Photography Courses

[Mike Farley]

Has anyone been on a photography course recently which they would recommend? I am not necessarily looking for something based on landscape photography as in my experience you tend to get taken to scenic locations and are mainly left to your own devices, often with the pro taking their own shots alongside. Yes, you can come back with some good images, but as Michael Freeman pointed out on Wednesday, they often tend to be similar taken by others who have been to the same place.

Rather I am looking for someone who will go through their approach to photography which would allow me to consider whether there are areas where I can improve and see things differently. I appreciate that this is more complex than finding tripod holes in the landscape and will not be offered by everyone. In fact I have been in communication with a well known photographer who appeared to offer just that, but the details were vague and I have not had an e-mail in over a week after I started asking questions to clarify his proposition.

I have some alternatibes to follow up, but all suggestions are welcome.

[Rose]

Funny you should ask... I was on a course just yesterday !

I did a one day portrait photography course with http://www.photoion.co.uk/ It's my second course with them - I did a speedlite course last September. They were kind enough to make me their student of the month after that, giving me a £50 voucher against another course so I did the portrait one yesterday. Ion Paciu is a great tutor and a couple of my fiends have also done courses with him. Yesterday's course consisted of a morning sitting round talking about photography, lighting, technique etc and then after lunch we went out to practice. The portrait course is all about using natural light. No strobes, no studio lights - the only piece of equipment we used was a reflector. We spent the afternoon out on the street around Waterloo, using the natural environment as our studio. We learned a lot about how to find different lighting conditions, how to use it, how to make use of different surfaces like bollards, walls, windows, etc to reflect light even when you don't have a reflector. We did a lot of exposure compensation - exposing down for dark light and up for bright light - which sounded a bit counter intuitive to me at first but it works ! There were five of us on the course and we were a very mixed group in terms of equipment and experience but Ion catered for everyone very well.

I've uploaded a selection of shots to Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/rose_atkinson/sets/72157650908952868/ No doubt a few will find their way into future club comps

[Mike Farley]

Thanks, Rose. The courses on offer seem to be of the "how to" variety which I will certainly investigate. What I am really looking for is something which will help me improve my soft skills which is where I was hoping the so called "professional" I was in contact with could help out. He has still not replied after more than a week and a reminder. I quite understand if he cannot or is unwilling to supply what I am after, but how much more courteous to say so rather than simply ignore a potential customer, either now or at some future time. The ironic thing is that he writes for a well known magazine and in the past has said that he wants to increase his income from photography......

I am currently looking at other options, which include the PAGB APM workshop SPA is organising at the end of May, but it would be good not to concentrate just on the camera club style of photography.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1477

[Rose]

Mike, what do you mean by 'soft skills'... ?
Ion's teaching style is very much about making you think. He does 1:1 courses which you can tailor however you like... Perhaps that might need your needs ?

[Mike Farley]

Mike, what do you mean by 'soft skills'... ?

I am thinking about the general approach to photography and experiencing how someone else sees and sets about getting a shot, rather than just out and out technical skills. In other words, a more immersive experience than simply being taken to a location as can happen with some landscape courses. I am concerned that I might be in something of a rut, so I am looking for different ways to pep up my photography and advance my capabilities.

In the meantime, I have just heard back from the professional photographer, who says he has just spent a couple of nights in hospital which would account for at least some of the delay. He is promising a full response to my questions tomorrow, so all might not be lost on that front.

A chat with Ion does not sound as though it would be amiss, either.

[Rose]

That's exactly Ion's approach. On the portrait course he gave very little technical advice about settings, and then mainly to those who were less experienced with their cameras. It was all about finding and using light in the environment. The only piece of equipment we had was a reflector but we didn't even use that much of the time. He led us to other things we could use on the street, eg metal bollards, walls, wooden panels, patio heaters - to reflect light, create atmosphere and make the shot work. It's made me think in a completely different way.

[Mike Farley]

I have just heard back from the professional who simply rehashed his earlier comments and ignored all my questions, one of which concerned the method of payment. You would think that he would have a particular interest in that! It does not augur well for the experience on the workshop and it is way too much money to venture on a "suck it and see basis" when the outcome is so uncertain.

[toms]

Mike,

An interesting thread and one that prompted me to look again at how I renewed my approach to photography.

Like you, a couple of years ago I wanted to broaden my outlook on photography, especially as I was getting into digital for the first time. As you correctly identify, most courses currently on offer are very specific and based on the photographer’s own niche.

Like you, I wanted an approach to photography that would allow me to consider whether there are areas where I could improve or see things differently. To that end following on from a presentation at the club from Joe Partridge I joined one of his City & Guilds photography courses at the local adult learning centre. This was the best thing I could have done at the time. For £400 I had expert tuition, full use of a professional studio and a like-minded forum from which to mould ideas.

As a part of the course, comparisons were made of the styles of established and famous photographers through the ages. Of these, in my opinion, there were very few who actually stretched the boundaries of ‘the norm’. Most were in reality portraying life at the time and would therefore now be disregarded by club judges as just ‘record’ photographers. A shame, because where would our social history be without a timeline record?

The thing that stretched me was working to a brief, such as producing a book cover illustration that reflected the books title, or to include an innate object such as a plastic duck. It’s surprising what you can come up with given a little imagination or ask yourself the question “What if…”

As a member of the development team for a national professional qualification, it became apparent that ‘club’ photography and ‘professional’ photography are two worlds apart and rarely overlap. Perhaps this is due to the subjective nature of the judging versus the technical requirements of the professional.

I am also minded as to why some members have in recent times left the club. Right or wrong, there is an assumption that the club does/did little to broaden their photographic horizons and were equally deflated by some of the judging. Everyone will have a different viewpoint on that one, and yes before you say it, members could do more to share their experiences. We have enough members who were either professionals or who have RPS award status to openly share some knowledge or train others to also become award holders.

So, to bring this observation full circle, is your quest not something that we could all share in and make it a ‘club’ issue for the benefit of all and isn’t this is just what Croydon Camera Club should exist for?

Tom

[Mike Farley]

Hi Tom

Thanks for the feedback. I don't think that Joe Partridge is running the CALAT courses and more, but it is an option worth investigating.

I agree that there can be a gulf between camera club style photos and other forms of photography. In part this is due to members tending to produce imagery that is in the visual art category. Judges often prefer this style and it can be more difficult to achieve higher marks with other types of shot, so the effect is reinforcing. The whole thing is subjective anyway and there is a wide variation in the calibre of judges, which on the occasion has lead to some bizarre comments from those less experienced. SPA runs a feedback scheme to which the club is one of the very few to contribute, so we are doing what we can to raise standards.

You might ask why we do not simply get better judges. The fact is that many of the more experienced judges are older people who have either retired or are limiting their activities and there are insufficient numbers stepping up to replace them. The good judges are in demand and are often booked 18 months or more ahead, which makes it very difficult to get those we want.

Besides competitions, the club has a number of other activities such as talks from visting photographers and the members' evenings. While the latter are popular, often there is a reduced audience for the former, something I have never understood. Yes, the talks can be a mixed bag, but if you are really interested in improving your own photography, why would would you not want to know how someone else goes about theirs?

As to members sharing their experiences, the club does offer opportunities such as the last members' evening or this forum, for example. We do not have anyone who was a professional photographer and is still active in the club. At our most recent meeting, I did raise the subject of gaining a distinction, but I got the impression that with a few exceptions there was very little interest from the floor. If anyone does want to know more about distinctions, by all means ask those who have already gained theirs, but the best people to approach are the organisations who award them. I cannot speak for the PAGB, but I do know that the RPS is constantly tinkering with its distinctions and requirements change, if only subtly. Going on a distinctions workshop is usually the best way of finding out what is involved.

[Mike Farley]

In the meantime, I have just heard back from the professional photographer, who says he has just spent a couple of nights in hospital which would account for at least some of the delay. He is promising a full response to my questions tomorrow, so all might not be lost on that front.

The promised response turned out to be a rehash of the original e-mail, with little new information. I wrote back saying that a failure to answer my questions did not bode well for the workshop, to which he expressed surprise, saying that he had rechecked the e-mail chain and did not think there was anything where there had not been a reply. There was nothing difficult there and it was mainly the practicalities which should have been in the original information anyway. I know I was looking for something different, but this was borderline bizarre. We have agreed that pursung the matter further is futile.