Portrait Photography Course

■ Learning about pro studio set ups and gear

■ An understanding of different light sources (ambient, flash, modelling lights)

■ Learn about your camera - aperture, shutter speed, manual mode, depth of field, ISO setting

■ About white balance, exposure compensation, lens perspective 

■ How to set up and use studio lights, soft boxes & strobes 

■ Portrait lighting basics, types and styles

■ Add to your portfolio shooting great models

■ Learn the skills & what gear to set up your own portable or home studio

■ Key tips on how to start earning money shooting portraits

■ An understanding of different light sources (ambient, flash, modelling lights)

■ Intuitive instruction on creative composition 

■ Exposure control to white balance, from ISO settings to focus options

■ Learn about your camera - aperture, shutter speed, manual mode & lots more

■ How to set up and use studio lights, soft boxes, strobes etc.

■ Portrait lighting basics, types and styles

■ Add to your portfolio shooting great models

■ The skills to set up your own portable or home studio 

■ Key tips on how to start earning money shooting portraits

■ Experience the different characteristic of cameras

■ Learn to develop your style - whether this is creative and experimental, stylised or formal

■ Shoot from the hip or paparazzi style, outdoors or in the controlled environment of a courtyard

■ A short session on digital workflow and post production of your images

■ No previous photographic experience required

■ A compact with manual controls,  mirrorless or a DLSR camera

■ Memory Cards: we recommend at least a 4 GB card for each session of shooting

■ Charged camera battery and a spare if you have one

■ A wide-angle is useful for environmental portraits. A telephoto for single portraits. An all rounder lens like a 24-120mm is the most useful*

■ Consider a 50mm prime lens for your DLSR and bring all your other lenses

■ Charged camera battery and a spare if you have one

* More on camera gear and equipment in the FAQ section

Time	10am to 5pm
Location	Dragon Image studios, 22 Herbert Street, Artarmon NSW
Meeting Point	Inside the studio - 22 Herbert St. Artarmon NSW

Why do this portrait course with Focus 10?
.■ The Focus 10 Sydney portraiture course will impart a high level of proficiency to the serious amateur photographer or to someone wanting to step up into portrait photography. You will be confident to shoot at a professional level

.■ It assumes a proficiency in digital camera handling and technical knowledge. Ideally you will have completed our Beginners course or be able to demonstrate a similar level of competency. The group will be limited to a maximum of 6 people for a highly personalised training experience.

■ Expert tuition: compiled by the working professional portrait photographer Andrew Thomasson

■ We are authoritative, consummate professionals in both shooting and teaching portrait photography - NOT 'armchair' experts

■ Experience: Andrew & Serena have trained over 1500 students through their Portrait Photography courses running in Sydney, Melbourne & Perth.

■ Suitable for everyone: a clear path for the intermediate to advanced, allowing you to gain the specialist skills in order to become a capable, even expert, portrait photographer. Start a small or freelance photography business, work part time or turn your hobby and passion into a professional craft

■ Professional yet fun: our course is delivered and taught in a light hearted and easy going format, free of technical jargon with assignments delivered with a touch of humour in a non intimidating, relaxed manner

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What are some of the other things I will learn
■ Advanced digital SLR camera functions, lens perspective

■ Reportage, documentary, formal, candid, environmental, stylised, point n’ shoot

■ Choice of lenses, accessories and props. Thinking outside the box

■ Skin tones, reflections, white balance, picture style, exposure compensation

■ Quality of light, flash with ambient light, reflectors, hi and low key

■ Art deco and creative modes, black, coloured and white backgrounds

■ Unusual viewpoints and angles / lens and linear perspective

■ High contrast, colour harmony, blurring / freezing of motion, conveying movement

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Is my current skill level and my camera gear suitable to do this course?
■ We  assume you have a proficiency in digital camera handling and technical knowledge. Ideally you will have completed a Beginners course or be able to demonstrate a similar level of competency. ( we have a simple question and answer test if you are unsure)

■ Whilst it's advantageous to have some background photography knowledge, the course has easy to understand, step by step procedures and notes to teach you the techniques to become a competent people and portrait photographer

■ Any full or cropped frame DSLR camera or mirrorless camera is ideal. Full frame cameras with their bigger sensors will give better results in certain situations.( eg Large group shots) For this course one DLSR or mirrorless camera is sufficient. For shooting critical portrait shots, (eg weddings & celebrities) you need a back up camera in case of equipment failure 

■ It is important is to have a few quality lenses. A cheap $500 DLSR is capable of taking good people & portrait photographs with some quality glass. Talk to us about your camera gear. We always have some good Nikon & Canon lenses for our students to try out

■ The two main lenses in a people & portrait photographers camera bag would be a 24-70mm and a 70-200mm (preferably on its own dedicated full frame camera body), a wide angle such as a 16-35mm, a telephoto lens eg. 70-300mm or a mid range lens (eg 24-105mm or a 24-120mm). A few prime lenses such as a 50mm f1.8 and a portrait 85mm f1.8 is an inexpensive addition to your kit 

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Who enrols on this course?
■ People who want to become a competent or professional portrait photographer

■ People who want to earn money as a freelance photographer

■ Experienced photographers who want to learn new skills about shooting in a studio

■ Amateur photographers who want to take better portrait photographs

■ This is the perfect photography course for any person with a bit of basic camera knowledge beforehand to learn for fun and profit

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Do you rent out camera gear or give advice on what to buy?
■ We rent Nikon DLSR cameras with an 'all rounder 24-120mm lens and a 50mm f1.8 for $40

■ Use of studio strobe lights and other accessories is included in the course cost

■ Lexar 32GB SD cards are available for purchase for $25 or bring your own

■ Upon booking - you receive detailed notes and tips on good portraiture camera gear

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Is the course beneficial in building a portfolio?
■ With one-to-one guidance from our experienced photography tutors, and good models to shoot then yes... these images will certainly enhance your portfolio

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Does the course offer further opportunities in this field?
■ Yes - once you have learnt the specific set of skills of portrait photography you can use this knowledge to pursue other related photographic genres. Use these new found skills to photograph family, friends, candid portraits on holiday... to name a few.

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A great weekend and I learnt heaps - hope to do it again sometime.

--Sue Morris

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"I just wanted to say that I really loved this weekend course and learnt a great deal. I appreciate you both sharing your photography knowledge and patience with us. Serena and Andrew were great instructors and injected lots of fun but at the same time kept the course at a great pace and ensured we all got something valuable out of it. I am really looking forward to the Wildflowers and Wilderness weekend in September!"

--Ray Berry / Manager

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Focus 10 Photography is our corporate photographer shooting all or staff and website photographs. They particularly understand how photographs play a crucial roll in our marketing and branding. Andrew understands that we are a people business. Many of our clients started with us as start-ups and have gone on to become multi-million dollar enterprises. Their services and value for money is hard to beat.

--Dean Sammut | Director

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Thanks, Andrew for a great two days in and around Sydney. I'm much more confident in using the camera. Very much appreciated...

--Dianna Hall

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I have known Andrew for 25 years now and he is always willing the go that extra mile and is a talented photographer. We share a common love for India and travel in general. Over the years Andrew has been the judge for the Australian newspapers regular travel competitions and we love his enthusiasm and commitment.

--Susan Kurosawa / Travel editor

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Thanks for the Watagan Park photo shoot of the 4 houses. – Brett was very happy with the outcome and he just wanted to be very clear with the location of the villages (for you to make sure your pricing was correct). He would like you to schedule in some time to go to Wongawilli . Thanks for the great deal on the drone shots as well as the Marsden Parks ones.

-- Sarah King / Graphic Designer

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Thank you for one of the best 5 days ever. Lots of laughs, learn a huge amount, great group, food was fab, and eating out cheap. Super cooking class, brilliant photography with masses of variety each and every day. A highlight for me was the Full moon festival. Amazing! A memorable adventure. Sign me up for your Cinque Terre course in October! Cheers

--Samantha Knight

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Focus 10 recently ran a incentive, team building program for us called 'A day in the life at ING'. Their organisation and expertise was impeccable handling over 240 of our staff over 3 days. We think highly of Focus 10 and have a relationship spanning 15 years.

--Tony Hattley / regional manager

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