Your camera has a manual mode. This one-hour class is where you start using it.
We skip the jargon and teach the three controls that decide every photograph β shutter speed, aperture and ISO. What each one changes, what it costs you, and how to balance them by eye rather than by guesswork. You'll see motion frozen and deliberately blurred, a background thrown out of focus and brought back, and a dark room shot cleanly without a flash.
It runs inside a working commercial photography studio in South Melbourne, taught by the photographers who shoot in it, so the examples come off the studio floor rather than out of a slide deck.
One hour, $20, and the $20 comes off the price of our Studio Lighting Course. Bring whatever camera you own β any brand, however basic β or use one of our studio cameras for the hour.
The class runs every Saturday, 9β10am, and it runs whether two people book or twenty: we don't cancel for numbers. It finishes as our three-hour Studio Lighting Course is setting up in the next room, so you can see where it leads.
Details
You will learn
- Shutter speed β freezing motion, and using blur on purpose
- Aperture β depth of field, and why portrait lenses open so wide
- ISO β shooting in low light without wrecking the file
You will get
- One hour of hands-on teaching inside a working commercial studio
- A one-page exposure cheat sheet to take home
- $20 credit toward our Studio Lighting Course
Appropriate for
Anyone who owns a camera and still shoots on Auto. No experience assumed, and no question is too basic β this class exists precisely for the questions people are embarrassed to ask. Ages 14 and up.
Preparation
What to bring
- Your camera with a charged battery and a memory card, plus a notebook if you like taking notes. Any brand is fine for this class. No camera yet? Come anyway and use one of our studio cameras for the hour.
What to wear
Whatever you're comfortable in.
Your Teacher
Amir is the photographer behind Crown Visual Studio β a working commercial shooter rather than a full-time instructor. The portraits, headshots and model portfolios that come out of this studio through the week are his, and the room you learn in is the room he works in.
He teaches this hour the way he wishes someone had taught him: no jargon for its own sake, no assumed knowledge, and no question treated as too basic. If you have owned a camera for years and never left Auto, you are exactly who this class is for.
Organized by
Crown Visual Studio
Crown Visual Studio is a working commercial photography studio in South Melbourne — the room where portraits, headshots and model portfolios are shot through the week becomes the classroom on weekends. You learn on real studio strobes, modifiers and backdrops, with a professional model in front of you and a studio crew running the floor, instead of on borrowed gear in a hired hall.
Classes are taught by the photographers who shoot here, and the advanced courses are capped at four people, so everyone gets behind the camera, everyone gets corrected, and everyone goes home with their own images. Rated 4.9 from more than 75 Google reviews.
Cancellations & Refunds
If the organiser cancels the class:
You are entitled to a full refund.
If you can't attend the class:
Youβre welcome to send someone in your place.
OR
- A refund can be requested 21 days before class starts. Free of charge.
Terms & Conditions
Anyone partaking in any classes or coming to any events at Crown Visual Studio or organised by Crown Visual Studio must agree to these terms and conditions.
1.) SAFETY AND PERSONAL PROPERTY
The studio is a working space with lighting stands, cabling and powered equipment. I agree to follow the directions of the studio team at all times, and not to move or adjust lighting stands, cables or power leads myself. I understand that Crown Visual Studio is not responsible for my personal property, including cameras, lenses and bags brought to the studio. Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or modifies any right or remedy available to me under the Australian Consumer Law.
2.) PHOTO & VIDEO
I agree to give Crown Visual Studio unrestricted publishing rights for any photographs or videos taken at Crown Visual Studio classes and events or on Crown Visual Studio premises. (For use of Crown Visual Studio marketing materials).
3.) PHOTOGRAPHING OTHER ATTENDEES
I agree not to photograph, film or publish images of other attendees without their consent. The model and the set are there to be photographed; the other students are not.
4.) CONDUCT
Crown Visual Studio may ask anyone behaving unsafely, or in a way that makes other attendees uncomfortable, to leave the class. No refund applies where a class is left for this reason.
5.) NON-ATTENDANCE
If I do not attend a class and have not contacted Crown Visual Studio before it starts, my booking is not refunded.
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Photography Course for Beginners: Get Off Auto
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