4-Class Creative Course

Stop taking snapshots. Start making photographs, and learn how to finish them entirely on your phone.

Your phone is an extraordinarily capable camera, but convenience alone does not create a powerful image. This four-class course teaches you to slow down, see more clearly, take control of your camera, and develop your photographs using tools available directly on your device.

Explore timing through Henri Cartier-Bresson, city colour through Saul Leiter, everyday observation through Vivian Maier, unconventional framing through Lee Friedlander, and bold colour relationships through William Eggleston. We examine how these photographers approached the world, then apply their ideas through guided shooting exercises and weekly assignments.

Editing is a major part of the course. You will begin with your phone’s built-in editor, learning what each adjustment actually does and how to improve an image without destroying it. From there, you will graduate to the free version of Adobe Lightroom Mobile for greater control over light, colour, contrast, cropping, and black-and-white conversion.

Every photograph will be shot, selected, edited, and finished on your phone. No computer or expensive equipment is required. Bring a modern smartphone, a charger, and a willingness to look differently at the world around you.

Course Rundown

Class 1: Know Your Camera and Catch the Moment

Learn what your phone camera is doing behind the scenes. Explore focus, exposure, lenses, portrait mode, night mode, burst shooting, image formats, and computational processing.

Using Henri Cartier-Bresson’s idea of the “decisive moment,” you will work with movement, gesture, anticipation, and timing. Learn when to react quickly, when to wait, and how to capture the right moment without filling your camera roll with hundreds of nearly identical images.

You will leave with a better understanding of which automatic features to trust—and when you need to take control.

Class 2: Find the Light and Build the Frame

Learn to recognize useful light before reaching for your camera. Work with window light, open shade, reflections, silhouettes, streetlights, and difficult high-contrast scenes.

Explore colour, perspective, geometry, layering, negative space, and unconventional viewpoints through photographers such as Saul Leiter, William Eggleston, Vivian Maier, and Lee Friedlander.

Through guided shooting exercises, you will discover how small changes in position, distance, exposure, or camera angle can transform an ordinary scene.

Class 3: Master Your Built-In Editor

Before downloading more apps, learn to use the powerful editing tools already built into your phone.

Develop a practical editing sequence using exposure, highlights, shadows, contrast, white balance, saturation, cropping, straightening, and black-and-white conversion. Learn how to rescue common problems, recognize when an image has been over-edited, and decide when a photograph is finished.

You will create several versions of the same image and compare how different editing choices affect its mood, clarity, and meaning.

Class 4: Graduate to Lightroom Mobile

Move beyond the built-in editor and develop a more controlled workflow using the free version of Adobe Lightroom Mobile.

Learn how to import and organize photographs, refine light and colour, crop with intention, create a consistent look, compare before-and-after versions, and export finished files at the right size and quality.

Bring the course together by selecting, editing, and sequencing a short photographic series created entirely on your phone. Finish with a supportive group review and a body of work ready to print, share, or continue developing.

By the End of the Course, You Will:

• Understand the creative and technical capabilities of your phone camera.
• Take greater control of focus, exposure, lenses, and camera modes.
• Make stronger photographs using light, timing, composition, colour, and perspective.
• Capture movement, portraits, street scenes, and low-light images more effectively.
• Confidently use your phone’s built-in photo editor.
• Understand what exposure, highlights, shadows, colour, contrast, and cropping controls actually do.
• Use the free version of Lightroom Mobile to develop a more refined editing workflow.
• Edit photographs with intention instead of relying on one-click filters.
• Recognize and correct common shooting and editing mistakes.
• Select and sequence images to communicate an idea.
• Export finished photographs for printing, sharing, or social media.
• Complete a cohesive photographic series entirely on your phone.
• Develop a regular photography practice using the camera you already carry.

What to Bring

Smartphone: Bring a modern iPhone or Android phone with enough available storage for new photographs and apps.

Apps: Your phone’s standard Photos or Gallery app is required. Please install the free version of Adobe Lightroom Mobile before the course begins.

Charger: Bring a charging cable and, if available, a portable battery pack.

Storage: Back up older photographs and free up space on your device before the first class.

No previous experience required: This course is designed for beginners and experienced phone photographers who want more creative and technical control.

Course Details

Dates: To be announced
Format: 4 weekly classes
Location: Urban Art Collective Art Hub, 50 Bayswater Avenue, Ottawa
Level: Introductory
Maximum capacity: 12 students
Minimum enrolment: 6 students required