Overview
This practical course develops applied smartphone photography skills for product presentation in retail, online marketplaces, and small-business contexts. Students examine product preparation, shooting-space design, natural and artificial lighting, glare and shadow control, backgrounds, composition, useful viewing angles, scale, detail, and accurate representation of condition or defects.
The course also addresses smartphone camera controls, image organization, file naming, cropping, resizing, restrained editing, color consistency, descriptive captions and alt text, privacy, intellectual property, and the relationship between image quality, buyer trust, and conversion. Students plan and execute a complete product shoot, troubleshoot common technical problems, and produce appropriately formatted, informative, and authentic image assets for a product listing.
Learning Outcomes
- Plan a simple product photography shoot that addresses product characteristics, audience, equipment, lighting, backgrounds, composition, and delivery requirements.
- Apply smartphone camera controls and appropriate lighting techniques to produce clear, consistent, and informative product images.
- Diagnose and correct common technical problems involving glare, shadows, exposure, focus, color accuracy, framing, and scale.
- Produce a complete product image set that communicates features, details, condition, and defects accurately.
- Organize, name, crop, resize, and export image files to meet practical retail and marketplace specifications.
- Evaluate product images for visual consistency, accessibility, authenticity, privacy, intellectual-property compliance, and their likely effects on buyer trust.
- Synthesize image, caption, and alt-text choices into a coherent and accessible product listing presentation.
Timetable
| Type | Length | Frequency | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 1 hour | Weekly | All semester |
| Lab | 2 hours | Weekly | All semester |
| Tutorial | 1 hour | Fortnightly | All semester |
Assessment Schedule
| Type | Description | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment | Shoot plan and visual brief | 15.00% |
| Deliverable | Technical image exercises | 20.00% |
| Capstone | Product image set and listing assets | 35.00% |
| Test | Practical image-editing test | 15.00% |
| Assignment | Reflective evaluation of image quality and buyer communication | 15.00% |
Teaching Staff & Programs
This course is delivered jointly by faculty from the participating programs listed below. In line with the Douchewater Way, the University of Sexology tailors core instruction directly to each cohort's specific discipline — adapting curriculum to program needs rather than forcing students into a one-size-fits-all model. Learn more about our approach at The Douchewater Way.