Digital Photography 

Course Overview 

This beginner-friendly, relaxed ten week course provides learners with the opportunity to improve their general photography skills. There are many devices that capture digital images, and regardless of the user’s choice of device, this course is valuable to anyone who wishes to improve the visual impact of their images.

The course provides ample theoretical material but also many opportunities for active learner participation (casual photography discussion and feedback sessions) and practical hands-on image capturing.

It's useful for learner's to bring their own devices along, whether that be a smartphone, a bridge camera or a DSLR/mirror-less camera. This course is appropriate for both absolute beginners and those with some prior experience.

Course Outline

Introduction to Digital Photography

- We will investigate basic camera and lens functionality, the current state of and a brief history of photography.

Understanding the gear

- Exploration of kit options. We will discuss the pros and cons of each type of setup.

Light, exposure and depth of field

- Learn how light affects the image, how to expose better and how to place focus.

Types of photography

- A brief overview of the various types of photography.

Rules and composition

- Understand the rule of thirds, leading lines, centred composition/symmetry, balance, golden ratio.

Photographing the natural world

- Tips and tricks when photographing landscapes and nature.

Photographing people/animals

- Tips and tricks when photographing people and pets.

Photographing objects

- Tips and tricks when photographing still life objects.

The Digital Darkroom 1/2

- Learn how to transfer photos from phone/camera to computer and use free image manipulation programs (RawTherapee, Gimp).

The Digital Darkroom 2/2

- Learn how to manipulate saturation, colour temperature, exposure, levels, and the histogram. We also explore the creative process (selective desaturation, monochrome, HDR).

Tutor Details - Philip Wells

Phil started photography early in 2012, when his father gave him an old Canon 500D so that he could attach it to his telescope to photograph the celestial objects in the heavens from the cold, dark but clear skies of the Wicklow Mountains.

From here, Phil decided that he liked the look of the mountains in the daylight and started pointing his camera to less distant objects! From there on, Phil has been on a personal journey to maximise image quality and artistic value with whatever gear he happened to own at the time.

He would love to share the knowledge that he has accumulated over the last decade when photographing terrestrial objects with learners who are keen to learn more about the technical and artistic attributes that would help improve their photography.

Phil’s work has been published in multiple places (on map covers, for multiple Mountaineering Ireland publications as well as various other digital publications) and he holds a 'Professional Diploma in Photography' from the Institute of Photography.