Photography Courses

All Levels an Online 5-week course

On this course, via a series of tutorials and demonstrations online, you will begin to develop a themed series of images, a photo project. These images will form a digital exhibition on the Idea Store Learning website and Instagram. The course will be taught by experienced photography tutors, bringing the benefit of their considerable and diverse experience in professional photography.
Photographic techniques, the effective use of lenses, aspects of lighting and exposure, and image composition will be discussed, as well as the work of other photographers who use the concept of the photographic series in their work.

The course is suitable for all levels of learners, from beginners to advanced, who have an interest in visual imagery and documentation.

All activities on the course are undertaken at your own risk.

To join the course, you must have access to a computer with webcam and internet access to take part in the Zoom video sessions. You are advised to download the Zoom app. You must have a digital camera. Ideally you will have completed the introduction to basic digital photography course or similar.

Beginners an Online 5-week course

This course is designed to help develop your Photoshop skills in conjunction with your photography. The courses consists of five distinct sections: Introduction to Adobe Photoshop – where you will learn about the basics of the programme, and photography; Tools and Transformations – finding out which tool is best to use when working with your photographs; Editing Tools and Curves – how to apply traditional darkroom techniques in Photoshop; Colour, and Making Colour Adjustments – how to work with colour photographs; Retouching, Masks, and Layers – how to retouch images, for example retouching a face, using the appropriate tools. You will be encouraged to work on your own photographs.

All activities on the course are undertaken at your own risk.
You must have access to a Mac or PC that has Adobe Photoshop installed and be able to use the Zoom app. You must be competent in using a computer keyboard and have access to a camera, to upload your photographs on to a computer.

This course is for anyone who wants to learn how to take photographs in the photography studio and have fun doing it. It’s a light touch approach to studio photography introducing you to various types of lighting and camera set ups. All are welcome, whether you have a smart phone, compact digital or a DSLR camera. The course will show you how to use various types of lighting, how to get the most out of your digital camera, understanding composition, exposure, and focus. There are no entry requirements to join this course just a willingness to learn new photography skills.

On this course, you will start to learn how to create effective portraits of a range people within the studio environment. You will be introduced to basic incandescent and studio flash lighting techniques and how to use your camera and lens creatively. You will also be introduced to the work of various portrait photographers to draw inspiration from and learn how to direct your subject. Through the weeks, the course will consist of a series of lectures, demonstrations, and practical sessions in the studio. This course is intended to progress you onto the Intermediate Portrait Photography course.

To join the course, you may have completed our Fun with Photography in the Studio course or similar level programme, but you will need some understanding of photography, a digital camera capable of shooting in a manual mode, memory stick and notebook and pen.

Through the Portrait Intermediate Photography course, you will be encouraged to further develop skills learnt on the Introduction to Portrait Photography course. The work of influential portrait photographers will be discussed and used in practical sessions to gain an understanding of the skills necessary to create and produce quality portraits. The practical aspects of a variety of lighting scenarios will be discussed and demonstrated. The use of lenses and their creative potential will be examined. As well as the creative relationship between the subject and the photographer. This course is intended to progress you onto the Exhibition Portrait course.

To join the course, you must have a good understanding of photographic principles and practice, a digital camera capable of shooting in a manual mode, memory stick and notebook and pen. Ideally you will have completed the Portrait Photography - beginners course.

Through the skills developed on the Beginners and Intermediate portrait courses you will be tutored to produce a series of portraits ready for an end of term exhibition. The exhibition may be digital on-line or displayed framed and printed.
On the course you will further refine you approach to photographic portraiture achieving professional standard images with correctly exposed and lit subjects, conveying the emotion to enhance your ideas.
Further emphasis will be placed on learning appropriate technical photography language to improve your English language, and to improve your use of math’s in photography.

To join the course, you must have a good understanding of photographic principles and practice, a digital camera capable of shooting in a manual mode, memory stick and notebook and pen. Ideally you will have completed the Portrait Photography – Intermediate course, or similar level course.

The Introduction to Basic Digital Photography Skills course, will enable you to work with your own camera and camera functions confidently. You will learn how to make effective use of your apertures, shutter-speeds and understand ISO's to create photographic images. Learn how to calculate the correct exposure using your histogram and work with your lens to make a range of different images.
This course will support you to build a relationship with your camera and capture images, that eventually become part of your own story.

There are no entry requirements for the course, other than a willingness and enthusiasm to learn basic photography skills. You will need a digital camera, preferably with the ability to connect to an external flash, i.e. hot shoe. Or a reasonable quality smartphone with a camera, a memory stick, pen, and notebook. This course prepares you for progression onto Learn Creative Digital Photography – beginners’ course or similar.

Get the inspiration to take better photographs. This is a hands-on practical course run by a professional photographer in a friendly and informal setting. It will enable you to work with your own camera more confidently whilst learning how you can express yourself with your photography. You will begin to explore composition and how to use your digital camera to control light and exposure and broaden the creative horizons of your photography.

There are no entry requirements for the course just an enthusiasm to learn creative photography skills.

You will need to have a camera that can be used in manual mode, i.e. a Compact, Bridge CSC (Compact System Camera), DSLR camera or Smartphone with a manual photography app. Pen and notepaper for recording your progress and making notes during theory sessions and in practical demonstrations. This course prepares you for progression onto the Creative Digital Photography Course Intermediate.

Explore further the exciting world of photography. Join this creative course to develop both your location and studio photographs. Try different techniques and explore our studio lighting systems. Deepen your knowledge of different themes and styles of photography and enjoy the creative opportunities of the course to improve your composition and produce high quality images. Share your images within an encouraging group setting.

To join the course, you will need some experience of photography, ideally having completed the Learn Creative Digital Photography or similar level course and be able to use your camera in manual mode. You will need a digital camera, or a smartphone and we will recommend apps to give it manual camera functionality. Pen and notepaper for recording your progress and making notes during theory sessions and in practical demonstrations.

Join our fun and creative course and make distinctive blue cyanotype prints on paper and fabric. Enjoy the magic of this early photographic technique to create beautiful one-off prints. No photography experience necessary to join this fun class, just a willingness to learn new skills and make new friends.

The Street Photography in the East End course will get you out onto the streets of London’s East End making images. You will learn about Zone focusing, Hyperfocal distance, Composition and develop an understanding of the history of street photography. Though the course you will gain confidence with your camera and learn how to photograph in public spaces.

Develop your creativity and learn to maximise your phone’s photography function. Suitable for anyone who wants to get to grips with their phone’s camera settings, this course will develop your creativity and teach you how to maximise your phone’s photography functions. The interactive presentation and demonstration will cover a variety of topics from techniques to strengthen the compositions to how light can add mood and how you can adjust manual settings (ISO, exposure, shutter speed, aperture etc) to make your pictures stand out.

You’ll also tackle some of the more advance settings for shooting in challenging lighting environments such as low-light and bright day, as well as tips for Portraiture and Landscape Photography.