For hoodies, T-shirts and other A Year With My Camera merchandise, click here: AYWMC Shop
The Books
This is more than a book - it's a unique way to learn photography. Every chapter has just one skill to learn, and comes with a detailed explanation, plenty of examples, and a project to complete. Book 1 is for complete beginners and takes you step by step through exposure, composition and light, and finishes with 4 chapters devoted to igniting your creativity.
Book 2 is for intermediate photographers. Starting with editing and using a tripod, it then moves onto 3 detailed modules: landscape, travel and macro. The book finishes with projects designed to get your photos out of your computer and into the world.
This is an undated, week-to-a-page planner, with all the A Year With My Camera lessons highlighted in order. When you start the course you open up the planner at Week 1 and write in the date. Then as you turn the pages you will see each lesson set out week by week, with the projects you need to do and the revision topics to tick off. No lessons are included - just the reminders. Watch the second short video at the end of the page for more details.
Beginner’s Landscape Photography
If you know what aperture and shutter speed are, but can’t take a landscape shot you are happy with, this is the book for you. It takes you from the stage where you have a very basic understanding of how the camera exposes an image, to the place when you can take an image you want to hang on your wall.
Download a free chapter
This is the "Direction of Light" chapter, which is the first in the Light module:
“Eureka... Well where do I begin.. I had struggled with understanding my camera - I knew how to use all the functions but didn’t understand the reasoning. I couldn’t get my head around the exposure triangle. After just a few weeks it all clicked into place. What was once double dutch became as clear as the nose on my face!”
The two workbooks form the entire A Year With My Camera course. Each chapter is an expanded lesson, plus quizzes, checklists, extra homework and many project ideas.
Book 1 is for you if:
- you have just got, or are about to get, your first DSLR
- you have tried to learn to use your camera many times, but it just won't stick
- you kind of understand aperture and shutter speed, but you can't remember where all the dials are
- you're nervous about going off auto in case you miss the shot
If you can shoot on Manual mode without thinking about it, can compose confidently, already use light to shape and sculpt your images, and know exactly how the camera meters, you don't need Book 1 and you can jump straight to Book 2.
“With simple, plain language, no complicated phrasing that makes you want to give up without trying, easy to understand graphics, steadily paced homework, pages you can actually write on and make notes (without feeling guilty for defacing a book) this has to be without doubt one of the best books to learn about photography, especially for someone who’s not been near a classroom in decades.”
For details of my online and in person workshops, click here:
“Using this book, I have at last got myself off the auto setting on my DSLR. And almost painlessly. The style of writing, the exercises and the self-testing system all worked really well for me and I recommend it wholeheartedly.”