ONLINE COURSE · DOG PHOTOGRAPHY OUTDOOR
The dog at full speed. Sharp. In the light you actually have.
The method I use on every action shoot, in 24 lessons you keep for life. From the first setting to the final edit.
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NIKON AMBASSADOR ITALY · 173 MASTERS IN 24 COUNTRIES · 5.0 ON 97 GOOGLE REVIEWS
18
An action photograph can go wrong in eighteen places.
Most of us only ever find two or three of them, usually the hard way. This course goes through all eighteen, in the order they happen, from the first setting to the final export.
EIGHTEEN PLACES
Which one did you say the last time you downloaded your card?
BEFORE YOU PRESS
“I don’t even know which settings to start from.”
A camera has hundreds of options and the manual treats them all the same. For a running dog only a few really matter, and they are always set in the same order.
LESSON 1 · FIRST STEP
“He runs past me and I’m always in the wrong spot.”
Where you stand decides the background, the light on his face and whether he runs towards you or across the frame. It is chosen before he is released, not while he is coming.
LESSON 8 · CREATE A PHOTO FROM SCRATCH
“Sharp. Perfectly sharp. On the ear, not the eye.”
At full speed the plane of focus is a few centimetres deep. Where it lands is decided before the dog takes off, not while he runs.
LESSONS 5 AND 6 · THE AUTOFOCUS IN DOG PHOTOGRAPHY
“The sky is fine. The dog is a black hole.”
On a dark dog the meter gets fooled by everything around him. Once the shadows are empty in the file, no slider brings them back.
LESSON 2 · CORRECT EXPOSURE IN DOG PHOTOGRAPHY
“It looked great on the camera screen.”
The screen shows a small, flattering version of the file. How far that file can go later is settled by choices you make before the first frame.
LESSON 3 · QUALITY IN CAMERA
★★★★★
“At first I struggled quite a bit to get sharp photos of dogs in motion while changing the settings. […] The results are on a completely different level.”
Lucie Nermuťová, Google review of the online course
WHILE HE RUNS
“I pressed at the right moment. He was already gone.”
At full speed, half a second is a whole jump. The frame you want has to be ready before it happens, because reacting is always late.
LESSON 4 · SHOOTING TECHNIQUES
“The light went, so I went home.”
Evenings, woods, grey winter days: that is when most dogs are actually out. Low light leaves you plenty of choices, and very few of them mean packing up.
LESSON 7 · WORKING WITH HIGH ISO
“Sharp, well lit, and he looks bored.”
A dog’s expression changes several times in a single jump, and it follows his mood and the game. It can be read, and it can be brought out.
LESSON 9 · FORESEE DOG’S EXPRESSIONS
“I always cut off a paw, or leave too much sky.”
The edges of the frame decide what the photograph is about. Most crops happen by accident, in the second you press.
LESSON 10 · CREATING A SUCCESSFUL PHOTO
AND THEN
“People like my photos. Nobody books me.”
Likes come from good photographs. Bookings come from a name people can find and check. That part has its own lessons and its own exam, and it ends with your number in a public register.
LESSONS 11 AND 12 · GROWING IN SOCIALS · CREATING A BUSINESS
BACK HOME, AT THE COMPUTER
“Two thousand frames, and I can’t pick one.”
Choosing is the first step of editing, and almost nobody teaches it. There are precise reasons why one frame beats twenty that look nearly the same.
EDITING 1 · CRITERIA FOR SELECTING PHOTOS WITH LIGHTROOM
“I open Lightroom and move sliders until it looks less bad.”
Every slider does one precise thing, and most of them should stay where they are. Knowing which ones to touch turns an hour of trying into ten minutes.
EDITING 2 · DISCOVERING THE POTENTIALS OF LIGHTROOM
“Editing takes me longer than the walk did.”
Two hundred photos from one session don’t need two hundred separate edits. A short, fixed sequence does most of the work for all of them.
EDITING 3 · FAST EDITING IN LIGHTROOM
“He disappears into the grass.”
A dog stands out when light, colour and contrast work on him and leave the field alone. Then the eye goes to him first.
EDITING 5 AND 8 · SELECTING THE DOG · LIGHTS AND DARKNESS IN PHOTOSHOP
“My white dog came home green.”
Grass, water and sky all throw their colour onto a light coat. The camera records it faithfully, and most people only notice once it’s printed.
EDITING 7 · REMOVING COLOR CAST ON DOGS
“The colours are right and it still looks flat.”
Correct colour is not the same as depth. Light and colour can be shaped on the dog and on the background separately, with masks that follow brightness.
EDITING 9 · CHANGING COLORS AND LUMINOSITY MASKS
“Beautiful on my computer, soft on Instagram.”
Every platform and every print size eats sharpness in its own way. Sharpen for one and you spoil the others.
EDITING 6 AND 11 · PERFECT SHARPNESS · EXPORTING FOR SOCIALS AND PRINTS
“Good photos. They just don’t look like mine.”
A style people recognise is the same chain of decisions, made every time. Change the chain from photo to photo and the result changes with it.
EDITING 10 AND 12 · FINAL RETOUCH AND SIGNATURE · CREATING A WORKFLOW
★★★★★
“[…] he made everything really clear, explains the “why” rather than just telling you what to do and gives you multiple ways to achieve one result.”
Rachel Wynn, Google review of the online course
★★★★★
“I gained so much knowledge and experience in photography, that I finally had the confidence to start my own business and compete in high end competitions against the pros.”
Michelle Dawkins, Google review of the online program
Recognised yourself in two or three of them? That’s normal.
The course goes through all eighteen, one lesson at a time.
WHO IS TEACHING
Dogs came first. The camera came later.
I’m Claudio Piccoli. I’m from Italy, I live in Belgium, and I photograph dogs in action for a living.
The dogs came first. Photography arrived later, and year after year it changed my life and my work.
I’m Nikon Ambassador for Italy and a Nikon School Master, and I helped create the Master di Fotografia with Corriere della Sera, Gazzetta dello Sport and Nikon. My photographs have won awards at IPA, SIPA and Oasis, and have been published by Forbes, The Guardian and Corriere della Sera.
When I photograph a dog, I want everyone who sees the picture to think he is the best dog in the world. This course is how I get there, every time.
NIKON AMBASSADOR ITALY · NIKON SCHOOL MASTER · 173 MASTERS IN 24 COUNTRIES · 5.0 ON 97 GOOGLE REVIEWS
THE ONLINE COURSE
Dog Photography Outdoor.
The complete method I use on every action shoot, from the first camera setting to the finished photograph.
24 lessons
Twelve on shooting, from exposure and autofocus to reading the dog. Twelve on editing in Lightroom and Photoshop, from choosing the frame to exporting it.
70 episodes
Short enough to watch one before a walk, and to find again when you need it.
15 hours
Recorded once, yours for life, future updates included.
One exam
You submit the original file next to the edited one. Pass, and you get the Master Certificate, a number in the public register and a place on the Masters map.
Two languages
Recorded in English and, separately, in Italian.
€590 in one payment, or €59 a month for 12 months. Lifetime access.
THE PRICE
One course. Two ways to pay.
BEST VALUE
PAY ONCE
€590
✓ Lifetime access, one payment
✓ All 24 lessons open from day one
✓ I answer your questions by email
✓ Final exam and Master Certificate
✓ €118 less than paying monthly
MONTHLY
€59
a month, for 12 months
✓ Lifetime access, 12 payments
✓ All 24 lessons open from day one
✓ I answer your questions by email
✓ Final exam and Master Certificate
✓ €708 in total, then nothing more
BOTH INCLUDE · 24 LESSONS AND 70 EPISODES · LIGHTROOM AND PHOTOSHOP EDITING · SOCIAL AND BUSINESS LESSONS · FINAL EXAM AND MASTER CERTIFICATE · PUBLIC REGISTER AND MASTERS MAP · ALL FUTURE UPDATES
The price you see is the price you pay, with nothing added at checkout. You get access straight after payment, and after any lesson you can email me your questions.
QUESTIONS
Before you start.
Didn’t find your answer? Write to me and you’ll get an answer.
Will it work without you standing next to me?
Yes. Every technique comes with the reasoning behind it, so you can use it on a dog and in a place I’ve never seen. After any lesson you can email me your questions.
I’m a beginner. Is this for me?
Yes. Lesson 1 starts from the camera settings and from where to stand, and the course builds from there to the dog at full speed, at your own pace. You don’t need experience with dogs or any particular equipment, because the course teaches you everything you need.
I already shoot well. Is it advanced enough for me?
Yes. The editing goes all the way to my complete workflow, with Photoshop techniques that many experienced photographers have never used.
Is it only for action photography?
No. Action is the hardest test, because light, autofocus, timing and composition all have to work in a fraction of a second. What you learn here works on portraits, on calm moments outdoors and on subjects other than dogs.
I’ve never used Lightroom or Photoshop.
That’s fine. The 12 editing lessons start from zero and build up step by step to very advanced techniques.
What equipment do I need?
The one you already have. What matters is the approach, not the gear: you learn to use and get the most out of the camera and lens you own. And if you haven’t bought them yet, you learn first and choose later.
Who is it not for?
If you are looking for one trick or one preset, or if you are not willing to shoot badly for a while before you shoot well.
Can I pay in instalments?
Yes: €59 a month for 12 months, with all the lessons open from day one and the same lifetime access as the single payment of €590.
Can this become paid work?
That’s what the social and business lessons are for, together with the final exam and your place on the Masters map, where clients look for a certified photographer near them.
Where do I find the course after paying?
Straight away in your account, under My Courses. You also get an email with a button that opens it.
Can I watch it on my phone or tablet?
Yes, on computer, tablet or phone. The episodes are short, so you can watch one wherever you are.
How long do I keep the course?
For life. The lessons stay in your account, with no expiry date, and future updates are included.
Which languages?
English and Italian, two separate courses, each recorded in its own language.
