Digital Photography (Level 3 Award) - A Home Study, Distance Learning Course

Digital Photography NCFE (Level 3 Award)

Our home study photography courses allow you to study for a NCFE Level 3 qualification without disrupting your current lifestyle. Whether you want to develop your existing photography skills or gain a valuable qualification which will further your career prospects, you’ll find our distance learning photography courses are a flexible and cost-effective way of fulfilling your ambitions.

Do you want to take great photos? Interested in understanding more about digital photography? This course covers everything from equipment, light and exposure, as well as composition, printing and scanning.

You will also concentrate on specialist areas like portraiture and landscape and Photoshop skills. This course will be valuable for anyone who wants to build and perfect their digital photography skills.

This course is split into bite sized sections to make studying easier and you have access to your tutor, who is available to help every step of the way. So if you want to gain a valuable qualification that will put you one step ahead of the competition, sign up for this home study photography course.

HOME STUDY SUPPORT

You will be provided with comprehensive materials designed to provide you with everything required to complete your course of study. You will have your own personal tutor helping you with your course work and with any questions you may have. Plus you can contact our Student Advisors by email or phone for all the practical advice you may need – so we really are with you 100%.

What's more, you'll have access to the online student portal, where you can interact with other students, browse our resource library and manage your account.

COURSE ASSESSMENT

This course is marked through a process of continuous assessment guided by your tutor following NCFE guidelines. This means that your qualification will be awarded according to your performance on assessments rather than by taking an exam.

There are 12 assignments in the course - a mix of written and practical - plus there are 20 or so self-assignments which really add value to the course by allowing the student to build their knowledge about significant areas of photography in a fun and challenging way.

When you have completed the programme, your tutor needs to verify that you have worked through all parts of any Workbooks, Activities and Exercises successfully.

Upon verification of the activities, exercises and assignments, a nationally recognised certificate will be awarded by NCFE as confirmation that your written work has met all of the learning outcomes and assessment criteria for the programme.

This is a dual certification course. You will receive a certificate from both the College and also the National Awarding body NCFE. Fees for both are included in the course fee.

The course can be enrolled upon by students Internationally. There are no deadlines for enrolments.

COURSE DURATION

We recommended you spend approximately 110 hours of your time studying for the Digital Photography. The pace of study is completely up to you. To give an example, if you dedicate 2 hours a week to the course it would take you a year to complete but if you could spare 4 hours a week you could complete it in six months.

Get started today, and you can earn your Level 3 NCFE Award in Digital Photography in as little as six months, or take up to a year, if you prefer – the choice is yours.

HOME STUDY COURSE ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

The good news is that no prior learning knowledge or experience is essential to take this course. This course is openly available to anyone wishing to learn more about Digital Photography and would like to take part in a highly rewarding home study course. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to expand their knowledge and study further, so we try to keep our entry requirements to a minimum.

You have the freedom to start the course at any time and continue your studies at your own pace for a period of up to 12 months from initial registration with full tutor support.

COURSE QUALIFICATION

NCFE Level 3 Award in Digital Photography
This course leads to a Level 3 Award for successful learners. This means that it is independently accredited at a level of learning equivalent to level 3 on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) for England, Wales and Northern Ireland (in which case GCSE's are at levels 1 and 2 and A Levels are at level 3). In accrediting the programme at level 3, NCFE attests that its learning outcomes are at an equivalent level to a level 3 national qualification.

This course has been designed to meet specific learner requirements. Accreditation by NCFE is a guarantee of quality. It means that this learning programme has been scrutinised and approved by an independent panel of experienced educational professionals and is quality audited by NCFE.

About NCFE
More than 150 years of Vocational Awarding, NCFE can trace their record of working with colleges and other providers back to their founding organisation...

NCFE is recognised as an awarding body by the qualification regulators ('regulators') for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The regulators are the Office of the Qualifications and Examinations Regulator (Ofqual) in England, the Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) in Wales and the Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) in Northern Ireland

The course can be enrolled upon by students Internationally. There are no deadlines for enrolments.

POSSIBLE CAREER PATHS

Photographer
Medical Illustrator
Photographic Technician
Photographic Stylist
Scenes of Crime Officer

FURTHER COURSE INFORMATION

As a student, your course fee covers everything you will need to successfully complete the Digital Photography home study course and earn your award:

All textbooks, study guides, and learning aids designed for distance learning
A full range of student services, including assessments
A personalised award upon course completion
Unlimited educational support by e-mail

If your course is being delivered online, please ensure you meet the minimum requirements below.

For Windows:
Windows 98, 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7 - Acrobat Reader 4.0 and above

For Macintosh:
Mac OS X, Mac OS 9.2 - Acrobat Reader 4.0 and above

From time to time we may enrol our students with our partner sites; this is dependent on the number of students enrolling on a particular course and course material availability. If this happens, nothing changes for you other than the name of the college administering your course. We will continue to be your point of contact; you will get the exact same course you have enrolled on with the same high level of quality content and support.

Frequently Asked Questions About this Course

Q. Will I need a digital camera on the course?
Although a digital SLR is best for this course, students can use a good, high-end compact digital camera if necessary. Budget compacts of the sub-£100, auto-everything, point-and-shoot variety are not recommended, whereas investing in a compact digital camera from a reputable manufacturer which has the facility to over-ride auto exposure is most preferable.

Ideally, your camera should have an Auto Exposure mode BUT ALSO a Manual Override exposure mode so that you can make exposures based on your choices - not just those that an auto-only camera would dictate to you. Aperture Priority mode and Manual are the most useful. As so many students of photography have found, a camera which does all the thinking for you (ie Auto only) inhibits your ability to learn the fundamental (& surprisingly simple) principles behind exposure and the creative possibilities which come from this.

Digital compacts will never be quite as suited to this course as a digital SLR, but a good one will take you a long way. For this course, you won't need a massive telephoto or zoom lens - just a good, sharp lens which is likely to cover wide angle > standard > short telephoto. This zoom lens usually comes as standard with most good compact cameras.

AND

Additionally, if you are upgrading your compact or investing in a digital compact for the first time (as a step perhaps into more serious photography), a few things to consider:

1) Trust the big names of photography rather than the newcomers, so manufacturers like Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Fuji often come out on top in reader reviews. Online forums and reviews are a good place to start finding out information, but see (4) below. Never buy a compact camera without trying it out first.

2) Shooting mode options (including Manual) are a must (see above).

3) There is an over-emphasis on megapixel resolution figures which some of the manufacturers put out. There's no point in having a huge capture resolution if the camera lens is made of plastic (yep, it does happen). A good quality lens is far more important than pixel count for a compact camera.

4) Handle your camera before you buy it. Only this way will you be able to check for Shutter Lag (delay between pressing the shutter and the camera actually making the exposure) which can be a big problem with compact cameras, though is improving all the time. You also need to get a feel of its menu system, scroll wheels etc and how easy these features are to use or how visible their displays are.

5) Beware of bloated resolution boasts. Real or Optical Resolution is the actual measure, not Interpolated Resolution which simply means that more and more pixels are added to the image via a kind of digital guesswork based on the next pixel to it (" Interpolation" is the technical term for it) which artificially inflates the pixel count, but decrease the actual quality of the image by introducing "false" pixels.

Q. Is there any other reading?
A. No, everything you need to complete the course is included. However, any extra reading you do will always be beneficial for your studies. You will need access to a camera

POSTAGE & PACKING

Get FREE UK delivery when purchasing distance learning courses online. We will deliver your course materials direct to your door upon enrolment so you can get started straight away and plan your studies around your other commitments.