ABOUT THE WORKSHOPS

I started the Seeing the Light Workshops in 2014 to share my passion and experience as an on location child photographer working in the UK. Now entering my third year; the Seeing the Light Workshops have gone from strength to strength.

The Seeing the Light Workshops are aimed at professional photographers who would like to develop their on location child portraiture skills. Perhaps you are a newborn or studio photographer, perhaps you would just like to refresh your current skills or you might even be starting out on your journey as a professional photographer. With such small groups (no more than 6) I can tailor the workshop around your needs.

In the intensive day long workshops I will share my experiences with you as I demonstrate how I work with children to capture images that customers love. You will learn how I take control of my sessions from the very first point of contact with my customers and benefit from the opportunity to shoot alongside me to create valuable images for your portfolio.

I want to show you thought the day how I work in real terms, in real sessions using real locations (in real British weather conditions). It is these skills that will help you develop your business. Classroom training this is not. You’ll be mainly out and about in the great British countryside learning in a practical environment; capturing images for your portfolio.

Above all I aim to make the day as much fun as possible. An open and honest hands on learning experience that I know you will enjoy.

THE LOCATION

Nestled in the heart of rural South Wales sits a little 19th century converted Welsh chapel. Set in a small village and surrounded by beautiful farm land, fields, woodland and sweeping coastline it is the perfect setting for my Seeing the Light Workshops. Just 10 minutes from junction 35 of the M4 it is perfectly situated for travel throughout the UK.

During the day we will cover:

LIGHT AND LOCATION

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One of the most common areas that photographers new to on location shooting struggle with is finding the right light and choosing the right locations.
The right light is essential to the success of any child photography session. The weather here in the UK is notoriously unpredictable so I’ll show you ways in which you can manage the light you have available in practical terms. I will teach you to find the right light (and more importantly how to avoid the bad light!) to make your images shine.
The beautiful UK countryside offers such a diverse range of locations and we will help you find amazing locations in everyday spaces. Practical location advice that you can take back and use in your client sessions.

THE TECHNICAL STUFF!

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Throughout he day you will get the opportunity to shoot alongside me as I demonstrate the camera settings I would typically use during a client session. I will also talk about my go to lenses and the other equipment I use on a regular basis. During these hands on sessions I will be on hand to offer you practical advice on all areas of your settings as you capture your images in camera.

STYLING AND POSING

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Learn how to subtly use props to create magical images that evoke the essence of childhood. I bring along a selection of carefully selected props to each session from vintage clothing to toys, flowers and beautiful head dresses for the ladies. I will teach you some of my tried and tested ideas about using props to subtly enhance your images and how to use them to encourage engagement and imagination with your mini models. We will have a range of models on the day of different ages including a family so there will be plenty of time to learn some posing and organisation of group settings.

THE CONNECTION

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Getting and maintaining a connection with your mini models is ESSENTIAL to the success of your session. Little ones tire and bore easily and it’s so important to quickly establish trust and a relationship with your subjects. Through practical observation I will demonstrate how I achieve natural expressions and that essential connection with children to produce image that make personalities shine. Be prepared to sing, dance and generally make a fool of yourself. I sure will!

IMAGES

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Be sure to bring lots of memory cards and a charged up battery as you’ll get lots of opportunity to shoot throughout the day; in fact we want you to shoot as much as possible. Actually taking images is not just good practice and great for reference purposes but it also gives you the opportunity to capture some beautiful images for your portfolio. There is no restriction on using any of the images from the day for your marketing purposes; all we simply ask is that you kindly share any of the images you choose to use with the parents of our mini models as a thank you to them for their patient participation on the day.

POST PRODUCTION

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You will get the opportunity to watch me edit some of the images from the day during the workshop. I will talk you through my workflow and show you some of the methods I use in post production.

I have also put together a exclusive Post Production Bonus Pack which each workshop participant will have lifelong access to after the workshop. This online resource contains details of my most frequently used Photoshop editing techniques as video tutorials taking you through the post production used on images from start to finish. This is an evolving pack and will be added to on a regular basis with images from each workshop as it happens. You will also relieve a set of workflow PS actions to take away with you.

I will be holding very limited workshops at The Chapel in 2016. Click below to secure your place or register your interest for future dates. Please note that there will only be 6 spaces available for each workshop.

PLEASE NOTE: The Seeing the Light Workshops are designed for professional or aspiring professional photographers. To get the most out of the day you should own an SLR or DSLR camera and be confident with it’s settings and operation as basic camera skills will not be covered on the day. You should ideally be confident and experienced at using semi-automatic settings such as aperture priority and ideally manual mode.