The
atmosphere in the gardens at Barnsley House is almost meditative. Calming and
expanding, the perfect place to open the mind and learn. There could be no
better place to hold a two-day photography course.
Image by Ria Mishaal
Images by Ria Mishaal
Image by Ria Mishaal
This autumn, The Creativity Collective
ran our foundation Floral
Photography Workshop at Barnsley House aimed at those who have an appreciation for flowers and
those who work as florists. This was a class of 6 students, allowing individual
attention. In the past, we have had a whole range of attendees from those who
just love to make floral displays and want to capture their work, to those who have been in business as florists
for many years and who want to photograph their work with a particular vision
for their marketing. Most of our students own DSLR cameras
but have very little experience with how to use them and find manuals and
technical articles online a little impenetrable.
Images by Ria Mishaal
The conference room at Barnsley house
overlooks the countryside; squirrels played outside the window as we worked. It
is the perfect space for an open, exploratory and discursive atmosphere, as we
sat around a central table with three setups around the edge of the room for
practical work.
The content
over the two days is delivered with discussion of key technical principles
followed by practical application, giving the opportunity to learn first hand
and ask all the questions needed to grow in these skills. Every student gets a 150
page fully illustrated course book so there is no need to take detailed notes
and they can just concentrate on learning practically.
Images by David Cooke
We began by
discussing the practical advantages and disadvantages of different types of
cameras including camera phones, and working out where all the relevant
settings were and how to change them on each one of our cameras. When everyone felt
familiar with their camera, we dived into exploring manual camera settings and
how they affect your image. We explored in detail the quantity, quality
and direction of light and how to create an inexpensive home studio setup to
manipulate available light to photograph your work. To illustrate this, we photographed a display in a light
and airy style and in a dark and moody Dutch Masters’ style using the same
available light.
Images by Ria Mishaal
On day two, we explored composition and
styling and the consideration of working with light outside. Then the students
were invited to put together all the principles they had learnt and devise a
mini-shoot both inside on one of the setups and outside in the beautiful
gardens of Barnsley House. We had invited the students to bring their own
floral displays to photograph, so that they could use some of what they capture for their portfolios, but we also supplied
some displays for those who didn’t bring work or didn’t feel experienced enough
to do so. To conclude our learning experience, we explored live editing in
Lightroom and Photoshop of some of the students’ work taken that day, to show
what is easy and possible to make the images sing.
Images by Ria Mishaal
On both days, we broke for lunch and
wandered over to The Potager for a two-course lunch. We sat around one table to
continue our conversation. A real bonus to in-person courses is the people you
meet and the friendships you make. The conversation over lunch bounced from
photography to floristry and many tips and stories were shared. Our hope is
that, in this way, our courses will help to build and support a positive
community.
The beautiful course book the attendees
receive contains all the technical information they need, illustrated examples
and 18 activities for them to advance their floral photography and continue to
grow in their skill. They all get membership to a private Facebook group to
share their work and ask questions as they practice, and there is a portfolio
review available within 3 months of the course.
Images by Ria Mishaal
We are very much looking forward to run
the next course scheduled for 27th-28th March 2019 for a maximum
of 8 attendees. Will you join us in the beautiful spring gardens of Barnsley House?
Book
your place here.
What
Students have to say:
Jackie
This course more than met my expectations! I loved being
able to shoot in real situations and I learnt so much. Things I knew before
finally made sense!
Sarah (Sarah Guild Floral Design)
Thank you so much for a wonderful day - the course met my
hopes and aspirations and more! Ria explained everything so well. There’s been
so much work, effort and passion to create this course and it shows!
Portia (Flowers By Passion)
This course was really fantastic, I was really impressed
with how much ground we covered in such a short space of time. Ria was so
patient and clear with her technical explanations. She touched on so many
different aspects of photography – my mind is buzzing! The book is absolutely
an absolutely amazing resource!
Erin (Flowers By Passion)
It was a really enjoyable day. I feel I have learnt a lot and
I can’t wait to go away and start practicing the techniques. Ria was really
generous with her knowledge and also gave us a lot of creative ideas too in
terms of backdrops and styling. I highly recommend this course!
Claudia (Just Joey On The Moon)
This is so much more than a photography workshop! Not just
all the technical learning but I loved the creative styling, set up and
composition work. An all round masterclass. It went beyond my expectations and
is so much more than as advertised. That BOOK is amazing, what an amazing
addition. Ria’s generosity of knowledge, her inspiring technical skills and her
all round creative brilliance allowed me to produce images I was really proud
of!
We are proud to share some of the
students work that they did on they course.
The Creativity Collective
provides inspiring, interactive photography education for those who want
to develop creativity in their work. It was co-founded by Ria Mishaal, an
established and experienced full time portrait and wedding photographer, and
David Cooke, an internationally accredited visual art photographer with over 30
years experience in adult education. Learn more about them here.
Do
join our supportive and positive TCC Community learning
group. There we will do regular challenges to improve photographic
skills and creative thinking.
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