Photography Course: Composition Skills

What you'll learn

Learn creative camera composition skills with our photography short 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 considered with your choices when approaching a shot, and begin to think more as 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

By the end of this photo composition 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 that 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.

Who is this photo composition course 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 a particular interest if you have are looking to focus on taking better-composed images that communicate more.

What will be covered in this photo composition course?

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

Course testimonials

Brett said: I enjoyed the course simply for what it was. A more theoretical approach to photographic technique. It achieved what I wanted it to in terms of improving the way I go about taking photos
Lubna said: I was recommend to attend this course by a friend who had had done this course himself and I was not disappointed. Richard is a knowledgeable and patient tutor and I learnt immensely from this course. The content for the course material was good and I enjoyed doing the assignments. I will surely be attending others courses that are taught by Richard. Cheers
Genavieve said: The tutor’s expertise, knowledge and humour was great. His encouragement was fantastic and inspiring. He used examples of his own work, which was necessary and awesome to model good practice.
Kathy said: The course was very thoroughly prepared. Richard had so many examples of good photos that illustrated the points he was making. Very happy with the course.
Anna said: Overall the course helped me to look at my world differently. It brought my photography skills to a whole new level.

Course tutors

Richard Lynch

Richard is an exhibited photographer in Fine Arts and Street photography, and one of the colleges' most passionate tutors. He has taught thousands of students over the past 10 years, and has been...

View Richard Lynch's profile

Classes Online Courses

Photography Course: Composition Skills

Tue 27 Sep 2022 - Tue 25 Oct 2022

5 sessions, 15 hours total

6pm - 9pm (UTC+10:00) (first session)

2A Gordon St, Rozelle

Richard Lynch

Enrol in any two Photography classes and receive 15% off both enrolments. Discount applies automatically at checkout.

When	Time	Where
Tue 27 Sep 2022	6pm - 9pm	C1-3: Training Room - 2A Gordon St, Rozelle
Tue 04 Oct 2022	6pm - 9pm	C1-3: Training Room - 2A Gordon St, Rozelle
Tue 11 Oct 2022	6pm - 9pm	C1-2: Training Room - 2A Gordon St, Rozelle
Tue 18 Oct 2022	6pm - 9pm	C1-2: Training Room - 2A Gordon St, Rozelle
Tue 25 Oct 2022	6pm - 9pm	C1-2: Training Room - 2A Gordon St, Rozelle

If there isn't a class to suit you, please join our waitlist and we will notify you when we have places available. Join waitlist for Photography Course: Composition Skills