Read the complete review of Photographing the World – Landscape Photography, the first video series by Elia Locardi and Fstoppers.
➙ Here you can find the complete review of Photographing the World 3
Taking pictures has never been easier than today: we are surrounded by plenty of devices that can photograph in pretty much any conditions. DSLR cameras, mirrorless cameras, action cameras, drones, smartphones.
The number of tools to learn photography has dramatically increased as well, so finding out what is worth spending your money on and what is instead a waste of time and money is not always easy.
Today anyone can create a video series about photography, but that doesn’t mean he knows what he’s doing. I learned most of what I know about photography reading online forums and specialized websites but I would have saved a lot of time had I found a valid video series, just like the one I’m about to talk here: Photographing The World 1 – Landscape Photography and Post-Processing.
As I mentioned one of the “problems” with the Internet is that pretty much anyone can pretend to be an expert and that’s why it’s always better, if you want to learn, to trust those who are famous already and are recognized as an expert in their field. In the case of Photography, Elia Locardi is definitely one of them.
Who are Elia Locardi and Fstoppers?
If you are into the photography world I’m sure you have heard of Elia Locardi. He is one of the most successful photographers of recent years. Since 2012 he and his wife became 100% digital nomads and have traveled in over 55 countries photographing and exploring different cultures and some amazing landscapes.
One thing I really like about Elia is that when he realized that he was stuck in a life that he didn’t like anymore he decided that it was time to act (you can read more about it on his blog). He didn’t wait for the right moment to do something. He did it, period. I can relate a bit with what he did as you can read on my bio. He simplified his life and worked tirelessly towards achieving his goals. Guess what? He succeeded.
Fstoppers doesn’t really need a long introduction. It’s one of the most famous and successful photography websites. When a great photographer and a great team of people who work for a well established photography website partner to work on a great project, you can only expect great things; and that’s what happened.
So here’s my review of the video series Photographing the World 1: Landscape Photography by Elia Locardi and F-Stopper.
Photographing the World 1: the review
Photographing the World 1 is made up of 15 lessons plus two introductory lessons and two behind-the-scenes videos.
These are some of the topics covered in the videos:
- Photography Basics (ISO, Shutter Speed, Aperture, White Balance, etc)
- Overview of best lenses and gear for Landscape photography
- Tips for better composition
- Focus Stacking and maximizing depth of field
- Bracketing and multi-exposure blending
- Graduated Neutral Density Filters
- Solid Neutral Density Filters
- Blurring water and skies with long exposures
- Building Panoramic images
- Dealing with Sun Flare
- Understanding Light (Golden Hour, Blue Hour, Sunrise and Sunset)
- Using lens compression to your advantage
- Removing and adding the human element into your images
- Polarizers
- Bracketing and multiple exposure blending
- RAW Processing and Editing Workflow
- Color correction and image adjustment
- Basic object removal, painting, and cloning
- Masking and Layering Techniques
- Introduction to Luminosity Masking
- Time Blending (combining exposures shot at different times)
In the first two lessons, Elia explains which gear he uses to photograph and gives some general info about photography and how a camera works. I find this a really good idea because not all those who will buy the video course are experts.
In the following lessons, everything becomes a bit more complicated but it’s never too difficult to follow them. You’ll definitely have the impressions that you are progressing and learning something new with each new video.
The 15 lessons of the course are recorded in Iceland and New Zealand, two beautiful countries that I sadly didn’t have the chance to visit yet. Every lesson is divided into two parts: in the first half, Elia explains how to choose the right location and how to rightly compose the image according to the time of the day and the landscape you are photographing. In the second half, Elia will show you how to post-process the images using several tools like Lightroom, Photoshop, and other specific plugins.
Personally, I found the post-production lessons very useful. I recognize that I have to improve a lot, and watching Elia helped me to see where I usually make some mistakes and why. Plus I learned some new tricks that have proved to be tremendously useful so far.
With this video course, you’ll learn to master pretty much all the most critical situations you can find while shooting landscapes pictures. Some of the techniques explained are focus-stacking, luminosity masks, blending of two or more exposures, how to shoot the aurora borealis, how to remove people or objects from the picture, and how to properly do a time blending (not a fan of it honestly).
In a few words, there is really a lot to learn and it might be a good idea to rewatch some of the videos.
To conclude I want to say that I honestly think that Photographing the World 1 – Landscape Photography is a video series with incredible quality that will save you a lot of time if you really want to master post-production and landscape photography. You’ll also learn some of the most advanced techniques used by professional photographers.
The main downside of this product is the price (299,99$) not really cheap to be honest but once you will watch you’ll realize that the price is totally justified. Plus many photographers spend thousands of dollars on the gear, so 300$ should be a no-brainer for many people.
If you have a limited budget I understand that this might not be an easy choice. Remember though that one of the best investments you can do in your life is investing in yourself and learning new skills.
You can watch the first lesson for free and then decide what to do.
To summarize these are some of the pros and cons of Photographing The World 1: Landscape Photography and Post-Processing with Elia Locardi:
Pros:
- Photographing the World 1 – Landscape Photography is one of the most advanced Landscape video series available
- besides the videos, you’ll also get the original files and PSD so that you can practice while watching the series
- you don’t have to be a pro. The lessons are not too difficult to follow
- you can access a private Facebook group and join a great community of photographers
Cons:
- the price is not very low, but as I said it’s proportionate to the quality it offers
Final thoughts
Who would benefit from this video series?
- All those who want to improve in Landscape Photography and especially those who recognize that their post-production skills are somehow not over the top.
- Even if you have a good experience and maybe you even sell your pictures online, I’m sure you’ll learn something new.
- Another category of people I think will benefit from these videos is bloggers. Some of them, despite creating really good articles, have really low-quality pictures. Elia’s video series might help you to make your creations look more professional and help you find new collaborations.
This is the link to buy Photographing The World 1: Landscape Photography and Post-Processing with Elia Locardi. It’s a great product and I honestly recommend it.
Here you can find a review of a great tool for Photoshop Raya Pro that helps to easily merge two or more exposures. If you are an expert in using luminosity masks don’t miss my review of Lumi32, arguably the best plugin out there specialized in creating those masks. Here my guide on how to take better travel pictures.
