East Midlands - 1-2-1 Tuition

EightBitTony

EightBitTony

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Tony
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Not sure which forum is the best place for this - let me know if there's somewhere better.

I'm looking for recommendations for photography tuition in or near the East Midlands, I'd prefer people who've used the tutors, but I'm happy to hear from tutors as well.

I've been using a DSLR for 3+ years now, and been taking digital photographs for a while before that. I think I've got a good understanding of my camera, the exposure triangle, lenses, focal lengths, post-processing, etc.

What I feel I'm lacking is a mix of artistic elements, 'seeing' the shot, and then a bunch of stuff I don't even know I'm missing, or whether I'm actually confused about the stuff in the above paragraph and only think I know what I'm talking about!

I guess I'm saying I'm not looking for basic 'how to use your camera' tuition, I'm looking for something beyond that, to help me understand how to move forward. I take photographs for my own enjoyment, and currently have no professional aspiration.

If people think there are courses or other options which would cover that, even if they're not 1-2-1 then I'd be happy to hear about those too.
 
My wife bought me a 1-2-1 with Chris Herring of http://www.theuklandscape.com/. He covers the Peak District and Cambridge as well as Suffolk and Norfolk (are they close enough?). See his website for pictures and details. I found him friendly and understood where I was with my photography and has help improve it.
 
seaodyssey said:
My wife bought me a 1-2-1 with Chris Herring of http://www.theuklandscape.com/. He covers the Peak District and Cambridge as well as Suffolk and Norfolk (are they close enough?). See his website for pictures and details. I found him friendly and understood where I was with my photography and has help improve it.
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Thanks, I'd rather have personal recommendations like yours which are further away than I was initially thinking, over impersonal recommendations for people close by :)
 
My top tips, fwiw - they seem to be working for me, anyway:

1. Learn more about light. I reckon the best way is to do it in a controlled environment, i.e. flash, even if you're not specifically interested in using flash for your pictures.
2. Learn more about composition. Read some composition books, including non-photography ones.
3. Learn more about the subjects you want to photograph. My best stuff comes when I really understand what I'm photographing. For example if you want to take better pictures of birds then really understanding the habits of birds will yield better pictures than any amount of technical photography tuition.

A tutor can help with all or any of those but to get the most out of someone I'd recommend choosing a subject or genre and specialising. Your flickr feed is a real mixture!
 
juggler said:
My top tips, fwiw - they seem to be working for me, anyway:

1. Learn more about light. I reckon the best way is to do it in a controlled environment, i.e. flash, even if you're not specifically interested in using flash for your pictures.
2. Learn more about composition. Read some composition books, including non-photography ones.
3. Learn more about the subjects you want to photograph. My best stuff comes when I really understand what I'm photographing. For example if you want to take better pictures of birds then really understanding the habits of birds will yield better pictures than any amount of technical photography tuition.

A tutor can help with all or any of those but to get the most out of someone I'd recommend choosing a subject or genre and specialising. Your flickr feed is a real mixture!
Click to expand...

Hi thanks for these.

1. Absolutely - 'seeing the light' is definitely something I struggle with (in all areas).
2. Yep - and I have a number of books on that (and on light). I actually think I have a decent understanding of composition, and that I fail to implement my understanding properly when taking photographs.
3. This, I agree, is key. I know what I enjoy taking photographs of most, but I'm not sure yet if that's because it's the area I find easiest and so least frustrating, or if it's what I truly enjoy photographing. A lot of that will need to come with further discussion.

My flickr feed is where I post a whole range of photographs for a whole range of reasons - including local events, friends and family and stuff I take just for myself. I don't use it as a portfolio of stuff for myself only, if that makes sense.

My hope, was to find someone local, to pay for a 1-2-1, and use that to help me understand which way I want to develop and / or what I need to work on most, leading to further tuition later. I absolutely agree that understanding what I want is the key to getting better at it.
 
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Hi Tony

As a tutor I find that the vast majority of experienced but 'stuck' photographers find the artistic elements the most difficult bit to develop in. My answer for that is almost always to guide the 'student' to start approaching their picture making from a different perspective. If I had to sum up that process in a few words, I would probably say " Don't take a picture of the subject - make a picture about the subject". After checking out many of the youtube tutorials it's disappointing to find hardly any that deal with the creative aspects of photography, and I suspect that that also applies to many of the tutors offering their services. However, with a bit of digging around I'm sure you will find someone that fits the bill in your neck of the woods. Good luck

Sam-D
 
EightBitTony said:
Hi thanks for these.

1. Absolutely - 'seeing the light' is definitely something I struggle with (in all areas).
2. Yep - and I have a number of books on that (and on light). I actually think I have a decent understanding of composition, and that I fail to implement my understanding properly when taking photographs.
3. This, I agree, is key. I know what I enjoy taking photographs of most, but I'm not sure yet if that's because it's the area I find easiest and so least frustrating, or if it's what I truly enjoy photographing. A lot of that will need to come with further discussion.

My flickr feed is where I post a whole range of photographs for a whole range of reasons - including local events, friends and family and stuff I take just for myself. I don't use it as a portfolio of stuff for myself only, if that makes sense.

My hope, was to find someone local, to pay for a 1-2-1, and use that to help me understand which way I want to develop and / or what I need to work on most, leading to further tuition later. I absolutely agree that understanding what I want is the key to getting better at it.
Click to expand...

On light - in addition to playing with it, analysing the light in photos you admire can be very instructive.
Composition - developing self critique skills is key. Actually, it's key to all learning. If you can't dissect a picture apart after taking it then what chance do you have of doing it before releasing the shutter? I found watching lots of critique videos online very helpful - see Zack Arias, fstoppers, Scott Kelby, Karl Taylor and others, as well as reading the critique forums here. You do have to approach the critique critically, too, though :) - it's not all good.

Sam-D said:
Don't take a picture of the subject - make a picture about the subject
Click to expand...

That's a very useful way of looking at it. Another is 'don't do photography for it's own sake - use photography as a means of expression'
 
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