Beginners Photography Course

■ Learn how to use any digital camera to its fullest potential

■ The ideal Beginners photo course for those wanting a more extensive course over 2 days 

■ Learn how to use any digital camera to its fullest potential , its handling, its menus

■ Fundamentals of lighting & creative composition

■ Fun & creative learning with like minded fellow persons

■ Well structured, practical workshops covering the key points

■ Small groups of no more than 6 persons

■ Expert tuition from the professional photographer Andrew Thomasson

■ Detailed general course notes & pdf files to back up what we learn

■ $50 gift voucher to use towards another course or to 'gift' to another person

■ Active 'hands on', fun learning in Melbourne CBD, the zoo & St Kilda 

■ Learn how to use your digital camera & your gear to its fullest potential.

■ Learn shooting modes including Aperture, Shutter speed, Program, Auto, Pre sets, raw vs jpeg, metering  & focusing modes, white balance , ISO, picture style & control, exposure lock & compensation, adding light into shadows  

■ Lighting:  - natural & artificial light, white balance, time the light 

■ Composition: leading & converging lines,  the rule of thirds, framing, reflections, colour, starbursts,  showing motion, viewpoint, selective focus, vertical vs horizontal, aspect ratio

■ Practical workshops covering  - architecture, landscapes, portraiture, street photography, action & motion, lighting, composition, nature, wildlife, editing, Lightroom 6 classic, output for screen & print, food and more   * we vary the workshops according to the weather conditions and other factors

■ We recognise its impossible to cover everything in one day. To that end you will receive a set of detailed notes to support what you learn & to cover points we may miss. See FAQ section for further details on these notes 

■ Any full or cropped frame DSLR camera, mirrorless camera or quality compact with manual controls is perfect * 

■ The standard kit lens or lenses which came with the camera

■ Memory Card(s): we recommend at least a 8 GB card for each session of shooting

■ Charged camera battery and a spare if you have one

■ A smartphone is useful 

■ Whilst this is not a physically demanding course you should be able to walk 5-8km over the course of 7 hours  

■ Inclusions : instruction from professional photographers, detailed notes

■ Exclusions: Food and beverages

* there is more information on camera gear in the FAQ section

Time	10am to 5pm
Location	Riverland Bar -Vaults 1-9 Federation Wharf Melbourne, VIC 3000
Meeting Point	Riverland Bar - (under Princes Bridge - outside tables)

Why do this 2 consecutive day Beginners Photography Course?
■ Wanting to get more out of your camera's features and learn more about photography in general. You learn much faster with 'hands on' instruction from a professional photographer & tutor

■ To fast track yourself into the world of photography

■ You want a slower paced paced Beginners course which includes more subjects such as basic editing using Adobe Lightroom Classic. We also go to more places with more variety in our shooting subjects such as Taronga zoo and Bondi Beach

■ The security of booking with a reputable company. This course has been running for 19 years in Sydney with the amicable and experienced professional photographer / instructor Andrew Thomasson

■ Existing amateur photographers who just want to learn how to take better images

■ Maybe you are a designer, a traveller, have always loved photography, retired, wanting a new hobby or to start a new career

■ For those wishing to get back into photography after a long layoff - to learn about new technologies such as smartphones & mirrorless camera's

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Is this Beginners Photography course suitable for me?
■ It's suitable for everyone: a clear path for the entry-level to intermediate photographer ( maybe you need to brush up old skills learnt years ago shooting film or early digital), allowing you to gain essential new digital knowledge

■ This course will appeal to amateurs or hobbyists wanting to move on from shooting on the 'Auto' mode

■ A step by step structured course teaching you basic camera handling skills
easy to understand & content backed up with detailed notes

■ Composition, lighting and other techniques to become a better photographer

■ You do not need expensive camera gear. Any full or cropped frame DSLR camera, mirrorless camera or quality compact with manual controls is suitable

■ Bring you smartphone as its ideal for posting to social media, to share mages & its capable of taking great images

■ Whilst this is not a physically demanding course you should be able to walk 4-7km over the course of 7 hours.

■ Inclusions: Instruction from professional photographers, Detailed notes, Camera, lens advice

■ Exclusions : Food and beverages

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How many people will be on my course?
A maximum of 6 persons for a highly personalised learning experience. This insures plenty of one on one attention.
However we do cater for larger groups bringing in other tutors and splitting the groups into teams . Talk to us about your special requirements such as a 'team building' Beginners course for a government organisation, business or group of friends

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What happens if it's raining?
■ We do not give refunds for inclement weather. Bring a raincoat and/or umbrella as some of the best photos are taken in the rain. We have a number of indoor shooting location options

■ We offer a 'repeat for free' weather guarantee. Join the course anyway. If the weather is really bad we will do a few hours and you then receive a gift voucher to come back at another time. If you are an out of town attendee we run this course regardless of the weather. If we call the course off you can 'gift' your credit voucher to a friend or whomever

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Do I have the right camera gear for this Beginners course?
■ In your detailed notes you receive upon booking - we give lots of recommendations on the best camera gear, camera bag and accessories to consider as the move into the exciting world of photography

■ Most students have cropped frame DSLR camera's, a mirrorless camera or a quality compact. A base DLSR with two kits lenses such as a 18-55mm, a 18-135mm, 18mm-250mm etc is fine!

■ A back up smartphone can take great images. So please bring yours along. As we run a dedicated Smartphone Photography course - you are recommended to do one of those instead of this Beginners course but the choice is up to you - we will cater to smartphone users.

■ Choose the right camera gear based on portability, what you like to shoot, whether you aim to be a hobby or a professional photographer down the track and price point. Do not over invest when starting out. We recommend a camera you can grow into. Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus etc make great camera's you can learn on. As you get better, you can use these camera's as a second body or upgrade. Build up a system as requirements and your budget allows.

■ If money is no object - always Invest in the best lenses, filters and tripod - these should last you a long time under heavy use

■ Most beginners buy a camera with a built in flash which is fine for learning about flash. Down the track get an external flash. This will give you more versatility in getting the light right and shooting at a more advanced level.

■ You do not need a tripod for this course. If you want to bring your tripod- thats fine

■ Memory Card(s): we recommend at least a 4 GB card for this one day course. The rule of thumb with memory cards is 'Don’t put all your eggs in one basket' - better to use lots of smaller memory cards than few bigger ones in case of loss or dysfunction of cards.

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Can I rent a camera? Buy SD cards?
■ Yes - we have cropped DLSR Canon and Nikon Camera's for rent for the full 2 days. The fee is $80 ( payable on the day via card or cash) Your camera will have a standard 18-55mm lens ( or equivalent)

■ Lexar 32GB high speed SD cards are available for purchase for $24 per card ( or bring your own SD card)

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What are some of the topics covered in the detailed notes I get?
DETAILED NOTES with every course booking include information on the following:

■ CAMERA GEAR - full frame DLSR camera's | cropped sensor DLSR CAMERA'S | prime & zoom lenses | quality compacts | mirrorless cameras | smartphones | tripods, | filters | batteries, memory cards | cleaning your gear | camera bags

■ CAMERA HANDLING - shooting modes | raw vs jpeg | metering modes | colour space | focusing modes | white balance | ISO | picture style & control | exposure lock compensation | bracketing | adding light into shadows | high dynamic range (HDR)

■ LIGHTING - types | natural light | artificial light | white balance | time the light

■ COMPOSITION - leading & converging lines | the rule of thirds | framing an image | reflections | look for unusual angles | colour | star bursts | showing motion | viewpoint | selective focus | vertical vs horizontal | aspect ratio

APPLICATIONS

■ PEOPLE - candid | frozen moments | street photography

■ LANDSCAPES - overview | technique | light | composition

■ ARCHITECTURE - light | composition

■ FOOD & DRINK - fresh & simple

■ ACTION - freeze the motion | showing blur

■ WILDLIFE & NATURE - flora & fauna in the Botanic Gardens

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What is the difference between the one and the 2 day course?
■ On this 2 day course we also include Melbourne zoo and St Kilda

■ Extra inclusions are wildlife and nature, architecture, a brief session on basic editing using Adobe Lightroom Classic.

■ More time devoted to each workshop, more locations, more variety.

■ This course is popular with those travelling from other regional zones in Australia and with those from overseas also wanting to learn photography skills and to shoot in the very best photogenic locations that Melbourne has to offer.

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Thanks for the great job you did for our IBM Golf Day last week
I would like to confirm that the price of $1390.00 you quoted is ex GST. Please send another invoice to me and I will get in our accounts

-- Sally McCurtayne / Personal Assistant

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Andrew gave our staff training in how to get better social media shots on our smartphones in on location at our farms in Murrurundi NSW and Canungra QLD. The training was very concise and professional and he even gave us free lessons on flying his drone. We are certainly happy to recommend Focus 10 for photography for any training.

--Adelaide Moses / Marketing and Communications Manager

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Super smartphone training session for our leisure sales team. Thanks for the complimentary give vouchers to each participant as well. Cheers

--Nick Ward / Head of Leisure Sales

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Great to meet you. Christie and I love your work. We think that the 4 attached, at this phase of our project would fit well and we would be keen to see if any of these would be able to be blown up to a large wall art format.

--Kate Hopwood | Head of Design

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Thank you for photographing or 43 staff members over the quoted 7 hours. You must be exhausted . Everyone seemed very happy and liked how you showed them the head shots as you were shooting. Can you get them to use by Thursday please? Talk soon

--Irina Fedorova

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I cannot thank you enough for spending your Sunday with Hannah giving her excellent photography training. It was a hot day and you had to work hard.
We loved the photos and she learnt a lot, there were smiles all round.

--Pam Jacob / Financial Officer

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

--Sue Morris

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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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