Disclosure: I received the product mentioned in this post for free from CreativeLive. This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. All opinions are mine!

When I got my digital camera, I didn’t really think about using it beyond its auto features. After taking my first CreativeLive class, “The Photography Starter Kit for Beginners” I’ve got a whole new understanding of the “everything else” on my camera. I’ve finally realized the way I’d been using it was like having a piece of cake but only eating the frosting!

“The Photography Starter Kit for Beginners” is taught by John Greengo and was a great first foray into CreativeLive education. This class is perfect for anyone looking to learn the basics of photography, and how all those basics come together to form the foundation of telling stories through the photos you take.

The course is very technical, breaking down the topics of shutter speed, aperture, ISO, lens, exposure, focus, and more into bite-sized visual chapters. Greengo takes time to show how each of these topics shows up in some of the latest DSLR and mirrorless digital cameras, and gives lots of examples of how photos would look when taken in each of these settings.

The CreativeLive course format is so great for visual learners. I learned a lot and took copious notes – I’d recommend having your favorite notepad if you like to jot down notes too, and it doesn’t hurt to have your camera nearby to take a look at where the settings discussed are found. I had a constant itch to get outside and start taking photos as I made my way through the course!

The entire course was just over four hours long, and since it was split into seventeen chapters it was easy to watch it at my leisure. However, I’d recommend watching the course chapters as closely together as possible. It could be easy to forget where you left off, and the chapters link together so nicely at the end it’d be helpful to remember as much of it as possible.

CreativeLive offers more than 1,500 classes on a variety of topics. I highly recommend “The Photography Starter Kit for Beginners” of course, but you can save 20% on any class with the code ISHARE20.

I’m already planning to take another class, one of the Fast Start courses on my camera. Let me know if you’re planning to take one too!