F.A.Q.
You may cancel your registration and receive a full refund so long as your initially-scheduled course is no less than four weeks from the date of the request.
You may reschedule your enrollment once, no less than seven days from the date of your initially-schedule course.
Yes. If you’re unable to attend for any reason, you’re welcome to have someone else participate in your place so long as you provide us with adequate notice by email.
The location of our classroom-free photography courses changes throughout the year, with the most up-to-date meeting place indicated on every course description page. After registering for a class, you will receive an email confirming the meeting point. Sometimes, to ensure a better learning experience for our students, we may alter the meeting spot after you have registered. If this happens, we will provide notice of at least 48 hours; the new location will be within 500 m of a subway station in or near the city centre.
Since most of our workshops have an outdoor component, we monitor the weather forecast in preparation for each class. If we determine that severe weather will adversely affect the learning experience, we may cancel the workshop with a notice of at least 12 hours. If we cancel a workshop due to inclement weather, we will offer all enrolled students the option to reschedule to a future date.
Yes. We offer private photography lessons for 1 to 3 individuals. Private lessons may follow our standard group photography workshop curriculum, or they may be customized to your needs. Please visit the private photography workshop page and use the contact form to connect with us.
Our courses have a planned duration of 3 hours with 4 to 5 students in attendance. Depending on the number of students registered, we may complete the course in 2 or 2.5 hours. With fewer students in attendance, the quality of the course and amount of time allocated for student questions remains unchanged.
Our sole instructor and dear leader is Paul Kounine. He designed this website, created the practical guide to photography, teaches every workshop, and wrote this FAQ in third-person.
Paul started teaching photography in 2017. Since then, he’s developed a keen understanding and meaningful solutions for the everyday struggles faced by novice photographers. His experience has fostered a nerdy and excellent familiarity with the quirks of different camera systems.
Perhaps more importantly, Paul has been an avid photographer since purchasing his first digital camera in 2004. In 2007, he enrolled in Ryerson University’s film studies program, where he concentrated on cinematography—which is like photography but faster—and for which he earned the extremely rare and perpetually coveted BFA degree. Unfortunately for Paul, but fortunately for you, his grand ambitions didn’t transpire into a fulfilling show business career. In 2012, he formed Pavel Kounine Photography to start documenting weddings. Paul prides himself on being one of the few authentic documentary wedding photographer’s in Toronto.
With that said, words are cheap, but the proof is undeniable—Paul’s qualification is his photography:
• He took every photograph on this website
• Check out his wedding photography
It varies. 3- and 4‑hour private photography lessons can have up to three participants; 2‑hour lessons may have up to two participants. Private lessons are a great way to ensure that your private group receives your instructor’s full and uncompromising attention.
The page describing each course contains a detailed syllabus. In general, after taking the four photography workshops for beginners (workshops 101 to 104), you should be capable of making a manually exposed picture using your camera’s built-in exposure meter, and setting it to take advantage of the unique aesthetic characteristics controlled by the lens, aperture, and shutter.
Sure, we won’t stop you. However, our photography classes are designed to teach the theoretical principles together with their practical application through structured exercises. By not bringing a camera (or renting one of our camera kits), you’ll miss out on the valuable experience of our practical exercises.
Our courses are designed for cameras that allow users some degree of manual control. Although some compact cameras feature manual and semi-manual modes, many do not. Please check the suitability of your camera by confirming it has the following shooting modes: Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, and Manual. If you’re unsure or don’t know where to check, please contact us, and we’ll help you figure it out.
There are no age restrictions for participating in our photography workshops. However, please exercise common sense and know your limits (for example this material is too dense for toddlers, and the outdoor portion may present a challenge for some super-centenarians).
Camera kit rentals are temporarily unavailable for group workshops due to the ongoing pandemic.
Yes. We offer a limited number of camera kits (camera, lens, memory card, and battery) for rent for the duration of a group workshop. You may reserve a camera kit rental during the group workshop registration and checkout process.
Our group photography workshops are limited to a maximum of 5 participants, making them the smallest photo classes in Toronto.
Our group photography lessons are limited to a minimum of 2 participants. We reserve the right to cancel and reschedule courses that do not meet this minimum enrolment.
Maybe. The general principles of photography remain unchanged whether you’re shooting film or digital. Nevertheless, our program is better suited for participants with digital cameras because they permit immediate analysis of the resulting pictures.
A photographer interested in film will derive benefit from the theoretical principles we teach. However, it will be difficult to follow along with the practical exercises that demonstrate those principles, as you won’t be able to analyze your results until after developing and scanning/printing the photos.