We had a great day at Charlecote (30th January)….the weather was beautiful. One of those wonderful, winter blue-sky days. Frost would have made it perfect!

Jon and Stephen were both extremely keen, and had a good working knowledge of their camera’s, and fine-tuned by the end of the day. They were both very keen to ‘get it right in-camera’, which is a great mind-set to have!

We played around and practiced ‘shallow depth of field’, and really got to grips with it, as you can see from their stunning images!! They were both so pleased to master this effect, as it looks so professional , and transforms you immediately from being a ‘joe bloggs snapper’ and a ‘photographer’.

They were also keen to learn how to make water look ‘milky’ with a slow shutter speed. Also, another great lesson learnt, as always is: What is your intention?: Why are you taking that particular viewpoint?.

We had a great day at Ashton Court…despite being bitterly cold and a grey, dull sky. The tasks given on the Creative course certainly focus your mind and sharpen up your creativity! Photographing with a clear purpose will transform your photography. The photographs from today just illustrate that it’s not about the weather, location or ‘perfect whatever’, it’s about your intention!

It’s a big mistake to think that that ‘moment of inspiration’ will hit you between the eyes, and jump out at you…..it won’t! You have to look for and make your photographs! Think of it as a Photography Treasure Hunt…..all those amazing images are there, just hiding and waiting for you to find them!

And don’t set yourself up for failure by waiting until you can have a whole day to yourself….we all know how likely that’ll be!

St. Fagans (The National History Museum of Wales) is another great location, and  my students did me proud! There were some really amazing shots as you can see below…and certainly there are images here that could be from IKEA! And, it also has to be said, that shooting with intention, and having an idea in mind results in photographs which need barely any editing. This is a much more satisfying way to work. I love the strong colours, and strong, impact-ful images. Well done!

Hmmm, grey, flat sky, no visibility, freezing cold…trying to sleet? A challenge for our hardy, determined little band of photographers! Especially as Malvern is the perfect venue for Landscape photography courses! We just need to ‘think outside the box’, says Rachel!….Maybe we need to have ‘Atmosphere’ or ‘Spooky’ as our theme for the day?!

The first job, as always was to spend time out there with no camera’s, and then come back and ‘plan’ their shots. We call it ‘Pre-visualisation’. It really focuses the mind, and sharpens your senses.

They all then went out again with camera’s and took their planned photographs, with great success, and an amazingly different styles.

After lunch we went to rather a spooky quarry…the atmosphere was tangible, and the mist hung low over the frozen waters…..it was so still, the silence screaming at us…(sorry, I’m getting a bit carried away here, but you get the point?!)

Well, it was too windy on 21st January to let us into the gardens….they had to be closed due to high winds! That’s a first for us! Our merry band of intrepid photographers weren’t to be put off! Photography Made Simple students seem to be made of sterner stuff, and off they went with a theme to explore the bits which weren’t closed. The first job was to go out without their camera’s and come back with a ‘plan’….a new way of working for them, but which resulted in some wonderful, well thought-out and planned shots. Given that this was a Landscape photography course (and Stourhead is a perfect location for landscapes), and even though scuppered by the wind, everyone still managed to go home with several photo’s that they were happy enough to blow up and put on their walls! (Rachel’s guarantee).

Picking “music to my ears” was always going to be a bit of a risk!  So here’s a dozen of the pics from the good people in the mentoring service.  It’s a tricky time of year for photographers, with bad weather and poor light – but take a look at how they did!

We thought you might appreciate this! We’re not fans of Photoshop either!

It was so windy at Stourhead yesterday that the National Trust closed the gardens to the public.  Still, we got some nice pics over the wall and of the house.

This is Lady Penelope’s house from Thunderbirds, you know.

We’ve confirmed lots of dates for later this year and even into 2013 – if you’re planning to come on a photography course at Stourhead in the future we’ll be there well into 2013.

We have decided to give our students something to photograph that illustrates depth of field, and can be carried easily in a camera bag. Ligia came along to a photography course in Ashton Court, Bristol with her new Xmas camera.  So… ducks:

Great shallow depth of field!

We had a great day at Ashton Court on Monday…Lance, Elliott and Peter were thrown mercilessly into taking photographs of ordinary objects in extraordinary places, by Rachel…and after a brief moment of ‘Eeeek…what shall I do?’, they came up with some amazing photographs! As usual, Rachel promised that they would go home with several images that they would be proud enough of to hang on their wall. (It’s all about going out of your ‘comfort zone’…honest!!! :0) ).

Lance really got creative with this wooden fork!

Love the reflection!

Although the weather was dark, cold and awful, the three intrepid photographers were not to be put off by a bit of English, winter weather,….and there’s nothing you can do about it anyway!!! We think you’ll agree that they came back with some stunning shots…so very well done!