Course · Photography & Image Rights
Your own images, safely used
0.1 / What it's about
Good images are created by design.
The course guides you through photography for designers: lighting, composition, camera and exposure, editing, and output for web and print. On top of that comes something many forget: image rights. Who is allowed to use which image and how, and how do you properly attribute it?
The Sonnmatt farm shop – a fictional farm shop in the Basel-Landschaft region featuring products, people, and landscapes – serves as a continuous example throughout. Everything can also be done on your mobile phone.
Key questions of the course:
QUESTION 1
How do I read and shape light?
QUESTION 2
How do I guide the viewer's eye through the image?
QUESTION 3
Which settings do I need for which picture?
QUESTION 4
When am I allowed to use an image, and how do I provide proof?
Course framework:
TARGET AUDIENCE
Creators
Students of graphic, media or communication design and freelancers who need their own images.
SCOPE
5 × 90 mins
Plus final project; each module can also be taken individually.
FORMAT
Hands-on
Brief introduction, tools, and a photography exercise based on a continuous project.
REFERENCE
Cross-references
Connections to Content & Social Media, Visual Communication, Layout & Pre-press, and Industry Realities.
0.2 / Learning objectives
After the course, you'll be taking photos with purpose and confidence.
After the course, you will be able to:
0.3 / Course content
All modules and sections at a glance.
Five modules, each with a core question and a tool. Briefly explained, then photographed by yourself.
MODULE 01
How does light form an image?
MODULE 02
Where is the important information?
MODULE 03
How is a correct exposure achieved?
MODULE 04
How does the image take shape?
MODULE 05
Who is allowed to use which image and how?
0.4 / Procedure per module
Each module follows the same structure.
Each module has the same structure, so you can quickly find your way around and also use it individually.
01
Introduction (10 mins)
Look closely at an image.
02
Input (20 mins)
Basics and rules.
03
Tool (15 mins)
Explore the topic in the interactive tool.
04
Exercise (35 mins)
Taking photos for your own project.
05
Reflection (10 mins)
What do you take forward into your work?
In each section, you will find a bolded key point and a task for further reflection.
0.5 / Record of achievement
In the end, you have a clarified series of images.
Final project: an image series for a real or fictional brand, edited, exported and with rights cleared.
01
Plan
Define the visual language and shot list.
02
Photography
Choose light, composition and exposure deliberately.
03
Select
Sort through strictly, compile the series.
04
Output
Edit consistently, export for web and print.
05
Clarify
Consents and image credits complete.
Evaluation criteria: deliberate lighting, clear composition, correct exposure, consistent series, and fully cleared rights.
0.6 / Literature and Sources
Good images have role models.
• Freeman, M. (2017): The Photographer’s Eye. Remastered Edition. Ilex.
• Hunter, F., Biver, S. & Fuqua, P. (2021): Light Science & Magic. 6th edition. Routledge.
• Sontag, S. (1977): On Photography. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
• Barthes, R. (1980): La chambre claire. German: Die helle Kammer. Suhrkamp.
• Federal Act on Copyright and Related Rights (CopA), SR 231.1, Arts 2, 25, 27 and 29.
• Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI): Information on copyright, ige.ch.
• Creative Commons: Licences Overview, creativecommons.org.
Note: The years indicate the edition used here. This does not constitute legal advice.