Introduction to Digital Photography Course

THIS COURSE IS NOT AVAILABLE TO NEW STUDENTS

Who for?
If you have just invested in a digital camera, these introductory courses are for you.

What it is?
Here is your chance to enhance your digital photographic skills in the comfort of your own home. This 6 month correspondence course contains comprehensive introductory lessons aimed to get you started.

How it works?
All the tutorials are available online, once we have allocated you a login name and password. We recommend that you try to complete one tutorial every fortnight but there are no due dates and you are able to work at your own pace within the 8 months allocated to complete the course. Extra time maybe negotiated at the convenience of the course administrator. The fortnightly packs include a comprehensive guide to your new topic with easy step-by-steps. Every month there is a project and assessment sheet to complete. Once you have completed the project, your assignment will be emailed to one of our tutors for marking and comments. Also included is a jargon buster to help you understand the sometimes confusing language of photography and a list of extension activities or projects. We allow 6-8 months to complete the course.

Cost
Premium Course $340
Basic Course $125

Course Writer and Tutor
Philip Andrews is a professional photographer, best-selling international imaging author and lecturer at the Queensland School of Printing and Graphic Arts, Australia.
Philip is an Alpha tester for Adobe Photoshop Elements and a beta tester for Adobe Photoshop. He currently has 7 titles to his name with a further two books in writing or production stages. He is also the author of over 60 articles in more than 10 magazine titles over 4 countries and is currently the senior contributing Editor for Better Digital (Aust.), contributing editor for What Digital Camera(UK) and contributes regularly to Better Photography (Aust.), Nikon Light Reading (Aust and Europe), Better Photography (India) Better Digital Photography (UK).
He is an accomplished teacher who over the last 15 years has lectured in photography, digital imaging and multimedia at schools, colleges and universities in the UK and Australia. He has conducted hands-on workshops for participants at a range of levels from beginners to post graduate students and has been involved in designing and writing over 15 accredited courses in the area.
But above all he is a passionate photographer whose drive for taking and making great images is what fuels his working life. He is a professional with 16 years experience shooting commercial, editorial and documentary pictures. He is a winner of the Leica documentary Award for Australia (1999) and counts his recent shooting assignments in various countries throughout the world as the most challenging and rewarding he has undertaken.

What you get
Basic Introductory Course
 - Tutorial posted on password secured website every 2 weeks.
 - Project and review question posted on website every month.
 - Extension projects provided each month.
 - Review questions marked and returned every month within 2 weeks of due date.
 - Website links.
 - Jargon Buster
 - 2 issues of Better Photoshop Techniques.
Premium Introductory Course
- Personal feedback given on projects and review questions marked within 2 weeks of receiving it.
- Tutorial posted on password secured website.
- Project and review question posted on website.
- Extension projects provided each month. (No feedback is provided on extension activities)
- Website links.
- Jargon Buster
- 1 year subscription to Better Photoshop Techniques.

Outline of the 12 Tutorials
 1. Digital basics - Including how are digital pictures constructed, the digital photography process, and step by step guide to shooting your first digital image.
 2. Shooting - covering film versus digital, file formats, digital camera controls, step by step guides to setting up your digital camera.
 3. Shooting 2 - Introduction to special digital camera features such as white balance, contrast and brightness adjustment, sharpness and colour saturation. Pro's tips for setting up your camera features for capturing quality.
 4. Scanning - introducing film and print scanning, how to adjust scanner settings, installing and setting up your scanner and step by step guide to making your first scan.
 5. Scanning 2- Specific step by step guides and techniques for scanning negatives, slides and prints both in black and white and colour.
 6. Image enhancing - including basic software products and their tools, simple enhancement techniques, a round up of image editing programs and a step by step guide to most important basic enhancements techniques
 7. Image enhancing 2 - a little deeper look at image changes such as contrast, brightness, colour cast removal and sharpness control. Pro's tips for ensuring you achieve the best results from these basic changes.
 8. Image editing 1- covering extended editing techniques such as removal of unwanted detail, adding a border to your print, dodging and burning in. Step by step guide to restoring old photographs.
 9. Image editing 2 - more extended techniques including changing colour to black and white, colouring your black and white pictures and including text with your images. Step by step guide to fine tuning your presentation pictures ready for print
 10. Printing - introduction to printer types, inks and papers, installing and using your own desktop printer, step by step guide to printing your first enlargement.
 11. Printing - extending the printing techniques to include output of proof print, posters and picture packages. Pro's tips for helping to ensure better colour accuracy when printing
 12. Putting your pictures on line - introduction to the web and how to use your pictures in emails and on web pages. Step by step guide to optimising your pictures for web use and creating your own web gallery.

Commencement Date
You may begin the course at anytime. Once you have enrolled we will supply you with a login name and password and you can then begin. There are 12 tutorials and we generally allow 2 weeks to complete each one. Your enrolment is valid for 8 months but extra time can be allocated.

Upgrading
If you enroll in the basic course but decide you would like to change to the premium course you may upgrade at anytime during the 6 months. The difference in the cost will be calculated on a proportional basis. For example if you decide after 3 months that you wish to change you will need to pay 50% of the difference in the cost of the 2 courses- 50% of $200 = $100.

Refund Policy
If you chose to withdraw from the course, by notifying photo-college.com in writing, the following refund will be granted.
- Withdrawal within 10 days of enrolment will receive a refund of the total course cost less a $10 administration fee.
After this time no refunds will be granted.

Equipment Requirements
To complete this course you will need access to
 - slr camera (film or digital)
 - scanner -flat bed or film
 - photo quality printer
 - image editing program preferably Photoshop or Photoshop Elements as all tutorials will be written for these programs.

Software offer
Lastly we are pleased to inform you that as a student of Photo-college.com, you are able to purchase Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements and Adobe Creative Suite at student prices. This is a fantastic opportunity for you to purchase these products with up to 70% savings of the recommended retail price.
If you do wish to purchase any of this software, please complete the form and return it to us by either post or fax.
Please note that delivery may take up to 2 weeks and there is a compulsory $10 postage and handling fee.
These are the full retail versions of these terrific programs but as they are purchased at an academic price they are not for commercial use in any way.