to blow off the dust on it and take it with you everywhere you go to snap all the beautiful things.

But you can find it daunting, especially if you don’t know its features and how to set it correctly.

JP makes it easier to learn everything you need to know as a novice in this course.

So, build your confidence and enrol in the course to master the basics.

You will learn all the buttons and dials on your Nikon DSLR camera.

There are a few exercises to do here and there, so this will take you about two and a half hours to complete if you tackle them before proceeding with the following lecture.

The instructor encourages you to take on the tasks and explanations in his course and retain the information instead of memorizing or cramming them.

You will all the basics of exposure, shutter speed, aperture, and mode dials, including Auto, P, S, A, and M.

He includes images to show as examples while covering different aspects of basic photography.

JP also thoroughly explains all the exercises to make them easier to attempt without trouble.

From his examples, you will discover that it is impossible to replicate the quality of photos you take on a DSLR camera using a point and shoot or compact.

This course details the fundamentals of beginner DSLR photography for newbies who have just acquired their first entry-level Nikon DSLRs and want to know how to take the best shots from their gadget.

If you have also had your DSLR for some time but have been shooting on Auto, you will snap out of it once you complete the course.

For anyone who has found it tricky to understand different functions and modes despite researching extensively, JP has made things easier and enjoyable by demonstrating the basics using his DSLR.

Even though he uses the Nikon camera in this course, you can relate as long as you have any other DSLR camera.

Whether it is a stellar entry-level or high-end one, the knowledge cuts across all of them.

What fascinated me most about the instructor was going straight into the holy grail of the fantastic DSLR photography – aperture, shutter speed, and the likes.

You will learn how your exposure triangle is made, various shooting modes and the correct times to use them.

He might not be the number one photographer everyone would recommend, but JP has tried to vividly explain and help aspiring hobbyists and photographers to get started.

If you go through the students’ reviews, you will agree that he has impacted many of them.

Once you complete the course, you will understand why the best way to take good photos is through familiarizing yourself with your DSLR camera and your potential.

And because you can learn it best through hands-on experience, attempt the exercises and keep practising and requesting feedback from those you share your photos with.

I understand how tempting it is to look at the thick manual and try putting it down when you know nothing about your camera yet.

We aren’t trashing the manual.

It is crucial, and you should read it.

But to understand what is in the manual and your camera better, courses like this are essential.

In fact, they are the best as they don’t have everything bundled up to read like in a manual.

JP shows you how to quench your thirst if you are craving creative control – one of the reasons why you perhaps bought a DSLR.

You can agree that it is a brief course and a one-stop place to help you get started ASAP and get out of the Auto mode if you have been procrastinating or unable to for a while.

To be honest, it will not explain all the aspects in great depth; however, it covers enough fundamentals to get you in complete control of your camera.

There are tons of things to learn if you want to maximize your DSLR’s abilities and potential, and you can’t be done in a day or one course.

Check out the course to see how JP explains the three concepts of DSLR photography – exposure, aperture, and shutter speed.

Who is the Course for?

1. Complete beginners who want to learn about their DSLR cameras, understand them and use them intuitively.
2. Those who have been using their cameras in auto mode and want to snap out of it with confidence

What you will learn

• How to look at your images more sophisticatedly like an expert photographer
• How to include exposure to the photographer’s tool belt and understand how it affects various visual elements of the image
• How to adjust the aperture are the reasons for choosing one aperture over another
• How to adjust your shutter speed and reasons for choosing one shutter speed over the others
• The different shooting modes – Auto, P, S, A, and M, how each works and how when to use each of the modes
• How to differentiate between motion blur and depth of field blur
• How to keenly observe and capture beautiful moments surrounding you.

Lessons

1. An introduction to the course
2. Exposure
3. The ins and outs of shutter speed and aperture
4. The aperture exercise
5. The shutter speed exercise
6. Wrap

Course Requirements

A Nikon DSLR, preferably with a model number starting with ”D.”

FAQs – Questions on the Beginner Nikon Digital SLR (DSLR) Photography Course

Q) I would like to know how to compose a fantastic photo. Is this course helpful?
A) You should look more into the composition in photography, but the course doesn’t cover it; however, it covers other important aspects that will affect the composition.

Q) How can I make objects appear closer together than they actually are on my DSLR?
A) This will need you to have a lens with zooming abilities to take advantage of lens compression.

Q) Does the course discuss other gear I can use with my Nikon DSLR?
A) No, the course only covers your camera’s features, functions, modes, and aspects, but you can enrol in other beginner courses with sections on photography gear and equipment.

Conclusion

So, you have a quick review and overview of the beginner Nikon DSLR photography course.

Enrol and take the leap!

Take your DSLR out and drop the auto mode with JP’s simple explanations.

You might not use all the settings and tips he gives at once, but understanding and exploring the impacts of each concept will have you in total control of your camera before you know it.

The most significant step that should give you the biggest difference in direct influence on your creative results and feeling of total control will be commencing with the aperture and shutter shooting modes.

Once you familiarize yourself with the two, you can consider exploring further through other courses.

Sooner, you will stop seeing your DSLR camera as a mysterious dark box, but understand quicker and more effective ways of achieving the photographic results you purchased it for.

But there is no way to do this easily without enrolling in the course!

What Students are saying about the Course

One of the best courses offering a decent balance between experiential and informational learning.

Straightforward and very easy to understand. A course I would highly recommend to any new Nikon DSLR owner.

The descriptions are excellent and his examples quite relatable; something I have been looking for in a beginner photography course and was lucky to find here.