Street Noir Night Photography Course

Learn the skills of creative night photography with our photography short course programming in Sydney

Explore the creative opportunities that night light offers on 3 photoshoots, discovering how the camera sees in darkness, and learn ways to play with light. This night photography course will take you through the compositional and technical elements that go into creating beautiful nighttime imagery. Nighttime photography is a world of creative opportunity, colours are more intense and light can become your hero. Have fun discovering the brilliant colours of the night in a friendly, informative atmosphere!

Course Outcomes

By the end of this street noir night photography course, we intend that the students will be able to:

• Effectively use ambient or street lighting to take creative and engaging photos
• Use the metering of your camera to assess low and nightlight;
• Understand and utilize the purpose and dominance of light in noir photography;
• Utilise the four Ps of night street photography - proportion, perspective, paradox, point of interest;
• Technically incorporate blur from light trails;
• Utilise at least two social media platforms to display images.
• Learned how to use the metering of their camera to assess low and nightlight
• Practised how to manipulate low light in various ways
• Observed the approach of photographers, both documentary and experimental
• Gained practical experience on photoshoots

Ideal for

This is a creatively-driven street noir photography course, not one for the absolute beginner. Ideally, you will either have completed a basic camera course with SCC or another institution or be a self-taught photographer with a couple of years of experience. If using a camera, ask yourself what these terms mean: zoom, aperture, ISO settings, shutter speed, autofocus, manual focus, RAW, jpeg. If using a smartphone: zoom, square, pano, flash, HDR.

Course Content

Session 1: Classroom Session

Tutor briefs photographers in pairs, assigning each team an eminent night street photographer to analyze and discuss. Each member reports back to class on what images they like most and why. Short night shoot in the classroom's vicinity to help students feel comfortable using their equipment in this new situation.

Session 2 - Darlinghurst Night Shoot

[Meet Taylor Square.](webextlink://Meet Taylor Square.) Walk local streets and laneways capturing the mood of this famous part of Sydney after dark. The tutor will spend some one-on-one time with each student as the group moves around.

Session 3 - King St, St.Peter's Night Shoot

Meet St. Peters Station. Experience the grungy end of King Street with its flourishing bohemian street art culture, quirky cafes, and eclectic clothes and junk shops. The tutor will spend some one-on-one time with each student as the group moves around.

Session 4 - Classroom

Peer assessment of images. Each pair of students analyses and discusses each other's best three shots. Everyone reports to the whole class which images in their colleague's gallery they like the most and why. Tutor adds comments.

Please bring to class

There's no need for tripods, cable releases, or complicated gear. Today's cameras, smartphones, and tablets can create stunning images under city lights, even when handheld. An SLR camera is NOT mandatory. Any image-making device is acceptable: film cameras (rangefinder and SLR), compact digitals with fixed lenses, mirrorless with interchangeable lenses, recent smartphones with a night shooting feature. 

• DSLR camera or Smartphone or film camera
• If using film, one roll of high-speed negative film (400ASA minimum) of 20 exposures per street shoot
• Camera or devices fully charged with a spare battery for DSLR’s