Certificate IV in Photography and Digital Imaging CUA41120

This course is perfect if you have no experience but would like to launch a career in photography.

A Certificate IV in Photography and Digital Imaging will give you the technical skills to successfully establish or enhance your career in photography.

During your studies, you will learn how to:

• Capture photographic images
• Process photo images
• Store and maintain finished creative work
• Apply work health and safety practices
• Develop and apply photo imaging industry knowledge
• Integrate colour theory and design processes
• Apply photo imaging lighting techniques
• Enhance, manipulate and output photo images
• Produce commercial photo images
• Plan and style merchandise photo shoots
• Interpret and respond to a design brief
• Capture images in response to a brief

The duration for the course is self paced - maximum of 18 months. As a self-paced online course, the time it will take you to complete is flexible and dependent on ability and time available.

Entry Requirements

There are no mandated education entry requirements for this qualification, per the CUA Creative Arts and Culture Training Package. There are no mandatory Open Colleges entry requirements.

It is also recommended that students

• Are at least 16 years old (note: students under 18 will need permission from a parent or guardian to enrol)
• Have language, literacy and numeracy skills that ensure the ability to read and comprehend complex information and learn effectively in an online self-paced environment. These skills are equivalent to those that would be required to successfully complete a qualification at Certificate III level or higher, or
• Achieve an ACSF Level 3

Minimum age

You will need to be at least 16 years old. If you are under 18 your enrolment form will need to be signed by a parent or guardian or require guardian/parental consent.

Physical Requirements

You will require the physical ability to operate equipment and resources in a safe manner, and to consider safe manual handling when working with lighting and photography equipment, props, and people.

Computing

All users: 

• Microsoft Office 2016 or above
• Broadband internet connection. Please note, ADSL2+ minimum, is recommended due to the volume of downloading and uploading large files required by the course.
• RAM: 16GB minimum. 32GB is recommended
• 1920 x 1080p display (1920 x 1080p recommended) with 16 – bit colour and 512 MB of V RAM
• Access to Adobe Lightroom Classic and Adobe Photoshop, minimum
• Adobe Reader DC or equivalent
• Access to a scanner and associated software
• Digital imaging software
• File compression software
• Back-up: External Hard drive 1T or above

Windows users: 

• Microsoft Windows 10 or higher 
• 1 Ghz or faster processer (2GHz recommended) 
• Intel® or AMD processor with 64-bit support*; 2 GHz or faster processor
• Operating system
• Microsoft Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit),
• Microsoft Windows 10 October 2018 update (64-bit) version 1809 or later
• Graphics card- nVidia GeForce GTX 1050 or equivalent; nVidia GeForce GTX 1660 or Quadro T1000 is recommended

Mac OS users: 

• 1 Ghz or faster processer (2GHz recommended) 
• Multicore Intel processor with 64-bit support
• macOS version 10.13 (High Sierra), macOS version 10.14 (Mojave), macOS version 10.15 (Catalina)
• Graphics card- nVidia GeForce GTX 1050 or equivalent; nVidia GeForce GTX 1660 or Quadro T1000 is recommended

Skills

To successfully complete this course, you will require basic computing skills. This includes:

• Creating, saving and editing Microsoft Office documents.
• Accessing and searching the internet.
• Downloading and saving documents from websites.
• Uploading documents through websites.
• Participating in online discussions.
• Compressing image files.
• Connecting digital cameras and downloading and storing images.

Equipment and tools

This course requires you to have access to a specific tools, equipment, resources and locations.

You will need a place to undertake your assessment activities. This simulated work environment should be approximately 3m x 4m with available natural light.

The following tools, equipment and resources are required and will need to be purchased at your own cost:

• A Smartphone
• Digital SLR or mirrorless camera - A Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera (Canon or Nikon are recommended) with manual controls, raw file format, HD video capture and interchangeable lenses OR
• A Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera (MILC) with an interchangeable lens (zoom or prime lens), manual controls, raw file format, HD video capture and interchangeable lenses
• A camera tripod
• A memory card
• A graphics capable monitor for accurate colour calibration
• A range of professional lighting equipment and accessories including:
• A table or worktop with trestles for studio work
• Background card size: A3 or A2: White, Black and optional Silver/ Gold/ Colours
• Props - can be a series of selected objects that are appropriate and effective in an image composition - resourced from learners' environment
• A computer table and appropriate chair
• Dry storage space for camera equipment

Prices of each item will vary and be dependent on your own preferences. We recommend that you research and identify the associated costs of the additional items prior to enrolling in the course.

NOTE: 'On location' means a suitable, safe environment, often outside/ exterior that effectively responds to the constraints of an assessment brief.

For unit CUAPHI412 Apply photo imaging lighting techniques you will need to access commercial lighting equipment, depending on your design brief. You will need to source, purchase, or hire this equipment.

You are required to arrange a subscription (at your own cost) to the Adobe Creative Cloud, which will provide all software, technical support and training material for the Adobe Lightroom Creative Cloud and Photoshop Creative Cloud - check the Adobe website for current pricing.

Industry have suggested that a useful resource you can access is PHLearn. This is an online tutorial platform that provides access to hundreds of professional tutorials on Adobe. Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom and specific photography techniques. The platform provides a suite of free tutorials and a subscription-only Pro tutorial suite. Students wishing to access the Pro features will need to do so at their own cost, in addition to the course fee.

You will also need access to ‘models’ – these may be relatives or friends who are willing to sign a model release form. This course includes a requirement to record video and/or audio roleplays. These will require participation by 1-2 other people sourced by you.