Postcards at home – a travel photography workshop
“We take photos as a return ticket to a moment otherwise gone” – Katie Thurmes
If you love travel photography, you’ve come to the right place? This workshop will teach you to become a better travel photographer before you go on your next adventure. Have you ever travelled to some exotic far off place but returned with photos that somehow don’t look as amazing as you thought they did when taking them? Your images don’t capture the scenes or the feel of the places you visited. Gone is the warm atmosphere and vivid nature of the markets. Photos of the landmarks, people and the culture you enjoyed so much now look flat and cold on your screen at home. Well, that’s all about to change with my help.
While we will cover technical aspects of getting the best from your camera, the focus of this course is to use different London landmarks and popular areas to hone your ability to see and create the images rather than which settings to use.
“Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer” – Anonymous
As with all travel photography, there are a wealth of stories to tell with your camera. These are just a few things we will cover as we walk and shoot – Skylines, skyscrapers, and city views. Architecture and architectural detail. Landmarks (classical view, different creative views, details views). Street art and billboards. Urban details. City life, street scenes and streetscapes (with or without people). Waterfronts and rivers. Fountains. Shops and shopping malls. Traffic and transport. City squares, cafes and restaurants. Street markets. Parks and gardens
Who is the course for?
Beginners / Amateurs
- You want to learn to plan your up-and-coming trip to get better photos.
- You’ve done photography for a few years and are comfortable with at least Program, Aperture and Shutter speed modes. You have a good understanding of exposure and the basic principles of shooting on Manual but may be scared to do it.
- If you are new to photography and want more help with getting to grip with your camera and basic composition, instead have a look at the Basics of Digital photography Or contact me, and we can discuss combining these in some way for you.
Duration and Price
- 4-hour session in London or Brighton (30min theory refresh + 3:30min walk).
- £125 one-to-one or £200 bring a friend.
Locations
- London and Brighton.
Equipment needed
Your own DSLR or mirrorless camera with a detachable lens is preferable, but let’s chat and see what you have.
Theory session (30mins)
- Establish your photographic capabilities + what equipment you have.
- Refresh the basics of photography for 15min if necessary.
- Are you interested in better vacation photos, or do you have an eye on this as a career?
- What do you want from your travel photography – what aspects interest you
- Ethics/rights of travel photography (focus on research for each trip)
- How to plan your travel photography for each trip
- What story do you want to tell?
- What sites and landmarks do you want to focus on?
- Where will you share this?
- Research and planning (where to shoot, the best time of day, etc.)
- Compositions for travel
Practical Session (3hr 30mins)
Areas we’ll focus on as we walk, paying particular attention to different methods to compose and frame various aspects of travel photography.
- We’ll walk a set route of London landmarks and travel spots – The purpose here is to focus on the story and composition. We are not here to check off a list of landmarks.
- Get immediate image feedback as you shoot – offering alternate perspectives.
- Understanding Light – dark and light (Using histograms)
- Composition Rules and the Visual Language
- Using landmarks – explore lines, framing, patterns, juxtaposition, reflections, clear points of interest etc.
- Portrait vs landscape orientation
- Focus on wide-angled vistas of the city – Showing the scale of buildings, and landmarks.
- Various Viewpoints – Don’t assume your first viewpoint is your best.
- Capturing the culture – local people going about their daily lives
- Colour of the city – focus on vibrant and compelling images
- Parasitism – using street signs, street art, and event posters to tell the story of the city, town or village
- Working on the best shot of a particular landmark
- Know where it is on the map, where sunrise and sunset are?
- Using a compass app to establish where the best light will be.
- Using vantage points to get some height – bridges, buildings, roads out of the city