Description
2 Day Photography Course Details
Duration: 2 Consecutive Days, 10am – 4pm
Location: Cardiff, UK
Date: This is a 1-2-1 course, book a date that suits you.
No. Participants: Up to two people can attend this course at no additional cost.
Training A Team? Customise This Course
Businesses: Get An Invoice or Course Outline
Gift Vouchers: Available Here
This 2 day beginners photography course with professional photographer Paul David Smith is designed to arm you with all of the skills you need to start taking control of your camera and produce professional looking photographs.
You are smarter than your camera, you may not feel it at times but I promise you that you are. Once you start taking control and putting in the important settings yourself, like aperture, shutter speed and ISO, you can finally start unleashing what your camera was really designed to do.
We’ll also cover vital photography elements beyond your camera’s settings, like mastering light, composition, editing techniques, and much more. It’s designed to not only familiarise you with your equipment but also to enrich your understanding of what makes a great photograph. By focusing on both the technical and artistic sides of photography, this course offers a comprehensive learning experience. Ideal for anyone ready to seriously improve their photography, you’ll leave with a deeper appreciation and practical skills to apply to your future photoshoots.
We’re diving straight into manual mode, you’ll learn about the exposure triangle, gaining a clear understanding of how your camera functions, including aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. These fundamentals are crucial for anyone wanting to advance their photography skills.
If you’ve ever found yourself puzzled after flipping through your camera’s manual or watching endless tutorials online, you’re not alone. The process can seem overwhelming, but it’s simpler than it’s often made out to be. Since 2008, Paul has been demystifying manual mode for countless individuals, showing them how to master their camera’s settings in just two days.
This workshop is tailored to strip away the complexity and directly explain the purpose and use of each button and function on your camera. By the end of the course, you’ll not only understand your camera better but also how to leverage its capabilities to capture stunning images.
We’ll look at the art of composition and lighting, including the use of external flashes. While mastering your camera’s settings is crucial, injecting your personal artistic flair into your shots is what really tells a story through your photographs. We’re going to explore several composition strategies that professionals rely on to elevate their images beyond the ordinary, and we’ll share these insider tips with you.
We’ll tackle artificial lighting, including flashes, strobes, and continuous lighting options, and see how they can transform your photographs. The term “photography” itself is derived from Greek, meaning “drawing with light,” highlighting how essential lighting is to creating impactful images.
Finally, we’ll wrap up with editing techniques and the essentials for progressing from a beginner to an intermediate level. Paul will guide you through using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, focusing on editing the shots you’ve taken during our time together. You’ll get a comprehensive look at how Paul fine-tunes his images from the initial shot to the final edit, including his methods for organising and managing his photo library. This part of the course is designed to equip you with the knowledge and skills to not just take great photos, but to enhance them, ensuring your work truly stands out from the crowd.
What You’ll Go Home With
- Your Edited PhotosShot and edited by you in Lightroom.
- Your Kit ListThe right kit for the photos you’ll take.
- Course NotesThree worksheets and a settings routine.
- A Clear PlanHow to keep improving after the course.
- A CertificateProof you’ve completed the course.
Things You Will Learn On This Workshop:
- Take control & get out of auto mode.
- Benefits of using P, S, TV, A, AV or M modes.
- How to shoot pin sharp images every time.
- Blur backgrounds using aperture.
- Master difficult lighting conditions.
- Understand ISO and the exposure triangle.
- Camera equipment advice.
- Choose the correct camera image settings.
- Use different White Balance settings.
- Stop motion using shutter speeds.
- How to use off-camera flash.
- How to avoid out of focus images.
- Understand lenses and focal lengths.
- Master composition for strong images.
- Post production image techniques.
- You tell me what you’re struggling with!
FAQs
How Do I Book?
The easiest way to book is by using the online calendar on this course page. Simply choose your start date from the green available dates, add it to your basket and complete the checkout. You will then be emailed all of the details you will need for your course, like where to meet, what to bring, etc. shortly after.
If you would like us to issue you an invoice to make payment via bank transfer or card payment, we can do this, however please note you won’t be able to hold any dates in our calendar until payment has cleared.
You can request an invoice from us here.
Your invoice will be emailed to you automatically once you have completed the form. When payment is made via bank transfer or card payment, you will receive an email allowing you to book in your chosen dates from the calendar.
If you’re booking for a team or your business, we can also customise this course for you. We can add extra people, come to your location, include lunch, tailor the content to your business or add a follow-up video call afterwards. You can customise this course here. Once you have completed the form, we will come back to you with a price.
Is This A Group Class Or Workshop?
No. Many photography classes and workshops in Cardiff are taught in groups, this course is private 1-2-1 tuition with Paul (up to two people can attend at no additional cost). Think of it as two full days of private photography lessons, built around your camera and what you want to photograph, so you’re never held back or rushed along by a group of people who all learn at different speeds.
Do I Need Certain Skills Or Equipment To Attend?
This beginners photography course in Cardiff requires no specific skills to attend. The only equipment you will need to bring with you is your camera and lenses.
Can You Recommend Camera Equipment For Me Prior To Me Attending?
I get a lot of requests for help with camera equipment recommendations, almost daily in fact and offer a Personalised Photography Equipment Recommendation service which you can find by clicking here.
Recommending a camera and the best lenses to buy really has lots of different factors involved in it which need to be investigated first such as what the equipment will be most used for, budgets, your expectations on image quality, your current level and aspirations, etc. Hence the above service so we can really drill down into finding you the best equipment.
Alternatively, some people attend my courses and borrow a camera from me for the course to do so, we can then incorporate this recommendation as part of the course at no extra cost. The benefit of doing it this way is that I have a lot of cameras and lenses you can try and see the difference between prior to purchasing anything. The downside is you’re not learning on your own equipment of course, so there are pluses and minuses to doing it both ways, it depends on what you think works best for you.
Are You DBS Checked?
Paul is DBS checked and is happy to share a copy of his DBS certificate with any client, no matter whether they are a business, charity, organisation or individual.
You can read more about Paul’s DBS check here.
What Is The Refund / Date Re-arrangement Policy?
Our Course Cancellation & Re-Arrangement Policy Can Be Found Here.
Can I Speak To Paul Before Booking?
Yes, you can. If you’d like a chat first about whether the course is right for you, what it covers or what equipment to bring, you can book a free 15-minute video call with Paul here. Just choose a time that suits you and you’ll be emailed a Google Meet link for the call.
You’ll Be In Good Company, Clients Include…
Tom Farrow –
Spending 2 days with Paul improved my photography 10-fold, I was so impressed with just how much we managed to cover but also how much of it I’ve been able to remember since we did the course. I put that down to Paul’s good teaching methods, he doesn’t just explain things, he then always goes on to demonstrate practically how it works and gets you to do it as well. I felt like so much of the course was practical, it really fit well with how I learn. I’m now shooting in manual mode, putting in my aperture, shutter speed and ISO myself and have a new found knowledge of composition and how to construct a photograph. A brilliant course by a very nice guy.