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.

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 on our eLearning platform for you to access at any time.
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.

 

 

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! -