Frequently asked questions

Course requirements

Course requirements will vary for the different courses, if you are unsure at what level to start from please email on tutor@photographycourseonline.co.uk All courses are designed by a professional photographer and lecturer. The courses are designed and structured as a college course would be so that they are in depth and cater to all types of learner.

All of the courses offered are non-accredited; however, an official certificate of completion can be given. Any tests, assignments or quizzes are to monitor your learning and to help you see where any areas need to be refreshed upon. The emphasis is on you learning rather than the pressure of exams.

For the basic course you need no prior knowledge of digital photography.

For the intermediate course it is recommended that you have a sound understanding of how the menus work and have been getting to know your camera for a few months. Because this course covers all of the main areas of photography, it is important to allow the time to study and practice your new skills. Photography takes time to understand and in order to really master it takes lots of practice to fully take on board all of the new skills.

The advanced photography course – although it covers how to control metering and adjust settings, you would gain more from the course if you had a sound knowledge of the intermediate functions, which would enable a better understanding of the more advanced ones.

The post-production course starts from a basic level and by the end moves on to advanced functions. The post-production course teaches about the functions and workflow to enable you to apply them to any of your requirements. The course is not about learning a few gimmicky techniques, it is about learning the fundamentals of Lightroom and Photoshop so you can use it properly.

Equipment requirements

It is recommended that you have certain equipment for the different courses in order to get the most out of them. By having the equipment, you will be able to put into practice the skills learned and not just study them. If you are unsure if your equipment will be suitable please email on tutor@photographycourseonline.co.uk

If you are planning on buying equipment for the course, we can offer advice but buying a camera is dependent on the person and their needs. We would never tell you which model or make to buy, this needs to be your decision as a camera is a very individual thing.

The more enthused you become with photography, the more equipment you will naturally want to buy. What you buy can vary greatly depending on which areas you like. For example, landscape photography has very different equipment to studio photography. We recommend that other than your camera, to wait before buying equipment. Then as you learn more, purchase things then.

For all courses you will need a good internet connection and an up to date browser. In order to view materials, you must also have an up-to-date version of Flash. You must have basic computer skills to be able to navigate the course. All courses are 100% online and can be done anywhere in the world. Please note, however, all of the courses will be delivered in English. All course materials can be viewed on mobile devices, but a laptop or desktop would have a better screen size for viewing.

The Basic Digital course just needs any digital camera. A phone camera is not recommended for this course as it will not have a lot of the functions covered.

The Intermediate course requires a camera with manual settings, preferably an SLR or mirrorless camera. If your camera does not have manual functions you will not be able to practice the things covered on the course. If you are unsure if your equipment will be suitable please email on tutor@photographycourseonline.co.uk

The Advanced photography course covers quite a wide variety of subjects. Although you may want to buy the equipment used on the course you do not require any to do it. Where you would benefit by having the different equipment is by doing the techniques yourself. However, you can learn all of the principles of each topic from the course materials.

Examples of the equipment that is used are:

Tripod
Studio lamps
Speedlite
Filters
Reflector

Post-production (Lightroom and Photoshop) is the only course where you really need to have the software to benefit from the material covered. If you have Photoshop Elements you will find this has a very different layout to the main versions of Photoshop and is not recommended for this particular course. If you have an older version of Photoshop than CS6 you will still be able to do the course but do bear in mind there may be some functions not available as they may have been added in later editions. This is the same for Lightroom; however most of the editions in Lightroom look similar. If you are unsure if your software will be suitable please email on tutor@photographycourseonline.co.uk

Do I need books for any of the courses?

The course materials provided on each course is all you need. However, any photography book can only help build on your learning. There are many photography magazines on the market which offer another type of learning resource.

How long does the course take to complete?

All of the courses are designed to work around your timetable. You can pause at any point. Because of your individual login, the course stays at your last point; you are in complete control of your learning. All of the courses are very detailed and we offer a year to complete each course.

How are the courses delivered?

Every course has a variety of modules. These are delivered in a variety of ways;

Handouts are available to go with all courses. These are in PDF format and can be saved or printed to suit you.

Assignments are provided to enable you to practice the things covered on each course. Photography is a subject that you really learn by doing.

Videos are on all of the courses to offer a visual element of learning.

Check point sections come in different varieties such as multiple-choice questions. These can help highlight areas you need to refresh upon.

Support is available to go over any questions you may have we aim to respond within 48 hours. However, this may be longer over holiday times. tutor@photographycourseonline.co.uk

What happens if I forget my login details?

When you enrol you will be sent your login details, so you can refer to this. You can also reset your password by……… If you are still having trouble you can email admin@photographycourseonline.co.uk for help.

My question is not covered here

If you have any other questions regarding our courses please email on admin@photographycourseonline.co.uk and we will be happy to help.