Beginner photography course in BRISTOL | 4 workshops

Beginner

14h
Photography courses - Introductory courses for beginners (4 workshops)

Beginner: master your camera Packages of courses

We cover basic photographic techniques, and immediately apply them through practical exercises. We discuss the decisions one must make while shooting. At the end of this course, you’ll be in control of your camera, and it will no longer make the decisions for you. You can begin to create the images that you’ve been wanting to. You’ll stop “taking” photos, because now you’ll have all the tools to “make” a photo.

How it works?

A summary of the notions covered in this course will be handed out at the end of each session. A “meeting form” with the exact meet-up location will be sent to enrolled participants a few days before
The workshops are composed of a theoretical part, practical training and a debriefing.
To get the most out of the experience, please respect the chronological order of the 4 workshops (i.e. take course No 1 first and couse No 4 last).

Photography course beginners - Manage camera settings

Level : Beginner

All camera brands are accepted

Bridge or Hybrid
Reflex Camera SLR

7 Maximum number of participants

Duration 14h

Workshop in English

Course No 1: Camera settings (Beginner level)

Learning to use the manual mode of your reflex or bridge camera is an important step towards taking better pictures. Operating manuals provided with the camera are monotonous and do not really show all there is to know about the many buttons and parameters available.

Understanding the parameters of the camera and knowing digital photography vocabulary is the first key step. White balance, sensor sensitivity (ISO), RAW format and exposure correction are only examples of terms that will be presented in a clear and concise way during the course.

This workshop will teach you how to:

Use the right image format between JPEG and RAW
Adjust the white balance
Correct the exposure
Set the ISO on the camera
Read a histogram
Use the “P” shooting mode

At the end of the workshop, we will off a complete debriefing so you can share your images from the session. This collective review by the photography teacher will ensure that everyone has a good understanding of the workshop, as well as the chance to be inspired by other students' work.

Mastering your camera - Learning in a group

Course No 2: Aperture and Depth of field (Beginner level)

Generally speaking, the camera lens, and the notions and adjustments that result from it, will be at the heart of this workshop:

The notion of focal length, i.e. the angle of vision covered by a lens, will be discussed and applied during the practical phase of the workshop. You will learn the advantages and disadvantages of each category of focal length.
You will learn how to easily manage the exposure of an image by adjusting the aperture. You will learn how to use the A/Av shooting mode.
You will be able to manage your depth of field, i.e. the area of sharpness that extends in front of and behind the subject in focus (and therefore also the blurred area).

At the end of this workshop, you will be able to take portraits and landscape photos without distortion (linked to the choice of focal length), to put an artistic blur in your image, and to choose the sharpness area (linked to the choice of aperture).

Course No 3: Shutter speed and movement (Beginner level)

How can movement be captured in photography? Or, on the other hand, how can you freeze the action of a scene?

Managing the exposure time – or the shutter speed – of the camera is the answer to these two questions and is, just like the depth of field, a key parameter in photography. This parameter allows the light to hit the digital sensor for a defined amount of time, which will freeze or blur a movement.

In this case, you will have once again a wide array of creative possibilities: blur or freeze the action, get a panning (a moving subject is frozen in a blurry surrounding).

This workshop will teach you how to:

Use the “S” and “Tv” shooting modes
Make pannings of moving subjects
Freeze the movement of a subject
Use blur to suggest movement and bring dynamism to your pictures

Course No 4: Light and focus (Beginner level)

During this fourth and final workshop on camera technology, light management, focus, and the use of manual mode will be on the program!

Initially, the management and measurement of light will be discussed; you will learn how to use the different modes and settings to interpret and shape the light in an image.

Focus management will also be discussed. To achieve precise focus on a moving subject, or on an off-centre element, mastering the different autofocus modes and the selection of collimators are fundamental.

Finally, the manual shooting mode will be at the heart of the practical phase; the aim will be to familiarise you with this non-automated mode, to make its use more obvious. Of course, the exercises proposed by your teacher will also focus on light measurement and the use of autofocus.

This course will teach you to: