Photography Courses In Manchester, UK

2 Day Beginners Photography Course

Duration: 2 Consecutive Days / 10am – 5pm
Location: Manchester, UK
Date: This is a 1-2-1 course, book a date that suits you.

Join professional photographer Paul David Smith on this 2 day beginners photography course designed to get you taking control of your camera and creating images you will be proud of.

When you let your camera decide the settings to use for a photograph by using auto mode, you are really playing Russian roulette as to whether it is going to choose the right settings for the image you are trying to take. This is largely because your camera doesn’t know what is happening in front of it.

By taking control of your camera and learning how to set your own aperture, shutter speed, ISO, white balance and more, you move away from that game of chance and start producing consistent high quality, professional looking photographs. This course is designed to give you the practical skills you need to ensure your photograph is not only technically correct, but to inspire you creatively so your composition and storytelling really start to shine.

Day One

We’ll jump straight into getting you shooting in manual mode on day one by teaching you all about the exposure triangle and you’ll learn the fundamentals of aperture, shutter speed and ISO. The benefit of doing this is that you are smarter than your camera and when you start to take control over the settings, you start to get the shots you have been aiming for all along.

If you’ve ever tried learning this yourself through books or YouTube, you will find this day far easier than you imagine. Paul has developed a tried and tested technique for setting these, where if you do the same routine for every single photograph by asking yourself 3 questions, you will end up at the correct settings you need.

We’ll also cover all the other buttons and functions on your camera and by the end of the day, you’ll have a thorough understanding of what your camera is capable of and how to use it.

A few examples of what you could learn on this workshop:

Day 2

On the next day of our workshop, we’ll look at the essentials of composition, lighting and storytelling. Whilst it’s vital to understand your camera’s settings and know how to control them to get the shot you want, it is your unique artistic vision that really makes your photographs stand out. Paul will walk you through a range of techniques that professionals use to in their photographs to compositions that are pleasing to the eye.

We’ll also look at lighting your subjects, covering everything from flashes and strobes to continuous lighting solutions. Good lighting is the key to every good photograph ever taken and when you start to understand lighting, you’ll be able to manipulate it to hearts desires creating a wide variety of compelling lighting patterns in your images. Did you know that the word “photography” translates to “painting with light” in ancient Greek?

Lastly, we’ll tackle the art of photo editing which has the ability to really make your images shine and Paul will take you through editing your own photos with Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. You’ll get an in-depth view of how he edits his shots from the first click to the final edit, including his best practices for photo library organization and management. This part of the workshop is designed to arm you with the knowledge and skills not just to take amazing photos, but to significantly enhance them, making sure your photographs are the best they can be.