From Snapshots to Photography

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We often stand amazed at photographs and wonder "how was that done?".
Two powerful lessons one needs to learn is what lens to use for which situation and how to compose a photo for the most powerful presentation. Lenses and composition go hand in hand in knowing how to turn your "snapshot" looking photos into powerful images. Join Jim Dicecco as he shows you how lenses and composition work together to help your images pack that powerful punch.

[@BandH]

Most welcome. Thank you for watching and participating.

[@camachophotography]

It is obvious that Jim is a teacher, the way he communicates is perfect for learning. Excellent content for photography basics and ideas. Thank you, Jim.

[@bhartwigutube]

Overall well done presentation. To the folks negative about the Canon-esque nature - its where the guy works! He did a great job of describing the function of different lenses, and can it helped that he is passionate about where he works? We should all be so lucky to have a job so awesome we want to tell everyone about our products!

[@gc2161]

This is good. No nonsense teaching. Very good.

[@augustgreidanus8662]

The second half of this presentation is an incredibly useful and easy to follow introduction to methods to use in the art of photography. Very well presented. I enjoyed the first half also, because I shoot mostly with canon equipment. Thanks B&H for making available this series of lectures about photography!

[@BandH]

@NarrowGauge1, @allison northway Thank you both for watching the B&H Photo KZbin Channel and for your participation. We are very pleased that you derive value from and find our presentations useful and informative.

[@jimveight]

I shoot with Sony and I found the infomation that was put forward about Canon lenses fascinating . If the idea was to educate on what type of lens was best suited to a particular use, it certainly worked - very well done. I found all of the presentaion to be compelling, I have a cramp in my hand from all of the notes I have taken. It was excellent, thank you Jim and thank you B&H and thank you Canon

[@TonyC0101]

The mentioning of the shapes, circles especially, is epic!

[@danielconserjr.5557]

Great Trainer and to the point. Very great informational content. He takes time to let you catch everything he is explaining as he goes. Thanks, Dan

[@nauseousnarwhal1776]

Note that when he talks about 35mm and 50m lenses They are smaller on crop APSC sized sensors such as the 35mm is essentially a 50mm and a 24-28mm is like a 35mm on the full frame.

[@randallcurtis7134]

Is this series of B&H lectures perfect? Probably not. Are they a great effort and extremely helpful? Absolutely. snapshots to photography implies to me transitioning from 'taking' pictures to 'making' pictures ... as an art form. The artist isn't after 'composition' as an end in and of itself. An artist is after how the art engages the audience and then how the art impacts the audience once they are engages. Depth of field and compression, etc may not be 'composition,' but these ideas certainly do address the impact of the art on the audience, so they seem right at home to me in this discussion. Aspiring photographers are often told to put their money in glass, not in the camera body. The speaker addressed this idea very well; of course he talked about a brand and 'quality' of lenses, but more importantly he spoke about what the aspiring photographer can and cannot achieve with a 'type' of lens: wide angle, telephoto, etc. From an artistic point of view, that part of this lessons for aspiring photographers was just as helpful as was the portion of the lecture on 'composition.' If i went to a lecture on aircraft design and the guest expert was a design engineer from Boeing, i probably wouldn't be surprised to see some Boeing philosophy creep into the lecture. I would still consider it a privilege to hear the speaker explain the methods of his/her art. Thank you B&H.

[@mizfile]

I like his fast pace and as a Canon shooter I appreciate the good info. Thanks B&H!

[@alohaleslie9407]

The comments below were taken 5 years ago. Despite the LEFT brain marketing (necessary for sales),, the presenter did a very fine job of RIGHT brain illustrations of great photography. Nicely done. Thanks so much as I always get so much from B&H.

[@xperience-media7396]

Great communicator - really enjoy B and H lecture series. Thanks

[@ramseslukemoscoso964]

I learned a lot from this video! Thanks a lot for sharing those helpful Information with us. With such a short amount of time he was able to discuss so much.

[@pitmanra]

A long Canon commercial should be titled as such. I wish I'd read the comments first.

[@StephenRudolph]

Get over the Canon thing, this is a very informative video with an excellent instructor.

[@occecid]

I'm glad you saw that the lens information is very transferable to other brands as well. I do represent Canon, but my aim here was education and to help people take better photos.

[@Bigbaldybear]

Excellent stuff. I shall be watching this again. Thank you

[@danburcea9818]

Very dynamic and smart way to teach photography to beginners !

[@FrankTerpoorten]

what you should know about photography is explained in a fun way but to the point, great

[@NarrowGauge1]

Terrific presentation. Thanks B&H !

[@JWW922]

Who did he say he works for again?

[@dougoh6749]

There was a lot about Canon products, but also much useful, practical info. Overall, good presentation. A suggestion: use picture in picture so we can see both the speaker and his slides. Several times he spoke about a picture, but we never saw it because the camera focused on him and not the screen.

[@kamikazeOS]

nice video, the second half was what I was looking for.

[@themonasterio11]

Great vídeo.. easy explanation on complex subjects. Thanks!!!

[@SoobinOh]

The lens stuff was helpful I guess, but the second half of this presentation was incredibly insightful for me as a newbie.

[@danielmcpartlan7268]

1:21:10 Did that woman really state that the bird was "dumb as dirt"??

[@antonioorganista2675]

Than's Jim for your lesson I'm beginer and learn a lot about lens Thank's to you and the Staff of B&H and Canon I wait for more viedeo like this

[@pevangel]

Wonderful teaching. Nice slides, too.

[@bruce-le-smith]

great video thanks! the "left brain" mechanical talk actually goes to minute 53:35, so it's quite long given the promise at the beginning that 'it isn't that kind of presentation'. but personally i didn't mind since i shoot Canon, and i do think that the talk about what different lenses are good for can translate to other brands.

[@robertfutrell3973]

Just what I need on the information about Canon lenses.

[@vagabond197979]

53:40 he switches from the left brain (gratuitous Canon lens spiel) part of the program to the right brain (what you came to this video to see) portion of the program.

[@shawnstebleton8180]

He DOES state in his description that there are TWO lessons - how to choose what lens to use, and how to compose a shot. I would EXPECT there to be two parts to the program. They are roughly equal, with the choosing which lens portion a bit longer than the composition portion.

[@sameerargade]

Wow this was worth a million dollar worth of knowledge for a beginner like me:)

[@andrewbarber2131]

great tips if you skip to about the first 55 mins

[@4444Sami]

Thank you so much.

[@farhanzainal90]

why people complain on first half of the video about canon products? it actually delivering technical aspect of lenses still informative for me.

[@Dinahhs3]

Thanks a lot b&h for this kind of vedios.....very helpfull

[@poochie12350]

very good.thanks

[@dot73558]

thank you so much

[@occecid]

Thanks for the impute. I do represent Canon but your point is well taken.

[@christianschafer4069]

Sensor sizes affect the DoF indirectly. For example, if you're shooting at 100 mm with a full frame sensor and you change to an APS-C with a crop of 1,6 you get a field of view comparable to a focal length of 160 mm (the focal length stays at 100 mm, the DoF stays the same, so up to this point, you're right). To get a full frame equivalent field of view, you need to change to 62 mm focal length and then you get much more DoF and less bokeh. So both of you are right.

[@amateurphotographerassocia5965]

Will share ;)

[@BandH]

@4444Sami Most welcome

[@andreandpaula]

Great video. I don't have a problem with the canon slant.

[@SiIkyJohnson]

Stick around or fast forward through the product plug. I was close to leaving, but there are some really great tips starting at 53:00

[@nethu7171]

He is awesom

[@occecid]

The composition and information on the brain would apply to an phone camera. Lenses just change the way your composition will visually appear. The lens information is transferable to other companies as well. However, I do represent Canon and thus the emphasis on Canon. Happy shooting.

[@balla7t]

I feel like I watched an one hour long Canon commercial for the first hour.

[@occecid]

Thanks for the input. I have modified it now. However I do work for Canon so I had to put something in there. But your input is very helpful. Thanks.

[@balla7t]

Jim Dicecco The information was still very useful though, I learned a lot about what models of lens are out there and what they are good for. Especially the tips on getting close to the subject with a wide angle and using a telephoto for greater DoF. Cheers!

[@atephoto]

Have you ever seen Nikon, Tamron, Fuji or Sony-photographers on B&H?

[@occecid]

B&H has all of them there. I had a few in my class as well.

[@PatrickHeindel]

Excellent presentation, very clear! The only thing that I am unsure about is the description of the effects of focal length on perspective. He mentions at about 33:15 that if you stood in one spot and took a landscape photo with a telephoto that you would be "compressing" the foreground and background. He then states that if you took a wide angle shot from the same place and cropped it, it would not be as dramatic. From all I have learned this is not true, am I missing something?

[@eyuwtoob]

Excellent presentation. More so due to the cost ;)

[@bobbyntammy]

You guys bring in some real pros. Why pay 100's for workshops when you have B&H... Keep em coming. Thanks.

[@occecid]

Yes, I do represent Canon. This the emphasis on Canon in the first 1/3 of the presentation. If you are not a Canon shooter about 3/4 of this should still apply to you.

[@ornino54]

good commercial for Canon. for beginners.

[@BandH]

Yes, you can get the included software from Canon's web site. C h u c k askbh{at}bandh{dot}com

[@ipwnyorass]

thanks for not charging us with your lesson sir.. lol. i learned alot.

[@BandH]

Optical formulas do have their "signatures". Telephoto lens do compress the visual information. This is sometimes called "pincushion distortion". Likewise wide angle lens create curvature sometimes called "barrel distortion". You could in theory shoot an image with a wide angle lens and crop it to that of a telephoto. The issue is while it will not have the compression; it will have very reduced resolution as you will only use a small portion of the sensor. C h u c k askbh{at}bandh{dot}com

[@markpianoman]

Why is everything here at B&H so Canon-centric? I have the Nikon D7000 -- would be nice to have presentations more focused on Nikon!

[@Boodhunnilesh]

very intuitive video. thanks !

[@occecid]

Did you watch the whole presentation.

[@chorbil]

It starts to get interesting at 53:00

[@Mesdriver]

Well if you do not use Canon, the rules do not apply to you?

[@GreenRC24]

At 1:05:55 he hand is cut off.

[@Bigbaldybear]

There wasn't a single cannon in the video. Lots of nice Canon lenses though :)

[@jpdj2715]

One correction Mr. Di Cecco - sorry. (Thanks B & H for organizing these lectures.) If you tell people you have been a teacher, everything definitional that you claim must be right. And in general, even anonymously standing before an audience and claiming things has the same requirement. IMO. Perspective is a function of distance. Not of focal length. Not of angle. Other than that, nice introduction to composition, using light and shadow, and not debating the HW.

[@Intiom]

He also wasn't too accurate about why 50mm lenses are called "normal".

[@nikhilsrl]

Is he a Canon employee, seems to be quite into Canon.

[@ViewEight]

This is an hour of Canon commercial followed by basic rules, and all the examples look like snapshots to me

[@jayfromaz]

His explanation of "crop" frame vs full frame mixes two issues. His first part is correct but when he talks about a telephoto and shooting wildlife isn't correct. If you crop your "full frame" image to the same crop factor you have the same picture just like he pointed out in the first part of the explanation.

[@FoulPet]

One long commercial for cannon.

[@rhiwderinraytube]

I think that if you are using someone else's photos in a presentation it would be common courtesy to at least know who took them and credit them on the slide. Was permission of the photographer gained? Ray Wilson Photo Website:- raywilsonpix.weebly.com

[@renosboo]

Was thinking the same thing. I think the lecture loses some credibility if basic research can't be done to find the original artists and credit their work.

[@markstarrett2740]

My friend and I took a full day composition course one day where he did the same thing...one of the best shots he had turned out to be one from online, doubted he even asked to use it let alone give the photographer's name..i came across it by accident a few weeks later... he lost some credibility with us after that. This vid does have some good advice just as the guy we sat in on though..

[@beamwalker]

Bokeh actually refers to the quality of the blur in a picture and not the amount. His use of the word is quite confusing at times.

[@mollykelly5798]

If you're already familiar with lenses you can skip to 54 minutes, save your self an hour of time.

[@SeanKimStyle]

Great communicator. but misleading title.

[@ThePitcoupe]

I didn't like the excessive Canon promotion... Apart that, not much.

[@lhlumby]

I thought this was supposed to be about the creative side of photography, not about Canon lenses.

[@onthecorneroftheoryandtrut7951]

A waste of 90 minutes. Little time is spent talking about shooting the "photograph". But lot's of time promoting product. AWFUL

[@phillloyd47]

Canon fanboy or employee?

[@Bongo2k]

The lens brand means nothing, 30mm on a Canon is the same as 30mm on a Nikon lens, you fail.

[@videogamesare1]

fun jokes

[@legendarycondor]

He says he won't touch on technical. Its all technical. Skip this.

[@oceandrew]

If the presentation was by a Nikon user you can bet that the camera brand and equipment brand they'd talk about is Nikon. Does it matter? They do the same thing - allow you to capture images. Get past the brand name and the numbers and concepts apply equally to all. Just sayin'.

[@sealand000]

The right brain is "gonna be my primary emphasis" Spends more than half of the time talking about the left brain... and about Canon.

[@nikhilsrl]

Its just that he is talking a bit too much about Canon this Canon that....

[@lordoftheflings]

59:36 pure nonsense. those pictures are dead and uninteresting. Who cares that they contain shapes? almost every picture of anything will contains shapes. This talk should be titled howto take boring and lifeless photographs for stock photography websites.

[@tuttirulla]

Pretty basic stuff, unless you're beginner save your self the time this takes and don't watch it.

[@jesusoliveira2]

Don´t say "quick question?". That does not sound very polite really.

[@frankstark3036]

Not a fan of his photos

[@lordoftheflings]

This lecture is boring, nothing but a Canon commercial in disguise.

[@lakanleonkilat]

..i stop watching after hearing these stupid nonsense words; " if your canon shooter your in luck. canon has more lenses to choose from than any other company"..

[@cynic252]

sorry but he starts off badly withcomplete bull there is no left and right brain...when will people forget these myths. I couldnt listen to him after that