Tunxis Offers Summer Photography Courses

Tunxis Community College will offer a new, non-credit Digital Photography program starting June 14. 

The three-course program provides students with skills in how to take better photographs by fully utilizing their 35mm SLR digital camera’s capabilities in manual settings, shooting on location, and enhancing digital images in post-production. Students who complete the three courses will be eligible to take more advanced courses Tunxis plans to offer, such as “Studio Lighting,” “Portraiture,” “Wedding Photography,” “Studio Product Photography,” “Lightroom 4,” “Photoshop Elements 10,” and others.  

The three classes in the program include:

• “Basic Level 1: Understanding Your SLR Digital Camera,” June 14 – July 5 (Thurs.); 6-9 p.m. 

(4 sessions)

Topics include: camera handling, use of different lenses, filters, depth-of-field, shutter speeds, flash photography, tripods, and composition. 

• “Basic Level 2: Applied Creative Photography,” July 14 – Aug. 4 (Sat.); 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

(4 sessions) 

A number of outdoor locations will be photographed during these hands-on sessions as students learn through field training and demonstrations. Depth-of-field, aperture and speed priority settings, ISO control, lens speeds, lens length, image composition, “quality of light” and how it affects the mood of a picture, time exposures vs. motion capture, textures, surface reflections, and more will be explored. Students must have completed “Basic Level I” or have permission of the instructor.

• “Basic Level 3: Digital Image Control Using Photoshop Elements 10,” Aug. 11–25 (Sat.);
9 a.m.-2 p.m. (3 sessions)

With basic sharpening, color and temperature corrections, and spotting (cloning), all photos have greater visual impact. Students will learn how to use Photoshop Elements 10 for digital image manipulation and correction. Through a series of exercises using the students’ own images, the class will cover many of the adjustments and filter tools required to import, correct, enhance, sharpen, crop, and modify digital images by practicing perspective control, cropping for impact, color correcting for mood, and eliminating unwanted areas of photographs. The course is taught on PCs but those who wish may bring their Mac laptop. Prerequisite: “Basic Level 1” and “Basic Level 2” or permission of the instructor.

The fee for each class is $145. For more, visit www.tunxis.edu/cephoto, or call 860.314.4700. To view additional summer non-credit offerings, see the Tunxis Continuing Education summer course schedule online at www.tunxis.edu/cesched. Tunxis is located at the junction of Routes 6 and 177 in Farmington.