A6619 - Creative Essentials: taking better photos (beginners)

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Start Date: 23/09/2026      End Date: 21/10/2026        Start Time: 18:30      End Time: 20:30        Hours per Week: 2.00      No of Weeks: 5
Fees:      £80.00 (tuition)     £140.00 (overseas)     £33.00 (concessionary)
Tutor: Mark Wilkinson        No of Places: 10
Shadwell Centre

Course Overview

Course Overview
Do you take lots of photos but rarely feel you’ve captured what you meant — the moment, or the mood, or the person as you see them?
This Creative Essentials course will help you take better photos using the camera you already have, without getting lost in technical jargon. You’ll build confidence through simple creative choices — noticing light, background, timing and viewpoint — so your photos start to look more deliberate and more “you”.

What will you learn and be able to do?

What will you learn and be able to do?
* Make simple, deliberate creative choices (light, background, viewpoint or timing) to visibly improve at least one photograph.
* Produce a short set of 5–7 photos of a familiar place or person, then select your strongest images based on clear visual differences.
* Show how one intentional change can improve a photo by creating a clear before/after comparison.
* Select your best 2–3 images from a small set and explain what you changed and why it worked.
* Use your smartphone or digital camera confidently to take photos that look considered rather than accidental.
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Entry requirements

Entry requirements
There are no entry requirements for the course just an enthusiasm to learn creative photography skills.
Prosp User 8

Equipment required

Equipment required
You will need to have a camera that can be used in manual mode, i.e. a Compact, Bridge CSC (Compact System Camera), DSLR camera or Smartphone with a manual photography app. Pen & notepaper, you will create a learning journal, recording your progress, making notes during theory sessions and in practical demonstrations.
Prosp User 9

How will you know you are making progress?

How will you know you are making progress?
Your tutor will give you on-going feedback tracking and monitoring your progress, giving feedback
though out the course and suggest ways to improve. You and the tutor will use an individual learning plan to monitor your progress allowing you and the tutor to track your knowledge and skills developed on the course.
You will also gain more from the course if you commit time to it outside the classroom.
Prosp User 12
There will be an initial assessment followed by on-going assessment of progress and
achievement. This course will also include:
• Structured opportunities for self-evaluation.
• Peer observations and review of work.
• End of course feedback, evaluation, and review of images
Prosp User 11

Progress opportunities - your next steps

Progress opportunities - your next steps
At the end of the course we recommend that you progress onto the Creative Digital Intermediate course. You will have skills that will also enable you to attend, Portrait, Studio, or other photography courses.
Prosp User 10

Other info

Other info
To maximise your chances of benefiting from the course fully we expect you to attend all scheduled sessions and that you do so punctually and are ready to begin learning at the start of the class.
Prosp User 13

Extra Support

Extra Support
If you have declared a learning difficulty, disability or support need whilst enrolling and you require support/assistance in class or to complete your course, please discuss your needs with your tutor at the first lesson.

If you intend to take an examination and feel you have an additional learning need or special requirements, you must declare them to your tutor within the first 2 weeks of your course.

If you are studying in an online group, then you can arrange a one-to-one online discussion with your tutor, after the session, or by email.

Where we aim to make reasonable adjustments to support our learners, please note we are unable to provide any type of in class or in person support if your course takes place online.
Prosp User 14