Devon Photography Training

Category: blog

  • Selling Your Photographic Work

    Selling Your Photographic Work

    Selling Your Photographic Work

    ​There are many areas of Photography and not all methods of selling will suit your genre. It is therefore important to establish who your target audience is, how you can reach them and how you can best serve them with your product and service. Pricing is a very important factor when it comes to selling your work so we will be looking at this on the your session too.

    Throughout this workshop we will look at:

    • Pricing
    • Who Your Customer Is
    • Selling Online and In Person
    • Products and Samples
    • Customer Satisfaction
    • Approaching Galleries and Potential Outlets
    • Selling techniques
    • Presenting Yourself and your Work
    • The Power of Viewing Sessions
    • Exciting your customers and planting the seed 

    This is a 3 hour 1-2-1 session and is £139 if you come to me in Honiton. You will need to bring a notepad and pen and some examples of your work either in a digital format or print. 

    ​​1-2-1 Sessions can be held at your home and are charged at £169 plus fuel.

    Enquire about the Selling your Work Workshop

    We will get back to you as soon as possible to discuss your requirements. Thanks.

  • How to Take Light Trail Photographs – Night Photography Workshop

    How to Take Light Trail Photographs – Night Photography Workshop

    How to Take Light Trail Photographs – Night Photography Workshop

    This workshop is designed to get you playing with your shutter speeds in manual mode to create abstract photographs using available light sources around the city. We will also learn how take photographs using a tripod to capture vehicle headlights moving in an otherwise still scene.

    You need to bring your camera, a tripod and a warm coat. Please, make sure your battery is fully charged too.

    There are 10 available spaces on this workshop, it’s £35 per person and runs for 2 hours

    To see when the next workshop is running visit the ‘Photo Workshop Schedule‘ page.

  • New Client Images from a 1-2-1 Studio Portrait Session in Bude, North Cornwall.

    New Client Images from a 1-2-1 Studio Portrait Session in Bude, North Cornwall.

    New Client Images from a 1-2-1 Studio Portrait Session in Bude, North Cornwall.

    Every so often I am invited to teach people within their home studio environment.
    For this session the Photographer, Julia Hobday, asked for some guidance on studio lighting for portraits, we experimented with some low key lighting set ups then played with the colour gels to get some graduated colour on the background.
    I invited Hellyn to sit as our subject as she has a very interesting look and makes for a great character portrait.

    Here are some of our favourite shots from the session:

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  • Guide to Analysing Images to Support Self Development.

    Guide to Analysing Images to Support Self Development.

    As a Photographer it is very important to be able to critique your own work with development in mind. It can be hard to admit areas in which you need to improve, but being open minded and objective in doing so will dramatically help you improve as a Photographer. Analysing your images strengths and areas for development is a key criteria for all of the formal Photographic courses at every level. 

    In order to improve your technique and images it is important to keep a visual record of your work.
    Note your strengths and areas for development. Here are a few key points to consider when analysing your images:

    Lighting
    Describe the lighting on your scene. Is your exposure correct?

    Shadows
    Describe the shadowed areas in your image. Do the shadows add to the image?

    Mood
    What mood are you trying to get in your image? How can you acheive this?

    Technical Information
    What settings did you use for the photo and how do they effect the image?

    Impact
    Does the image grab your attention?

    Focus
    Where is your point of focus and is it where you wanted it to be?

    Creativity with Composition and Angle
    Have you played with the positioning of your subject in the frame?

    Colours
    How do the colours work together or against each other in your image? What mood do they help communicate?

    Story Telling
    Does your image tell a story? How can you make it more appropriate to what you are trying to communicate?

    Are you hungry for more?
    Get the in-depth guide to image analysis for only £5 – an introductory offer, it is designed with current Photographic courses’ grading criteria in mind and is a useful tool for students currently studying Photography at school, college and university. It includes a thorough write up on the above points, additional points for consideration, an example analysis and images.

    Fill out the form below to get your in-depth guide today!

    *Please note: once paid please click ‘Return to Merchant Site’
    ​to be redirected to the download page*

    Full Name
    Email Address

    *Please note: once paid please click ‘Return to Merchant Site’
    ​to be redirected to the download page*

  • Our January Networking and Headshot Event in Exeter

    Our January Networking and Headshot Event in Exeter

    Our January Networking and Headshot Event in Exeter

    Our photography headshot and networking event on the 12th January went well, it was interesting to hear about the different projects that people have happening and to find out more about each person’s business. 

    Here are a few of the images and links to attendees websites for those who either couldn’t make it or need a gentle reminder of who was who again…

    Robert and Sue Stocks from Stocks and Co – a Residential Lettings Company based in Exmouth.

    We also met Gary and Julia Powell who are keen photographers and Julia works as a legal secretary.

    Daniel Smith a local Electrician came along and we also met Hannah, a local Wedding Photographer.

    Emma Redfern is a local Psychotherapist/Counsellor and we met Ben, a student Photographer.

    For anyone interested in getting their own professional headshot taken for use on social media and marketing materials please email me at gemmiev@gemmiev.com for more information. 

    Single sessions are £85 for the shoot and include your image sized for both print and web with embedded keywords to help you get found online when you use the image on your website and social media pages.
    We will also look at your branding and colour schemes so your images match the brand on your website. 
    Group sessions are an extra £15 per additional person on top of the initial £85.

    Please get in contact if you have a specific look in mind. 

  • Estate Agents PhotographY Training

    Estate Agents PhotographY Training

    Photographic Training for Estate Agents in the South West – Devon, Cornwall, Somerset.

    Designed to support Estate Agents, Property Developers and Professional Property Photographers in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset, this 3 part property photography course trains you or your staff in the basic principles of photography and how to use appropriate camera settings and techniques to create detailed, high quality images perfect for helping you sell and show off your properties.

    We then hold a dedicated interior and exterior practical session looking at how to balance light and or flash overcoming scenarios with overly bright windows and too dark interiors. We also learn about how to use our cameras to take detail shots and images with a high dynamic range (lots of detail in the shadows and highlights) We cover the aesthetic considerations with preparing for the shoot and what to look for or avoid when setting up our shots. 

    Finally, our editing session teaches how to add crucial finishing touches to really make your images shine.  Images will also be embedded with keywords for best SEO practices – helping your online profile rank higher in search engines. 

    Essentially, all the tuition needed to get the best results when photographing interiors and exteriors.

    Part 1 includes:

    • What camera settings to use and why
    • Working with available light
    • Shutter Speed
    • Aperture
    • ISO
    • Lens Markings
    • Camera Buttons and Functions
    • Depth of Field
    • Capturing Movement (frozen and blurred)
    • How Auto Mode Limits Creativity
    • Exposure Basics

    Part 1 can be held either at your office or within a property you are managing, it is mostly camera and photography theory with practical tasks included.

    In session two we would use a property you manage to take the camera settings we learned in session one and build on the theory to take a whole range of images with varying exposures. This allows us to capture the detail in the scene, including bright windows and dark interiors. We would need a tripod, flashes and a wide angle lens for this session (between 10-24mm would be good) I can provide the flashes if you would like to try them before deciding what kit to invest in. – I can also provide a buying list based on our session.

    Part 2 includes:

    • Practical shooting on location
    • Taking detail shots of characterful elements
    • Taking wider shots of rooms
    • Looking out for distractions
    • Shooting with the best angles
    • Using flash to light the scene
    • Balancing flash with natural light
    • White balance for accurate colours
    • Getting everything in focus 
    • How to take the best quality images
    • Learning how to bracket for multiple exposures
    • What you can prepare to make life easier (spare bulbs, blankets, fake flowers etc.)
    • Paperwork you can provide to the home owner to make the shoot flow better 

    Session 3 is all about post production, bringing your photos together and maximising the detail in your shots. We also embed your keywords at this stage. 

    Part 3 includes:

    • Distraction removal
    • Merging exposures
    • Best SEO practices and metadata embedding
    • Basic image adjustments
    • Colour correction when there are multiple light sources.
    • Lens distortion correction when using wide angle lenses
    • Renaming and resizing images for use online and in print
    • Creating a consistent workflow

    This software is not free so you would be looking to make an investment in your photography which is at the time of writing this £9.89 per month. (it’s going up soon!) 

    All sessions come with a private log in to my online membership with uploaded infographics, resource pool and 1-2-1 worksheets.
    ​Any videos we take for reference will also be uploaded here for easy viewing.

    Pricing

    For one person and all three workshops – £507 plus fuel
    Each additional person will be £253.50 for all three workshops. 

    For one person and one workshop the fee is £169 plus fuel costs, additional attendees are £84.50 per person.

    The location of this workshop is agreed at the time of booking but I would suggest, if possible, we used one of your current properties with full permission of the owner or your own home so that we can make your session as realistic as possible. 

    If you have any questions please do get in touch, fill in our enquiry form below if you would like to sign up for these workshops.
    ​

    Enquire about Photography Training for Estate Agents

  • Posing Groups and Couples

    Posing Groups and Couples

    ​This tuition session explores the techniques used to create pleasing compositions when posing groups of people and couples. This is useful for family portrait photographers, school photographers, event photographers and anyone photographing groups of people. You will also learn how to work with your environment for natural looking photographs.

    What we cover on this session:

    • Connecting with people before you shoot for relaxed portraits
    • Posing couples and creating emotional connection within your images
    • Posing groups of people for pleasing composition in your images
    • Creative posing techniques to communicate a narrative
    • Communicating with people for natural portraits
    • Working with your location and multiple light sources
    • Posing children with siblings
    • How to use flash
    • How to use your camera for different group sizes 
    • How to use your camera settings for portraits

    This session runs over 3 hours for a 1-2-1 and is £139 from my Honiton studio or £169 on location. This can be a theory based classroom session or a live shoot if you require, model hire is an additional cost of £50 per model unless you can convince friends to pose for you. (bribing with jaffa cakes works for me) 

    To book in or enquire fill in the form below:

    Enquire about the posing couples and groups for portrait photography tuition session.

    We will get back to you as soon as possible to discuss your requirements, thank you.

  • Photographing Babies at home for Parents 0-18months

    Photographing Babies at home for Parents 0-18months

    Photographing Babies at home for Parents 0-18months

    This in person workshop is designed to show parents how to use their camera settings and home environment to get professional looking photographs of their baby.

    We cover the following topics:

    • Getting smiles and eye contact
    • Posing 
    • Safety
    • Props and Backgrounds
    • Working with Light
    • Working with your Location
    • Calming Techniques
    • Working with colour and clothing
    • Camera settings
    • Blurring the background
    • Fun ideas to photograph (finger painting, cake smash etc.)

    This workshop is good fun, I come to you and we will assess your property at the beginning of the shoot to determine good places to take photos, I encourage you to take notes but worksheets will be provided. The main thing to remember with these sessions is that baby is always in charge, so make sure to plan your sessions around nap and feeding time, although baby breaks are always expected in your session.

    This session is £169 for a 1-2-1 plus any fuel charges outside of Honiton. This session can be gifted.

    To enquire please fill in the form below:

    Enquire about the Photographing Babies at Home Workshop

    We will get back to you as soon as possible to discuss your requirements, thank you.

  • 10 Top Tips for Shooting Portraits on Location.

    10 Top Tips for Shooting Portraits on Location.

    1. Position the light source facing your subject 45 degrees above their eye line for good catch lights and to drop shadows down low.

    2. Position your subject a few feet away from background to avoid harsh shadows from your subject on the background.

    3. When going for a pretty/beauty shot of your subject generally softened light is more flattering so use a softbox/umbrella or bounce the light off the ceiling a reflector or bounce card depending on the location.

    4. Clear the background of all distractions or change your angle to avoid getting irremovable distractions in shot.

    5. Avoid horizons, structural lines or lamp posts coming out of heads.

    6. Use variety in your images, don’t photograph the same location for 20 subjects especially from the same angle.

    7. Avoid bright eye catching colours in the background of your image if you don’t want them to compete as a focal point with your main subject. (posters, shop signs, postboxes, garish clothing, litter etc.) This is especially important in an otherwise dull coloured scene.

    8. Try to position the camera parallel to your subject’s waist in order to get the correct proportions of your subject. You can shoot higher if you want to make them look shorter or for head shots if you want to help chins disappear.. You can also shoot lower if you want to make their legs look longer but be aware that shooting up the nose is generally unflattering and if your subjects jawline isn’t that strong you will need to pose them so their neck and face don’t seem to merge into one (that’s never a good look!!)

    9. Simplify your shot as much as you can, choose a plain background to make your viewer look at your subject. Fill the frame with your subject to make it clear they are your focal point. You can also position them to one side using the rule of thirds, again on a plain background to help show they are the main focus.

    10. Keep it relevant, if you’re intention is to create a themed shoot make sure your subject works with the theme and isn’t wearing clothes that contradict the theme, to make your whole image communicate the theme you are going for you need to considering styling, colours, look of your subject, props, lighting and location.

    Comment with your favourite images taken on location or to give feedback on our post.

  • A new model’s guide to basic wardrobe contents.

    A new model’s guide to basic wardrobe contents.

    As a new model it can be a bit daunting knowing what bring and what not to bring to a shoot in regards to styling. This is a basic list of the essentials that you should pack in your suitcase for photography sessions:

    You may want to be selective with the below depending on your gender, or you may not ;)

    Basic makeup kit with a minimum of 4 different lip and eye colour shades. (Even if working with a MUA it doesn’t hurt to have a backup kit just incase the shoot doesn’t go to plan.)

    Wet wipes, underwear tape, safety pins, straws to drink through without smudging lipstick and a variety of jewellery and bags to accessorise with.

    Basic hair accessories – a couple different types of hair clips, hair band, brush and straighteners.

    Basic sets of underwear in white, black and nude. Including a strapless bra. The variety in colour helps when shooting light coloured tops or when straps are on show so even if you don’t work to lingerie levels it is good to have a variety of colours.

    Smart black heels/shoes, comfortable flats, snazzy looking trainers, chunky wedge shoes, boots and a couple more pairs of heels so you have maximum variety in footwear. 

    Black, long sleeve polo neck tshirt’s are timeless, simple and easy to layer accessories or jackets over.

    A leather and a denim jacket – both photograph well.

    Tops and/or dresses with lace detail – lace photographs well.

    A bold coloured dress/two piece outfit that works with your skin tone and hair colour.

    An unusual looking garment that would make a strong impression.

    Plain t-shirts in a variety of colours and cuts which suit your colourings.

    Smart trousers, jeans, linen trousers, short skirt and a long skirt.

    A striped or patterned top and plain jeans/skirt.

    A striped or patterned dress.

    A big comfortable jumper.

    Thick socks for warmth!!

    Your main goal is to have enough variety of outfits and looks to allow you and the creative team to produce images with maximum variety. As a model it is key for you to be able to vary your look, this will get you work in a range of genres and help you produce a varied portfolio and ultimately get more work.

    For a visual record of the above and more tips on styling have a look at my board on pinterest.