Basic Photography

This intensive hands-on workshop covers all the fundamentals of photography and is a good starting point for those who want to pursue specialized photography, like wedding, advertising, studio portraiture, etc.

This course caters to all kinds of participants — from amateurs to professionals in the making — and will cover digital SLR or Mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera and prosumer cameras. It will concentrate on basics of photography.

On the first day, you will spend the entire day listening to lectures, observing demonstrations, and participating in some hands-on activities. The second day will be devoted to actual shooting on location and evaluating the pictures you took. The first part of the third day will be spent evaluating the photos taken in the afternoon of the second day while remainder of the day will be spent on discussing the other topics not covered in the first day.

• Definition of photography
• Technical objectives of photography
• Light (light source, types of light, quality of light, direction of light)
• What is correct exposure and Exposure Triangle (ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed Controls)
• Understanding depth of field, e.g., blurring backgrounds
• How to capture motion, e.g., panning, freezing actions, etc.
• Creative exposure: Exposure and Depth of Field or Motion
• Focal Length and Focusing (Manual and Auto)
• Developing your eye: Composition
• Understanding Exposure, Automatic Exposure and Advanced Exposure Techniques
• Filters and Hoods
• White Balance - Color Correction Filters (color temperature of light, white balance settings in digicams, creative use of white balance)
• Camera Flash (built-in flash vs. external flash)

By the end of this 3-day workshop, you will be able to:

• discuss the importance of light to photography
• discuss what is exposure and the procedure to achieve the correct exposure all the time
• discuss concepts of depth of field
• discuss how to emphasize and/or freeze motion
• discuss the concept of creative exposure: combining exposure and depth of field or motion
• discuss focal lengths of lenses and its effects on the photo
• discuss how to achieve correct focusing and avoid camera shake
• enumerate the different compositional techniques
• apply the theory into practice
• evaluate the photographs you have taken

This workshop is for serious photography hobbyists or anybody who is considering a career in photography. Even long time shooters who never had a formal training in photography will also greatly benefit from this workshop.

1. Camera The participant must have a digital SLR camera, a prosumer digital camera that has a manual exposure mode, a digital range finder camera, or a Mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera. Participants should also bring their camera charger with power cord, fresh memory cards and user manual.

Note: You can use any brand of camera. Our workshops are designed to help you become a better photographer, whatever your camera’s brand.

1. Lens A wide-to-telephoto variable focal length lens is preferred, e.g., 18-55mm. You can also bring other kinds of lenses that you have as the workshop will give you an opportunity to use them during the hands-on exercises.
2. Tripod You are also encouraged to bring to on the second day if you have an existing tripod.

To understand the digital features of a digital camera, e.g., resolution, compression, file formats, etc., participants are advised to attend the one-day Digital Camera Fundamentals seminar before taking this workshop.

Jun Miranda has been in photography for 28 years and 17 of that as a commercial photographer. He has been teaching photography, particularly basic photography for the past 14 years.

He started his informal study in photography when he joined the Camera Club of the Philippines in 1985 where he garnered multiple awards. In 1995 he took up Basic Black & White Photography and Studio Photography at the Maine Photographic Workshop (now, Maine Media Workshops College) in Maine, USA. In 2017 he got accreditation as a TESDA NCII Photographer.

In recognition of his contribution in the field of photography in the Philippines, he became part of the prestigious Canon Ambassador (now called, Crusaders of Light) in 2010 for their EOS cameras and Pixma desktop printers.

His extensive academic and professional background in photography and digital imaging, coupled by his credential as a certified instructor—a CompTIA Certified Technical Trainer (CTT+) in 2000—make him an excellent instructor in The Basics of Photography.

His classes at PCCI, in addition to The Basics of Photography, include: Black & White Photography, Digital Camera Fundamentals, Photo Editing and Management with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, Portrait Retouching with Photoshop, Poster and Banner Making with Photoshop and Advanced Photoshop for Photographers.