In-person course
in Nottingham Maker & location details

Portrait Photography: Essential Skills and Creative Approaches (evenings) - Nottingham Trent University

Portrait Photography

Description

Most of us wish to be able to take great portraits of our family and friends, as well as be able to capture striking images of people and cultures when travelling. However, taking pictures of people can be a challenge, even for the most experienced photographer. This very practical course will therefore help you take your portraits to the next level, control the light to capture the best shot, and gain confidence as a photographer. During the course, you’ll be working with a professional model and learning how to edit your photos with Lightroom and Photoshop to create images with the wow factor. On this course, you will: - study the great photographers and dissect their images - learn about light and its behaviour - direction, intensity and quality - explore lighting on the move, and how to get the most from natural light and speedlights. - learn about composition and backgrounds explore different approaches, including candid and corporate portraits. The course will suit photographers at all levels of skill and experience. You’ll find it helpful to have some knowledge of using your equipment in manual mode. This is not a purely technical workshop that endlessly discusses gear - instead, it’s a pragmatic, hands-on course in the art and science of portrait photography. What will I gain? By the end of the course, you’ll have an appreciation of the challenges and joys of photographing people. You’ll leave with images for your portfolio, and the technical skills and knowledge to continue taking great portraits. Level: Beginner Entry requirement: No portrait experience is required, though being able to work with your camera in manual mode will be useful. Where you'll learn: You will be based in the School of Art and Design on the City Campus. You’ll find full-size photography studios, equipped with backgrounds and Profoto lighting, and comprehensive Mac editing suites with software for photography editing including Adobe Creative Cloud. You’ll also have access to our library to use outside of your short course; whilst you can’t reserve or take away books, you are welcome to use them as a resource for research and referencing. Here's what our previous attendees said: 'This course has given me lots of confidence and I look forward to using these skills in the future' 'I thoroughly enjoyed it! I wanted to learn a new skill having previously attended a photography short course at NTU before, and improve my portrait photography. I learnt loads of new skills, new ideas and have a fresh enthusiasm. I enjoyed the opportunity to photography models in a studio setting' BT 'A very enjoyable week. Many thanks to the tutor Paul for his patience. I learnt new skills in an area of photography I had no previous experience in, got an understanding of studios and flash lightling, built confidence to work with models and use lighting in the future.' JT 'I am definitely more confident with the idea of working with models now!' 'Very enjoyable, and the tutor Paul is very knowledgeable. Got new skills and improved my understanding of portraiture, really enjoyed the photography studio work' CH Tutor biography: Louise Mills is a portrait, lifestyle and wedding photographer. She is also owner and director of Going Digital, a nationwide company that teaches photography, where they run the East Midlands region’s photography workshops. Louise is usually found in her studio in Nottingham, somewhere between softboxes, props and backdrops but her work takes her all over the UK and abroad. She is shy in front of the camera, like most people they hate having their photo taken! But they love being behind the camera, taking those secret candid shots, orchestrating a shoot to create a mood and capturing that once in a lifetime moment.