Photography tuition
Lots of people ask me how to get the best out of their camera. The short answer is to take lots of pictures, and to experiment. For more detailed advice I offer personal photography workshops for individuals or groups of up to 4 people.
You choose what you’d like me to cover in the workshop – anything from general use of a camera, the finer technical points of photography or practical tips on improving your family pictures. The tuition sessions last 2 hours and it’s up to you whether you’d like the tuition one-to-one, or get some friends together.
One recent session involved giving a couple advice on purchasing their first digital SLR and then teaching them how to use the basic functions to get up and going. Others have been more advanced and covered setting up your camera for different situations, composition and lighting.
I also coach photojournalism students about press photography. We get out and about and photograph news events. I’ll discuss how to come up with ideas to illustrate a story, research them, compose memorable images during a news event and editing. Many of these techniques are applicable to social photography and can really develop your skills if you feel you’re stuck in a rut.
Several tuition sessions have been bought as gifts. They’re ideal for new parents who want to treasure their baby’s first moments, or a great treat for anyone who enjoys taking pictures.
In the meantime, here are some tips to get you started:
Top three problems and how to fix them -
Too much space
- Just because you can see the subject through the viewfinder doesn’t mean they are very prominent in the final photograph; if the main subject is too far away it will be lost in the middle of the picture or the background will detract from the picture (see left). Use a zoom lens or move closer to your main subject so that it becomes more prominent in the frame (see right)Objects appearing out of people's heads
- Your subject will never look great if a lamppost or branch is appearing from their head. Try to stop this by looking at other perspectives to give a clean background; taking time before hitting the shutter to scan what is in the back of the frame. Often you only need a slight change in angle or a step left or right to solve the problem and it makes a photo so much better.
Out of focus
- Most cameras focus in the centre of the frame, if you have you main subject to one side the camera may automatically focus on the background, rendering your subject a fuzzy blob! You can either manually focus on the subject or place the subject in the centre of the frame, let the camera focus on them then recompose the picture, holding that focus.I can send you my top ten tips on how to get great photos, just go to the contact page and ask for them or inquire about my tuition