The IOP® Crash Course

What you'll learn

The IOP® Crash Course is perfect for complete photography beginners.

Discover the power of your camera by learning about shutter speed, aperture, ISO and other settings as well as composition, portraits, landscapes and mono photography.

Content is delivered in carefully crafted and original IOP videos expertly created to make the complex concepts of photography simple for everyone.

At the end, supply what you consider to be your best photograph and have it assessed and scored by an IOP® expert to see what level of skill you have.

What’s more, at the end of the course, if you decide to enrol on any one of our other courses, we’ll give you a £49 discount voucher to use! This makes the IOP® Crash Course a risk-free way to try out our Course Platform. 

  • Try our Course Platform
  • Get involved with the Tutor Projects
  • Join the weekly  Tutor chats
  • Learn the fundamentals of photography quickly and simply
  • Get real advice on YOUR photography
  • Discover quick wins to improve your photos now

If you aren’t sure if an online photography course is for you, give us a try.

 

Assignment 1 
INTERACT » Tell us about your photography goals

Unit 2: Important Camera Functions Part 1

What is aperture, shutter speed and ISO? What are all those settings on your camera dial? We cover all this and more in this unit.

WATCH » Important camera functions part 1 video

Unit 3: Important Camera Functions Part 2
In this unit, you will learn all about metering modes, exposure compensation, white balance, auto-focus modes, area focus points, auto-exposure lock and flash modes.

WATCH » Important camera functions part 2 video

Unit 4: Exposure Triangle 
In this video, we look at the important relationship between aperture, shutter speed and ISO, giving you the skills you need to control the camera an produce better photographs.

WATCH » Exposure triangle

Unit 5: The Histogram
The Histogram is one of the most under-valued and under-used tools to help achieve a correct exposure and it’s so simple to apply it to your photography once you know how to use it. We make the Histogram easy to understand in this video, opening up a whole new world on your viewfinder.

WATCH » The Histogram

Unit 6: Composition
In this unit, we discover the fundamental principals of composition. Why does one photo look better than another? We give you simple advice that you can put into practice today to change your photography forever. 

WATCH » Composition

Unit 7: Advanced Composition
It’s time to build on the knowledge you have just learned about composition and to start thinking about positive and negative space, tonal range, colour and emotional response. Transform your photography by following the advice in this step-by-step video.

WATCH » Advanced composition

Unit 8: Final Assignment

INTERACT » Final photo assignment. Submit your best work for some bespoke and in-depth advice. 

The IOP® Taster Course is suitable for:

Beginners
Perfect for those who are completely new to photography, it starts with the complete basics and develops at an easy pace into more complex photographic concepts.

Camera
Any digital camera that allows you to control the manual settings is perfect for this course. Even the most basic compact cameras offer that functionality these days. Look at your camera manual – can you change the aperture, shutter speed and ISO settings? If so, your camera is fine for the course.

Equipment
Any PC, Mac, laptop, tablet or smartphone is suitable for viewing the course and course videos.
A reasonable broadband internet connection (2mb and above).

Non-essential equipment
The following items would be worth investing in, perhaps in the future and as you work through the course, developing your skills.
They are not essential for the course.

  • A DSLR camera
  • Choice of lenses
  • Image editing software like Adobe Lightroom
  • Tripod and filters

Any questions?

If you need to ask anything
about our Diploma in Photography or other photography courses, read our FAQs

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Read our blog for the latest special offers and photography hints, tips and articles.

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