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Course information

Entry requirements

Course Name

Intensive Foundation Course in Photography

Duration

5 Weekends (30 Hours)
7 Days (30 Hours)

Eligibility

16+ Years of Age

Course Highlights

  • Learn to create your own aesthetics
  • Become job-ready with industry-driven skills
  • The course is powered by Olympus and supported by hama & Lexar

Course overview

Admissions Open for the next batch | Next batch - April 2026

Photography is the most popular medium to capture life as it goes by. Travelling, meeting old and new friends, important events and tender moments-memories like these deserve to be captured for posterity. The Photography Foundation Course at SACAC, Delhi introduces the exciting world of photography to those who have the passion for it. The challenge of taking a good photograph is not just being present at the opportune moment; it’s also about the technical ability and knowledge to create an aesthetically evocative composition.

The course is powered by Olympus and supported by hama and Lexar.

Course Overview

Photography is one of the most popular, easily accessible and yet powerful mediums for documenting today’s time for posterity or even communicating as well as expressing. However, with dramatic shifts in socio-political environments across the globe, the audience’s sensibilities are also shifting. This calls for an urgent need for a shift in our communication mediums including visual communications.

Today, everyone with a smartphone is a photographer and even a citizen journalist. In such times, are techniques alone adequate, or do we need a deeper understanding of the visual language to help you distinguish your style from most others?

The five weekends  digital still photography course at SACAC will introduce you to the technical aspects of photography through a structured programme that will build your knowledge and skills from the elementary level onwards. It will also introduce you to the nuances of the visual language, it’s grammar through simply illustrated lectures, which will eventually help you strengthen your photographic skills.

Who is it for?

Beginners, hobbyists and working professionals who do not have the time to commit to a full time Photography course, yet are deeply passionate, serious and sincere enough to pursue an alternative creative medium or career over the weekends. Also, ideal for people with a creative genius within them and searching for ways to creatively express. If you’re busy through the week but continue to dream of a creative and adventurous life, this could be an ideal starting point without rocking your apple cart. This foundation course is a perfect stepping stone towards building a serious career in photography. Several of our long-term documentary photography students have come from this foundation course.

Curriculum for weekend course

Weekend 1

Session 1
  • Introduction
  • Understanding of Cameras (Analog/Digital, DSLRs and Mirrorless)
  • Full Frame Vs APSC Vs MFT
  • Megapixels and Image size
  • Explaining Aperture
Session 2
  • Detailed explanation and demonstration on
  • Aperture
  • Shutter Speed
  • Shutter Speed
  • ISO

Weekend 2

Session 3
  • ISO (Sensitivity as the third and last parameter for controlling the exposure)
  • Exposure in photography
  • Exposure triangle
  • Essential camera functions (Drive mode, Quality and Picture profiles)
  • Exposure meter scale and Histogram
  • Colour temperature and white balance
Session 4
  • Focal length
  • Depth of Field
  • Fundamentals of lensing : Focal lengths, Primes Vs Zooms, Angle of View
  • Shooting in Manual Mode for complete control
  • Demonstrations and Exercises in campus

Weekend 3

Session 5
  • Exploring Modes (A/Av , S/Tv, Program Mode)
  • Focussing Modes
  • Composition
Session 6
  • Field Trip
  • Humayun’s Tomb/Safdarjung’s Tomb/Qutub Minar

Weekend 4

Session 7
  • Panning and Zooming (demonstration in and around campus)
  • Exposure Compensation (Overriding camera’s automation)
  • Revision of Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO
  • Revision of priority moods
Session 8
  • Review of Images
  • Troubleshooting and clearing of concepts
  • Discussion on camera Menu

Weekend 5

Session 9
  • Introduction to post-processing
  • Learn how to edit images on the phone using the free yet powerful application ’Snapseed’.
  • Understanding Jpeg vs RAW
  • Power of Non-destructive image processing
  • Optimal processing of RAW images in Adobe Camera RAW
  • Processing Colour Vs Black & White images
Session 10
  • Available light Vs Studio Light
  • Sync-speed and its effectiveness
  • Types of studio lights (studio flash Vs continuous light)
  • Overview of studio light (detailed explanation of display panel)
  • Basic understanding of Light shaping tools and color gels.
  • Practice session in studio with 'one point & two point setup’ in the guidance of our professional team

Curriculum for 7 Day Boot Camp

Class 1 & 2

  • Photography as Light-writing
  • Essentials of Camera-work( Aperture, Viewfinder, Focussing, shutter release)
  • Kinds of Cameras( Analog/Digital, SLRs/Mirrorless, Small/Medium Format)
  • Aperture (F-stops)
  • Modes( M, A , S, P)
  • Depth of Field : Blurring the non-focussed areas(Working in Aperture prioritymode)
  • Essential Camera Functions( Drive, Image formats/ quality and Pictureprofiles)
  • Shutter Speed
  • Shooting motion (Freezing motion/ introducing motion blur in Shutter Prioritymode)
  • Panning (demonstration)
  • Exposure Compensation (Overriding camera’s automation)
  • Demonstrations and Exercises

Class 3

  • ISO (Sensitivity as the third and last parameter for controlling the exposure)
  • Exposure
  • Exposure meter scale and Histogram
  • Exposure Triangle
  • Benefits of Mirror-less for exposure preview
  • Focussing Modes (Area and others)
  • Focussing technologies for dynamic objects
  • Shooting in Manual Mode for complete control
  • Creative Composition
  • Color Temperature and White Balance
  • Demonstrations and Exercises

Class 4

  • Fundamentals of Lensing : Focal lengths, Primes Vs Zooms, Angle of View
  • Perspective matters
  • Demonstrations and Exercises
  • Field Trip

Class 5

  • Review of Images
  • Troubleshooting and clearing of concepts
  • Available light Vs Studio Light
  • Sync-speed and its effectiveness
  • Types of studio lights (studio flash Vs continuous light)
  • Overview of studio light (detailed explanation of display panel)
  • Basic understanding of Light shaping tools
  • Working with ‘one point’ set up

Class 6 & 7

  • Introduction to post-processing
  • Jpeg vs RAW
  • Exploring Image size (Print & Web usage)
  • Processing Black & White images
  • Power of Non-destructive image processing
  • Optimal processing of RAW images in Adobe Camera RAW

Skills Developed

  •  Operating a DSLR camera
  • Develop a healthy understanding of different technical aspects of camera operation including lenses and how perspective shifts
  • Superior technical skills and an aesthetic eye for high-quality compositions, ability to identify potential images and understanding of factors that lead to making of powerful images
  • An eye for creating moody images using light and shadows
  • Image editing using Adobe Lightroom

Requirements

All you need is a DSLR camera and abundance of passion and commitment for the next two months. We will help you with the rest.

Faculty

Idris Ahmed

An executive director & publisher of the photography magazine – FRAME, he also runs PhotoCommune, a collective of photography enthusiasts. Idris started out as a photography instructor. With his curiosity and passion to capture the delicate moments of human life and the wonders of nature, he went on a detour to Spiti Valley, an enchanted valley in Himachal Pradesh. It was during this trip his relationship with Photography became sacrosanct and inspired him to become a freelance photographer.

To date, Idris has shot for many renowned organizations, domestically like VIVO India, MBL Infrastructure, Wildlife Trust of India, and CK Birla Group, and internationally like SABMiller Breweries, Fresenius Kabi, Taisei Corporation (Japan), and Dorling Kindersley (London), to name a few. His work includes working solo, in a studio set up with his team, and on snow-covered mountains of the Himalayas.

His oeuvre has been published in Forbes India, National Geographic Magazine, Outlook Travel Guide, Cosmopolitan Magazine, Sunday Guardian, and many more. Exhibiting his work since 2010, he has traveled the world and has also received recognition from News Channels like NDTV, brands like Vivo, and in group exhibitions held from Northern India to South. Through various workshops and expeditions, Idris aims to inspire more and more young photographers to enter the world of lenses and aesthetics. He is a faculty at SACAC and has taught in other institutions like the Institute of Film & Television and the College of Media & Communication, in the past. Reimagining the world through his viewfinder, today Idris continues documenting his sojourns.

Admission & Fee

Course NameIntensive Foundation Course in Photography
Duration5 Weekends
Age Group16+
Next Foundation Batch April 2026
Dates for Boot CampDate to be announced
Batch Size15
Registration Fees (Valid for One Year)Rs 1200/-
Fees for FoundationRs 16000/- + applicable gst
Fees for Boot CampRs 16000/- + applicable gst
Admission FormClick here to download or Apply Online
Days & TimingsSaturday and Sunday (10-1pm)

Facilities Offered

  • AC classroom with projector and iMac
  • Access to campus library and its stock of photobooks, monographs etc.

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