Portrait Photography Course

■ Learning about pro studio set ups and gear

■ An understanding of different light sources (ambient, flash, continuous & 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 models & each other

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

■ 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 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 characteristics of different types of cameras ( such as mirrorless versus DSLR)

■ 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

■ Photographic proficiency is required ( we suggest you do a Beginners course beforehand)

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

■ Memory Cards: we recommend at least a 8 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 4pm
Location	Dragon Image studios, 2 McLachlan Ave, Artarmon NSW 2064
Meeting Point	Inside the studio

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 delivered with a touch of humour in a non intimidating, relaxed manner of a studio and a few outdoor settings nearby

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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 a DLSR, mirrorless or quality compact 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, a Speedlite flash and a 50mm f1.8 for $50

■ 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 people, portraiture and camera gear

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Is the course beneficial in building a portfolio?
■ With one-to-one guidance from our experienced photography tutor 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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How do Force majeure events such as Covid 19 affect this course?
Each participant will be asked before the course commences if they have any Covid 19 symptoms or knowingly have been to areas, cafes, places etc. which have been declared hotspots. If so, you cannot attend the course and can do the same or another Focus 10 course at an alternative date.

Refunds
We reserve the right to cancel and reschedule any course, due to inadequate enrolment, bad weather, instructor illness, an 'act of God' or a Force majeure. We also reserve the right to cancel any course if there is insufficient demand, especially if it means that our costs would be higher than our income. Please therefore do not leave it until the last few weeks if you are interested in a particular date, as you may find that it has been cancelled. As our costs for each training event remain the same no matter how many delegates attend, like any pre-booked tickets for the theatre, concert, flights etc, we are unable to give a full refund in the event of non-attendance, regardless of the circumstances. If withdrawal occurs within the 14 days before the course starts we will try to put you on an alternative date if places are available. Please note that we cannot be liable for any other costs incurred by yourself, so please check with us before booking any non-refundable accommodation or transport.

Workshop and Course Photography:
We reserve the right to take photographic, (both still and video) records of any of our workshops/courses which may be used for promotional purposes, submissions, advertising and records. We grant permission for participants to use any images captured by them during this workshop for self-promotion only. Participants may not make any financial gain from any images captured during this workshop/course.

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Hi Andrew,

I just wanted to say thank you again for Friday. I learned so much in such a short amount of time. I’ve been showing all of my photos to anyone that will look and listen. I’ve attached a few of my faves. After you left I went back to a few of the aviaries and just practiced. Your knowledge of my camera was really impressive and the way you explained things to me made it really clear.

--Angelica Butler / Creative Director

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Hey Andrew - thanks again - I loved the personal branding portraits you took last week. I was looking at photos that I could use for my Board resume, Executive resume and personal website and other personal marketing purposes and you nailed it

--Ramesh Acharya

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Focus 10 runs fantastic, informative and always fun courses and tours. I have done 4 of them now - Blue Mountains, Southern Highlands, 3801 Steam train and the most recent to Jervis Bay. Always a laugh and with excellent like minded, fellow photographers!

--Sean Dudding | product owner

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This has to be one of the best value and most comprehensive beginners photography courses. A huge amount of content, outside shooting with 10 workshops, 2 night sessions and an additional 4 hour workshop of our choice. I went from zero to hero in my understanding the fundamentals of photography. Keep up the good work!

--Annie knight

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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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As director of a company which represents hundreds of professional photographers running courses around Australia its always a pleasure dealing with Andrew and Focus 10. They run highly professional Australia wide photography courses and from the feedback from my clients they do a great job, they are reliable and honest and always do the right thing by their clients - we highly recommend them.

-- Paul Middleton | Director

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"The course was really helpful for our forthcoming jaunt around Asia. We'll take a look at the courses online and book something in (probably when we're back from Cambodia as we've only got a couple of weeks till we leave). These notes are terrific as well. I've already made a note to take a print out with me on our trip. Cheers,"

-- Sylvia Nguyen / Change Manager

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Hi Andrew... Thanks for a fantastic day today. I'm keen to do the SLR 2 and night photography, please let me know dates. Thanks again!

--Alex Jucovic

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