You’ll gain confidence in orchestrating shoots from start to finish, turning ideas into executed visions. Through repeated practice in assignments and practical sessions:

□ Storyboarding to visualise and plan compositions ahead of time.

□ Planning and communicating expectations clearly with subjects, models, and teams to ensure smooth collaborations.

□ Directing and controlling shoots with poise, adapting to variables like subject energy or environmental changes.

□ Direct at least 5 independent shoots.

Posing and capturing authentic expressions form a cornerstone of portraiture, revisited across genres for deep reinforcement. By the programme’s end, you’ll expertly guide subjects to convey emotion and narrative:

□ Posing individuals for natural, flattering results in various settings

□ Posing couples to highlight connections and dynamics

□ Posing groups, managing balance, hierarchy, and interactions for cohesive images

□ Posing for self-portraits using at least seven poses from a storyboard

Lighting is a main pillar, mastered through iterative practice in natural, studio, and on-location scenarios—repeating setups to build intuition. You’ll end with a strong command of:

Natural Light Photography

□ Handling harsh light for dramatic effects

□ Using diffused light for soft, even illumination

□ Creating window light portraits with controlled shadows

□ Employing reflectors to bounce and fill light

□ Enhancing with fill flash or continuous light for balanced exposures

Studio Photography

□ Lighting for character, business, lifestyle, and fashion/editorial portraits

□ One-light setups for simplicity and impact

□ Two-light configurations, like cross lighting or key plus hair light

□ Three-light setups for depth and dimension

□ High-key lighting for bright, airy results

□ Chiaroscuro for high-contrast, artistic drama

On-Location Lighting

□ Portable flash for mobility and power

□ Continuous lights for consistent previewing

□ Speedlights for quick, versatile setups

□ Corporate portraits in professional environments

□ Urban portraits leveraging architectural backgrounds

□ Garden or field portraits blending nature

□ Daytime shoots with high-speed sync (HSS) to overpower the sun

□ Night portraits using slow sync for ambient integration

Posing and capturing authentic expressions form a cornerstone of portraiture, revisited across genres for deep reinforcement. By the programme’s end, you’ll expertly guide subjects to convey emotion and narrative:

□ Self-Portraits (creative testing + empathy-building)

□ Brenizer Method (“Medium-Format Look”) — handheld stitched portraits with ultra-shallow depth of field

□ Double Exposures (“Layered Storytelling”) — combining two frames for meaning and mood

□ Impressionist Portraiture (“Ethereal Blur”) — soft focus, motion, and glow inspired by Paolo Roversi and Sarah Moon

□ Wide-Angle Power Portraits (“Larger-Than-Life”) — bold, close wide-angle portraits inspired by Platon

□ Utilising tethered shooting for real-time image review, feedback, and adjustments during practical sessions, enhancing on-the-spot decision-making

□ Mastering Lightroom Classic and Cloud for organisation, culling, and adjustments

□ Using advanced tools like Evoto for AI-assisted refinements

□ Applying style-based presets and recipes for quick, intentional edits

□ Observing and replicating real client editing sessions to understand logic over automation

By the end of the programme, you’ll be able to confidently shoot and adapt:

□ Authentic & Natural colour

□ Rich and Polished Editorial colour

□ Cinematic colour

□ Timeless monochrome

□ Gritty black & white

□ Individual and character portraits

□ Business, corporate, and personal branding portraits

□ Lifestyle portraits

□ Beauty portraits

□ Fashion and editorial portraits (August focus)

□ Couples, family, and group portraits (September focus)

□ Fine art portraits

□ Christmas-themed portraits

□ Gaining client interaction insights by assisting on shoots, classes, and editing sessions

□ Curating a versatile Adobe Portfolio demonstrating range across genres/styles

□ Building a focused Instagram Portfolio highlighting your personal aesthetic