Foundations of Photographic Portraiture
ART-40743
Foundations of Photographic Portraiture
9 Meetings | Prerequisite: Photo 1 and Digital Photo Workflow
Portrait photography is one of the most rewarding and in-demand genres in photography—requiring both technical skill and creative vision. In this hands-on, foundational course, you’ll learn to create compelling portraits in a variety of environments using natural and artificial light, while gaining confidence in posing, lighting, editing, and location scouting.
Course Details
Whether you're working outdoors with natural light or indoors with flash, you’ll explore lighting techniques that support flattering, professional portraits. The course covers key concepts such as skin tone exposure, background control, and environmental composition. You'll work with both on-camera and off-camera flash, learn how to balance ambient and artificial light, and experiment with modifiers like umbrellas and softboxes.
Additional topics include basic editing in Lightroom and Photoshop, strategies for posing individuals who feel uncomfortable in front of the camera, and best practices for working in dynamic environments such as events and receptions. The course culminates in a portfolio review of your completed portrait work, giving you a solid foundation to advance into more complex portraiture techniques.
This course is ideal for aspiring portrait photographers and visual storytellers looking to build strong technical and creative fundamentals. Taught by a working professional photographer, students will receive personalized feedback and guidance throughout the course.
Schedule
This course is intended for students local to the San Diego/Southern California areas. You must attend the first Zoom meeting.
Meeting 1: Thursday, Sept 25 - Zoom - 6pm to 8pm
Meeting 2: Thursday, Oct 2 - Zoom - 6pm to 8pm
Meeting 3: Thursday, Oct 9 - Zoom - 6pm to 8pm
Meeting 4: Thursday, Oct 16 - Zoom - 6pm to 8pm
Meeting 5: Thursday, Oct 23 Zoom - 6pm to 8pm
Meeting 6: Thursday, Oct 30 UCC Classroom (In person) Rm 115 - 6pm to 9pm
Meeting 7: Sunday, Nov 2 Balboa Park Field trip - 8am to 12pm
Meeting 8: Sunday, Nov 9 Balboa Park Field trip - 8am to 12pm
Meeting 9: Thursday, Nov 20 Zoom - 6pm to 8pm
Additional content including assignments and video content will be available on your Canvas portal.
What You'll Learn
- Use natural and artificial light to create well-exposed, flattering portraits by understanding skin tone exposure, background lighting, and the behavior of flash systems.
- Differentiate between lighting techniques including natural light, on-camera fill flash, and off-camera flash with and without modifiers, applying them appropriately for indoor and outdoor settings.
- Pose individuals and groups effectively, including subjects who are new or uncomfortable in front of the camera, using simple techniques to enhance expression, posture, and presence.
- Edit portrait images using Lightroom and Photoshop, performing basic enhancements such as exposure correction, color balance, and skin tone refinement.
- Assemble a small portfolio of portraits that demonstrate lighting variety, compositional intent, technical accuracy, and creative approach—suitable for continued study or client work.
Course Information
Equipment/Software: Fully adjustable DSLR camera, mirrorless camera with manual exposure mode, or prosumer camera. Creative Cloud Photography Plan required (or full Adobe Creative Cloud plan). Lightroom Classic needed (not Lightroom Creative Cloud).
Optional but Recommended: A prime lens (e.g., 35mm, 50mm, or 85mm) and a Tripod..
Flexible Enrollment: This course is a Required Course for the Photography: Images and Techniques Professional Certificate but is open to all students, even if you're not enrolled in the Certificate Program.
Academic Calendar: The Academic Calendar shows the open enrollment dates and term start dates for each quarter. Courses do not necessarily start on the first day of the term.
Course sessions
Section ID:
Class type:
This learning experience is intentionally designed as a combination of in-class and web-based instruction. In-class meetings follow the published schedule. Students are also expected to engage with course content online during the published course dates.
Textbooks:
All course materials are included unless otherwise stated.
Policies:
- No refunds after: 9/29/2025
- 1st meeting mandatory
- No UCSD parking permit required
- No visitors permitted
- Prerequisite required
Schedule:
| Date | Day | Start | End | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/30/2025 | Thu | 6:00 p.m. | 9:00 p.m. | Room 115, UCSD Division of Extended Studies University City Center, 6256 Greenwich Drive, San Diego |
Instructor:
Christopher Wood, M.S.
Taught geography at the university level and lectured on photography at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido
Christopher Wood teaches Photo I: Aperture, Shutter Speed, & ISO, Photo II: Technique & Style, and Photographic Portraiture I for the Photography: Images and Techniques certificate program. Chris earned his master's degree in geography before embarking on his career in photography. He has taught geography at the university level and lectured on photography at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido. During the past 10 years, Wood has worked extensively as both a wedding and sports photographer.