Photography Course: Composition Skills

Learn creative camera skills with our photography courses in Sydney.

Once you have mastered the basics of your camera's settings and functions you will need to learn the creative tools integral to the photographic language. Colour, light, contrast, balance, rhythm, movement, and the elements of design are the building blocks photographers use to draw out the beauty in a subject and bring their creative vision to life. This creative Photography course opens your world beyond the point and shoot and begins your journey to developing your own individual style, teaching you the concepts and rules first and how and when to break them.

This creative Photography course will help you to become more deliberate and more considered with your choices when approaching a shot, and begin to think more like a professional photographer would. If you want to learn to create images with real impact then this creative photography course is for you!

Learning outcomes

It is intended that by the end of this photography course you should be able to:

• Understand the role of creativity and imagination in the composition of photographs
• Study the work of leading photographers, their styles, techniques and creative approach
• Make effective decisions which balance technical, creative & practical choices
• Understand the use of line, shape, colour, movement, repetition, texture scale & value in the composition of photographic images
• Understand cropping, framing, simplification, counterpoint, juxtaposition in the composition of photographic images.

Ideal for

This photography course is for anyone who has completed Photography Course for Beginners or an equivalent course. Special consideration can be given to students who feel they meet the requirements, please see the learning outcomes of Photography Course for Beginners. You should take particular interest if you have are looking to focus on taking better composed images that communicate more.

Course content

Week 1: Design principles

• Visual weight
• Contrast & Balance
• Harmony & Unity
• Variety
• Repetition, Rhythm & Movement
• Emphasis
• Gradation
• 3D Form & Shading
• Practical shoot

Week 2: Design Elements

• Lines & Dynamic Diagonals
• Triangles / 3 points of interest
• Curves & Shapes
• Patterns
• Textures
• Colour, Value & Luminance
• Practical shoot

Week 3: Design Considerations

• Space, Proximity & Density
• Positive & Negative Space
• Scale & Proportion
• Rules of Thirds & Odds
• Contextualising backgrounds
• Practical shoot

Week 4: Image Capture

• Camera Positioning & Elevation
• Shoot angle
• Point of view
• Framing
• Edge of the frame
• Simplification & Cropping
• Practical shoot

Week 5: Photographer processes

• Shoot attitude & planning
• Approach & behaviours
• Scene visualisation
• Post-production cropping
• Post-production photo editing
• Practical shoot

What to bring to class

• Digital SLR Camera + lens
• SD Card with a minimum of 8gb of memory
• 1 fully charged camera battery
• Tripod or monopod is helpful but not a requirement