Looking at photography: commercial practice

What is the course about?

This is a practical course on the core skills required to become a commercial photographer. You will learn a range of techniques and processes including lighting, capturing, managing, retouching and processing images as well as efficiently dealing with the paperwork involved.

What will we cover?

- A photographic shoot using studio flash lighting
- File handling and processing in Adobe Lightroom, followed by advanced editing techniques in Photoshop
- Colour management across the whole process from image capture to output
- Print production and finishing.

What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...

- Light and shoot a person using studio flash
- Confidently interact with and pose a person.
- Capture and output images using a colour-managed workflow.
- Process images for web and print using the most common industry software packages.
- Use advanced Photoshop techniques to retouch skin blemishes.

What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?

This is a relatively advanced course and NOT suitable for beginners. You will be expected to have complete control of the manual controls of your camera, a good knowledge of computers and a basic knowledge of image manipulation programs e.g. Photoshop or Lightroom. This is an ideal follow on course for the fashion editorial and beauty photography course.
You should be able to follow simple written and verbal instructions, demonstrations, hand-outs and health and safety information, and will be invited to take part in group discussion. You should be able to use numbers and be able to do simple measurements and calculations.

How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?

You will be taught through a practical photographic shoot with demonstrations, individual support and group crits followed by software demonstrations and exercises with support. Please note, we will be working on Apple Mac computers but the programs used are cross platform and the differences are minor.

Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?

Please bring your manual camera to the classes; you may also wish to bring a notebook and pen. City Lit has a range of digital SLR cameras, tripods and lenses which are available to you during the hours of the class. It would be useful to bring a memory stick (or portable hard drive – please note PC-formatted hard drives can be read by Apple Macs, but not written to). CDs/DVDs are available.

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When I've finished, what course can I do next?

Hopefully this course will set you off into a career in professional photography, but if you're itching to learn more about the subject City Lit run over 70 different photography courses in everything from wildlife and fashion photography to darkroom processing and running a photography business. Browse the website or prospectus to get inspired.