PHOTOGRAPHY

Courses and Classes

If you're a hands-on learner, here is our prime course that will help you get along with your camera equipment, now available in Woburn, MA. Like every painter needs to know his brushes, like every musician needs to know their instrument, you as photographer should know your tool. We'll walk you right through all the features and functions you need to know to get the most out of your camera.

Photography 1 - Boston Woburn, MA

Foundations

Photography 1 is also available on video
All the videos are included with this course in your Study Kit

 Course C1MAC1B - Photography 1, Boston (Women only)

Register now

6 Weeks • Tuesday evenings 7:00 - 9:00

Course starting:

TBA

Seats available:

18

Location:

Woburn, MA

Other locations

If you prefer to learn in a fun, clean, and family friendly environment, this photography course is for you.

In this hands-on course, we will demystify each of the systems that make up your camera, e.g: shutter, aperture, ISO, metering and whitebalance. We will guide you through an exploration of how each of those work, why they are needed, how they do what they do, and why you should care. Then we'll show you how to use each of them artistically to improve your photography. Classes are very laid back with lots of hands-on learning. It will help greatly if you have a sense of humor.

Get your certificate in Basic Photography:

Photography 1 consists of 6 photography classes that are held on 6 consecutive Tuesday evenings from 7:00 to 9:00
at The Courtyard Boston Woburn Burlington, MA, located at 240 Mishawum Rd, Woburn, MA 01801.  If you attend at least 3 of the 6 classes you will receive a certificate in Basic Photography at the end of the course.

 This course is for you if:

• You'd prefer to not trip over your camera anymore and want to start enjoying photography to its fullest.

• You have been photographing for a while and you know your camera can do more than automatic mode.

• You feel overwhelmed by your camera system and don't know what all the things on it are for.

• You just got a new DSLR and you would like to learn how to best use it.

• You know about shutter, aperture, ISO and could use a refresher with a little leg-up on connecting the dots.

• You prefer to study in a fun, friendly, safe, and non-judgmental environment.

What you will learn:

Our Photography 1 course consists of 6 classes that build on each other to help you learn all you need to know about camera systems. Each class consists of classroom time bundled with live, hands-on demonstrations. Because we believe in hands-on learning, you get to shoot in the class. Usually the assignment for each class is very similar to what you just did in class. Throughout the course, we'll spend some time learning class room material and some time during hands-on demonstrations.

Included with the course is your personal Study Kit, which contains everything you'll need for the course, and then some!

Your personal Study Kit:

We've assembled this invaluable kit of information and tools that you'll be able to use long after your 6-week course is over. (Well ... maybe not the cookies. Those, you will have to eat by their freshness date for best value. But everything else in your kit will have a great shelf life.)

As the name implies, Photography 1 is the starting point to explore your love of photography and begin building your skills. We believe that there is always something new to learn. Always a skill you can polish or a handy tip that will reveal some new facet of photography to you.

That's why we emphasize hands-on learning in all our courses. It's also why we created our Study Kit. We believe curiosity and a desire to learn are continuous, not something to turn on for class and off when you go home. And with our Study Kit, you don't have to be in the classroom to benefit from our course.

In your Study Kit, you'll find:

Your course book, with all the course content laid out in chapters.

No need to take notes. We've done it for you. You can focus entirely on the night's lesson, knowing that you can refer back to each night's material anytime you need to.

Your name tag, so we can get to know each other quicker.

Our courses build communities. Many of our students form friendships that endure long after the course ends. We love that. And we love to facilitate it.

Your C1M Academy Student ID, with all the rights and benefits it bestows.

Student discounts on computer equipment and editing software, among other things, let you feed your passion for photography for less. And who doesn't love that?

Your Quick Reference card, full of tips for remembering what all the hubbub is about.

Let's face it, when you're out with camera in hand, you've got enough gear to juggle. You can't be thumbing through your camera's manual or our course book for information when you want to be taking a great photo. Our Quick Reference card is packed with helpful reminders that will help you get your shot.

Your C1M Gray Card.

In class 4, we’ll discuss metering and exposure. That’s where a Gray Card comes in handy. We’ll show you how to use it.

Your C1M Whitebalance Target.

In class 5, we will be discussing light and Whitebalance. We’ll show you how to use the Whitebalance Target on the back of the C1M Gray Card to get correct colors with any exposure.

A DVD containing each class in video format. If you miss a class, it'll be right there.

We know that schedules don't always work the way we want them to. Over the course of 6 weeks, missing a class is sometimes unavoidable. While our make-up policy is very liberal, we know that you might not want to wait. Now, you don't have to. You can simply pop in your DVD. Each class will be there in video form, allowing you to cover the missed material at your convenience. (And, you can still make the class up in a later course if you need to.)

3 cards to share with friends, entitling them to a free Intro to Digital Photography class.

There's nothing more fun than sharing something you love with someone you love. Our Intro to Digital Photography passes allow you to share our two-hour quick-start course with three of your favorite people. Then you'll have someone to go take pictures with.

Your emergency cookie pack, to be used in case there is a dire cookie shortage.

We thinks this speaks for itself. You can never be too prepared in this area.

What makes our approach unique:

We have been teaching photography since 2006. We found that while photography looks very easy, to understand all its elements and gain control is a lot harder than it looks. The fact that camera systems continue to get more complicated isn't really helping here at all. Your camera consists of several complex systems, all interacting with each other. Trying to learn about aperture, shutter and ISO on the same day proved not to be an effective learning method. It's just too complicated.

We since learned that the best way to learn photography seems to be when we break it down and teach it in fun and hands-on sections. One subject, one technical conundrum at a time. Our courses are geared for adult learning and we found the sweet spot to be at 2 hours per class. If we go any longer students may get tired and absorb less. The segmented syllabus together with hands-on learning and focused assignments seem to make all the difference.

When we changed from teaching a day class to spread out over 6 weeks, clients started to make better sense of things. The reason we found is, it gave our clients time to absorb, try out and play with what they learned; - Before we introduced the next subject. It was this small change that almost magically increased learning and made all the difference to our clients.

What you need to bring:

• Your sense of humor. (Required)

• Your camera, that can be set to S,A and M modes. (DSLR type recommended)

• The booklet that came with your camera.

• A charged battery and a chip-card for your camera.

What if you miss a class:

People missing classes now and again is quite common and we want to make things easy for you. All classes are available as a video and are included in your Study Kit for you to watch at your leisure.
If you'd like to make-up any missed class, you can do so, within a 12 month period, at any of the upcoming courses in any of our course locations. All we ask is that you let us know you will be coming.

What to do next:

If you would like to sign up, you can do so right here on this web site. All you need is a credit card. Click the Add to Cart button, and you're nearly done.

Once you sign up, you'll receive an email saying thank you and telling you what to expect next. We may need to contact you for additional information to satisfy Department of Education requirements. About a week before the course starts, we'll send you an email with detailed directions on how to find us.

Course location:

The Courtyard Boston Woburn Burlington, MA, located at 240 Mishawum Rd, Woburn, MA 01801.

 

There's a method to our madness. C1MAC1 Course Syllabus:

Class 1:

Introductions, introducing your Study Kit, camera systems,  exposure modes.

Demo: Tripods, heads, monopods and when you need them.

Assignment: Take 3 images in Program mode and note aperture, shutter and ISO.

Class 2:

Using your autofocus like a pro. The shutter, how it controls light entering you camera and how you can use it to control motion in your photos.

Demo: How to use the shutter to show motion. Shooting in shutter priority mode.

Assignment: Take 2 images at different shutter speeds, showing how a slow shutter can show motion and a faster shutter stops it. Using panning to create dramatic motion effects.

Class 3:

The aperture, how it controls light entering your camera and how you can use it to control the depth of field. What the numbers on your lens mean.

Demo: How to use the aperture to control the depth of field. Shooting in aperture priority mode.

Assignment: Take 2 images, one with a large depth of field and one with a shallow one.

Class 4:

ISO, metering systems and how they work with aperture and shutter to control exposure. Elements of composition and how to use them to take better photos.

Demo: How your cameras metering system works. Shooting in manual mode.

Assignment: Use the elements of composition to take some stunning photos.

Class 5:

The 4 properties of light that you should be aware of. Lighting and how to use it in your photos. How to use the Whitebalance setting on your camera.

Perspective: The difference between zooming in and getting closer. Lenses and their focal length.

Demo: Different lighting styles. How to tell if your Whitebalance is off and what to do about it.

Assignment: Take 3 photos using perspective.

Class 6:

Bringing it all together. Walking you through the process of How to Take a Photo in manual mode. Leading with the shutter or leading with the aperture, we'll show you how you can tell the difference and how to set your camera controls for a perfect exposure either way.

Graduation! Handing you your Certificate of Completion
(if you didn't miss more than 3 classes).

See you at class. This will be fun. We can't wait! -

Your $499 course retainer reserves your seat in the next Photography 1 Women Only course
in Boston Woburn, MA. Your personal Study Kit is included with that price.

To reserve your seat in the course C1MAC1B Boston at the starting date above, click on Add to Cart

$499

Or sign up for our Easy Pay installment plan and pay in 2 easy installments:

Pay one payment of $262.50 at checkout and 1 further monthly payment of $262.50 for a total  of $525 including a $26 installment plan admin cost.

 

Sign up for

Although this course is not currently scheduled, you can still reserve your seat in the next available session by registering now. You will be notified by email when the course is scheduled.

By purchasing a seat in this course you agree to our terms and conditions of sale. Your retainer fee reserves your seat and is fully refunded if the course is canceled. Per RSA 361-B, you may cancel this transaction any time prior to midnight of the third business day after the date of this transaction. When you sign up we'll send you an email to confirm. If you do not hear from us within 48 hours, please call us. From time to time, we videotape our classes, so it is possible that you will be recorded while studying with us. Warning: On rare occasions we do run out of chocolate chip cookies.

If no course is scheduled yet, we are gathering interest. As soon as we have 10 people interested, we'll schedule the next session.
Right now, there are 2.

If you are interested in this course and share your name, email and phone number with us below, it will do two things. First, you'll help us to run the course sooner. Second, when the course is scheduled, you'll be on the list to be notified, and you'll get first dibs.

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Alyssa Graves

Alyssa teaches courses and classes in our Boston location.

Meet Alyssa ...

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