Photography workshop training Southampton
Our day with Connie running one of our Photography workshop training Southampton days. We were contacted a while ago by Connie who was looking to use her Sony a390 camera more. We agreed on our “getting to know your camera” Marwell workshop.
Getting to know your camera Photography workshop training Southampton
We started our day with Connie as we always do in the studio here in Southampton. We start by going through your camera in this case a Sony a390 which was about 7 years old. This is not a problem for us because this was once a top camera and still takes great photos today. The camera was equipped with an 18-55mm lens. This did bring a few limitations today because of its max reach or “zoom”. This means it cannot photograph things that are not close by which is sometimes tough at Marwell.
We do of course have a Nikon 810 camera and a selection of longer faster lenses that our workshop clients Are welcome to use. Connie used ours for a few shots today but did quite well with hers for the closer work.
During the studio part of our day we try to make you comfortable with your camera controls and of course set it up too. Connie quickly got to grips with her Sony so we headed off to Marwell.
Marwell Zoo photography
We started our walk around the Zoo with the ever depleting Owl area. Marwell is always changing and updating but I was really disappointed to hear that they are getting rid of the Owls because they make for really challenging photos. A few photos with the Owls shooting through very thick cage before we moved onto the Snow leopards.
This is where our day went south 🤨 Being the last day of the summer holidays the park was super busy. Im guessing this upset quite a few of the animals and the Snow leopards were only out for a few short seconds. Marwell is always hit and miss but today was really dismal. We did manage a couple shots before they hid. Despite our efforts we never saw them again.
Hide and seek
Next the otters gave us a “no show” and the monkeys too. We never lost hope and headed off for lunch. Afterwards the aviary was fab and we captured some great birds. This is where Connie started to get to grips with her camera very well and she also played with our camera too. This is a great place to photograph some pretty amazing birds and is always popular with our Photography workshop training Southampton days.
Next we got some pretty cool photos of the Red Panda who was munching on some bamboo shoots. Thankfully they feed the panda down near ground level so once we master shooting into the light its great. A big part of the settings we teach you to tweak is the exposure meter settings. This helps enormously when shooting into bright sky and even sunshine.
After this we got some amazing shots of the Amur Leopard munching on a bone. Again this was taken through very thick dirty glass but you would never know.
A great day despite few animals
All in all it was not a great day for animals at Marwell zoo. But we did have some fun and Connie was much more relaxed with her camera. Her photos just got better and better as the day went on.
To make the most out of our Photography workshop training Southampton at Marwell you need a longer lens. Ideally 200mm or longer but we can make do with shorter. We run these courses all over the place and the New forest suits much shorter lenses as does Beaulieu house and Exbury Gardens too.
We do of course have a camera and lens you can use for these days.
Beat the camera auto settings
If you have a camera that is controlling your photos then think about one of our courses. We do an evening course studio based for £99 or a full day at Marwell or the New Forest for only £250. This will get you controlling your camera properly and enjoying your photography so much more.
We offer all sorts of workshops both One-2-One and groups from specialist subjects through to getting to know your camera and would happily chat about anything in-between. We have put on workshops for lots of great local photographers as well as a few local companies looking to improve their social media presence and also we have worked for the United Nations running a workshop for them. Please get in touch if you need to chat about our workshops.
We also offer scouted days around the south coast for those looking to build a portfolio or just find the nicest places to shoot.
Find new love for your photography
We hope that you enjoy these photographs from this workshop, we are very pleased with them and we feel they show off using your cameras AV and S mode very well and also the various focus and metering modes all of which are interesting to learn about and will take your photography to a new level.
Please contact us if you are looking for a photography workshop of any-kind 02380 767084
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All photos shown here are taken on our Photography workshop training Southampton day this week. These are either taken by us or our clients. I will post a few more from Connie once I get around to editing them later this week.