The Purpose of this Module
Depending on years of experience and skill level of a professional photographer the average family can pay anywhere from $100 to $2000 for a single portrait photography session. When this expense is multiplied by the number of birthdays, holidays, and other annual events significant enough to warrant professionally photography, the cost can be significant. This module will help households reduce the cost associated with having family portraits taken by professional photographers by providing students the ability to take their own professional-quality family portraits at home.
This module will guide students through the process of taking professional-quality family portraits at home by exploring the key elements of a successful portrait photo shoot – choosing the location for a photo shoot, selecting appropriate attire for subject(s), arranging subject(s) and equipment for best results, achieving proper photo exposure, achieving proper focus, and capturing the photo and evaluating the results – in addition to presenting information, there will also be ample opportunities for students to test their knowledge and practice and share results.
Lesson Structure
This course will contain 6 lessons, each representing a key portrait photography element – choosing the location for a photo shoot, selecting appropriate attire for subject(s), arranging subject(s) and equipment for best results, achieving proper photo exposure, achieving proper focus, and capturing the photo and evaluating the results. Each lesson will contain an introduction to key portrait photography concepts to help students gain familiarity with them. These resources will be in the form of written text and multimedia, such as images and videos.
Lessons will also include self-assessment exercises for students to gauge where they stand in their understanding of each topic. In addition to the information presented, practice is a key element in student understanding of portrait photography concepts, so there will be practice exercises in each lesson to help students put their knowledge into application. Modules will also contain introductions to more advanced photography concepts which students are encouraged to explore as their comfort and skill level allows.
Assessing Your Progress
In addition to the self-assessment and practice exercises found in each lesson, this module will contain a brief pre-course survey to help determine the current level of student familiarity with photography concepts, and 2 formal assessments designed to help students gauge their level of understanding and skill. These formal assessments will occur at the conclusions of Lesson 3 and Lesson 6, respectively. Also, there will be a short assessment at the end of the module designed to help improve this offering for future students.
Technical Requirements
In order to successfully master the skills presented in this module students will need to own or have access to a Digital Single-Lens Reflex (DSLR) Camera. This is important in order to replicate the high-quality results otherwise only achieved via professional photography resources and to provide the flexibility for students to expand their application of the knowledge gained in this module to more advanced levels of portrait photography, or other areas of photography altogether. Because the purpose of this module is to reduce household costs, the modest initial investment in equipment will be recouped in time by the savings experienced by taking professional-quality family portraits at home.
For students who do not have access to a DSLR camera and would like to purchase one, we would recommend an entry-level DSLR camera such as the Canon EOS Rebel T7 or the Nikon D3500. Each can be purchased as part of a “kit” (which includes a lens and other accessories such as carrying bags and memory cards) for less than $500 USD. It should be noted that the term “entry-level” can be a bit of a misnomer – a key feature of DSLR cameras is their ability to remove and replace the lens to achieve varying levels of quality and artistic expression. This flexibility allows photographers to upgrade lenses to use on their existing camera bodies as their skill levels improve to achieve better and more professional results at minimal cost.
In addition to a DSLR camera, access to a camera tripod with a center post lever is also required for this module. Tripods ensure the camera remains stable during the photo taking process are a staple of professional portrait photography studios. They are relatively inexpensive (quality tripods sell for as little as $50 USD) and can be purchased online or at stores such as Best Buy or Walmart.
Also, you will also need an internet-connected computer to view lesson content and interact with multimedia. We strongly recommend a computer with the following specifications:
| Recommended Operating System | Windows 7 or higher, Mac OS X 10.5 or higher |
| Recommended Processor | 2 GHz |
| Recommended Memory | 1 GB of RAM |
| Recommended Hard Drive Space | 60GB free disk space |
| Browser | Chrome 77 or higher, Firefox 69 or higher, Edge 44 or higher (Windows only), Safari 12 or higher (Mac only) |
| Optional Plug-ins | Adobe Reader [Download from Adobe]
Flash Player (v18.0 or later) [Download from Adobe] |
| Recommended Internet Connection | Broadband (cable or DSL) |
| Recommended Monitor | Monitor (capable of at least 1024 x 768 resolution) |
Ready to Begin?
To begin, let’s gauge your familiarity with basic portrait photography concepts with a brief 10 question survey. There is no expectation that you know many (or any) of the questions presented at this point, so answer each question to the best of your ability.