Course Information

In association with Australian Geographic, Canon and Lowepro, Chris Bray Photography is running the ultimate 1 day photography courses, all around Australia to help you understand your camera, renew your enthusiasm and take your photography to a whole new level! Great photos are ‘made’ not simply ‘taken’, so book early, come along and start ‘making’ the photos turn out the way you always wished they would.

Do you often leave your camera on Auto mode? Not sure what aperture does, or how to control it? Wish your waterfall photos looked like they do in magazines? Wish you could make photos brighter, or maybe darker for a silhouette or to capture a mood? What's a histogram anyway, and what lenses should I get? If you’re a beginner, right through to a keen enthusiast photographer looking to get serious, and have ever wondered about these things, then this photography course is for you! Covering everything from basic composition through to depth of field, lighting, lenses and pro tips, these 9-hour, friendly small-group workshops are held at stunning zoo and other function centres around Australia, combining a great balance of practical and theory sessions including one-on-one time with Chris Bray, amidst wonderfully diverse and inspiring test subjects, not to mention the $330 worth of prizes at the end of each day and the delicious catering!

Don’t have a digital camera or tripod? No worries – you can borrow a brand new Canon EOS 450D digital SLR and tripod from us for the day, for free! Australian Geographic members get $50 off!

Kicking off between 7 and 10:00 AM (times vary on location), the 9 hour day includes catered meals, theory lessons, practical outdoor sessions, ample time for questions and discussions, one-on-one tuition, prizes and more. You can bring your own Digital SLR, use one of ours, or stick to your compact 'Point and shoot' camera - your call. You can even use this course as an experiment to check out what a Digital SLR has to offer over a compact camera, before deciding to make the purchase.

The day's schedule is carefully designed to maximise your learning potential. We hold our courses in small groups (14 or less) and only at selected venues that provide a pleasant, modern boardroom for our classroom environment, free tea & coffee as well as meals including lunch, at a location conveniently accessible from town, and with immediate access to a variety of interesting subjects outside for practical sessions. For example, in Sydney, our courses are held at the Taronga Zoo Function Centre boardroom - where else can you step out of a stylish boardroom and take photos of lions one minute, waterfalls the next, and then turn around and practice Sydney Harbour landscape views?

The day is split up between four theory lessons and four practical sessions where new skills are taught and then practiced. Although carefully orchestrated in terms of the layout, sequence and content, the theory lessons will be friendly casual sessions, presented on a digital projector with plenty of slides illustrating concepts, and open invitations for comments and questions. A take-home hand-out will also be provided so instead of trying to madly write things down, you can instead focus on absorbing and learning.

Each day course also includes a photography assignment, where you're sent out to capture a photo to fit a given brief, and our lucky winner gets an awesome Lowepro Primus AW camera backpack worth $330!

Courses go ahead, rain hail or shine (besides, some of the best photographs are taken in those flat-light conditions of rainy overcast days!).

The full payment needs to be made up-front to confirm your place in the course, however should something come up and you can't attend, then we can refund you the full amount minus a $150 non-refundable deposit per person.

Course Syllabus

The Chris Bray Photography 1-Day Course is designed to walk you through a comprehensive learning curve covering everything from basic composition through to depth of field, lighting, histograms and more. It doesn’t matter if you're a newbie, amateur or semi-pro photographer, you'll find the day interesting, informative and invaluable – filled with tips and tricks that'll help you 'Take Better Photos'.

You can download the full syllabus below as a PDF document. In summary though, the major headings include:

Download Syllabus in PDF format

Parts of the camera Getting Ready to Take a Photo Taking a Photo Composition - Top 10 Tips Basic Exposure Theory Exposure Compensation Histograms Aperture and Depth of Field Shutter Speed and Movement ISO Low Light Photography The Exposure Triangle Advanced Camera Modes Lighting Flash White Balance Filters Lenses The Digital Advantage Bracketing Photographing Wildlife Photographing People Camera Care Digital Files JPG vs RAW Tips for Turning Pro