Digital Photography & Photoshop (Level 1)

The course is designed for those who own a digital camera [but this is not essential – you can borrow a camera] and want to maximise its potential and learn the fundamental skills to improve your digital photography.

What The Course is About:

The course is designed for those who own a digital camera [but this is not essential – you can borrow a camera] and want to maximise its potential and learn the fundamental skills to improve your digital photography. Adobe Photoshop is the professional software for editing digital images. The aim is to enable learners to take better pictures by demystifying the elements of photography [e.g. composition, quality of light, form, texture etc.] and explain the camera's non-auto settings. Through classroom-based teaching using a wall screen and individual computers we will go through all the basic settings on the camera. You will be introduced to the work of some established photographers to gain a deeper understanding of composition and creativity. As a group we will look at your pictures to give practical criticism and feedback.

Materials Required:

You will need to bring your digital camera (please also bring the camera’s instruction booklet or we can access it online). You do not have to own the Photoshop software to participate in the course but it's worth seeing what can be achieved. A USB memory stick is also very useful.

Previous Experience:

Beginners - No knowledge of cameras or Photoshop is necessary but basic computer skills are useful.

End of course:

You will have learnt how to operate the essentials of your digital camera and use the manual setting to get the correct exposure using combinations of shutter speed, aperture and ISO. Practical exercises will have given you insights into how to deal with both natural and artificial light. Black and white photography and the drama of shadow and light will have been explored. You will have gained an understanding of composition and how filters and lenses enhance imagery. In Adobe Photoshop the essentials of this complex but terrific editing software will have shown you how subtle changes and cropping get the best out of your images. Having completed the course level two should be considered for greater depth.

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