Spring ’24 Photography courses announced

I’m pleased to announce that the latest series of photography courses have dates;

• Digital Photography for Beginners – 17th April start date
• Digital Photography for the Serious Amateur – 5th June start date
• Birds of Prey at Muncaster – a workshop running on 8th June
• Getting to grips with your Smartphone – a workshop at Muncaster on 8th June

They’ll be available to book from April. Click here to book online, or click here for more information about the courses.

Beginners Digital Photography Course starts 1st Nov 2023

A new date for your diary…

– Digital Photography for Beginners (WHI23C034) – Starts 1st November 2023

You can book using this page here (search “Photography” at the top).

These courses are run in a safe group environment and are ideal for you to learn more about photography, use your camera with more confidence and improve your pictures.

2021 Photography courses continue…

We’re now going strong in 2021 with a block of courses being completed already!

My next Photography courses running in Whitehaven during 2021
– Industrial Heritage Photography – Starts 21st August 2021
– Digital Photography for Beginners – Starts 22nd September 2021
– Digital Photography for the Serious Amateur – Starts 3rd November 2021

Full details are on this page here (please click).

These courses are run in safe environments and are ideal for you to learn more about photography, use your camera with more confidence and improve your pictures.

Spring 2021 Photography courses!

I’m happy to announce there are dates for three courses before summer.

– Digital Photography for Beginners – Starts Wednesday 21st April. BOOK ONLINE
– Digital Photography for the Serious Amateur – Starts Wednesday 9th June. BOOK ONLINE
– Photographing Landscapes of the Lakes – Starts Sunday 27th June. BOOK ONLINE

Full details are on this page here (please click).

These courses are run in safe environments and are ideal for you to learn more about photography, use your camera with more confidence and improve your pictures.

We’re back! Late 2020 Photography Course dates announced

I’m happy to announce the dates for the next series of courses are; Beginners course will start on the 23rd September 2020 and the Serious Amateur course will start on 4th November 2020.

You can see more details on the page here (please click) which includes pricing and details on how to book.

These courses give you an ideal opportunity in a safe environment to learn more about photography, use your camera with more confidence and improve your pictures.

New course – Lightroom and Photoshop for Photographers

I’m excited to let you know that I’m working with the Copeland Community Learning and Skills Centre to bring a new course to the local area.  This new course will concentrate on getting to grips with Adobe’s Lightroom Classic and Photoshop CC to get the best from your photography. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned photographer you’ll pick up tips and improve your complete photographic workflow.

News will be released nearer the time.

How to shoot light trails

I replied to a question on Facebook today and wanted to share it here. I cover this subject in the series of photography courses which I run so if you’ve ever wanted to shoot some light trails (like car headlights) follow this advice;

Firstly don’t forget the basics; a fully charged battery and room on your memory card (it does happen!). You’ll also need a tripod.

Start with the light fading in the sky after sunset because a little light in the sky will help separate the landscape from the sky. 

Pre-focus your lens/camera before it gets too dark because you can struggle in low light to achieve focus. Once you’re happy with the focus switch the lens to Manual focus and don’t touch it for the rest of the night.

Set your ISO fairly low (maybe 100-400) and your camera to Manual.

Set your shutter speed to somewhere around the 30 second mark and if the resulting picture is too dark then just open the aperture one stop at a time (if it’s too light then close the aperture one stop at a time) until you’re happy with the result.

Top tip – either use a remote shutter release or if you don’t have one use the 2-second timer because this will help get a stable shot.

Don’t forget your composition either, just because it’s dark doesn’t mean it goes out of the window. Remember the Rule of Thirds for example and consider getting some foreground interest in the shot

Beginners photography course 19th September

I’m happy to announce the date of the next beginners course; Wednesday 19th September!

An ideal opportunity to learn more about photography, use your camera with more confidence and improve your pictures.

Full detials here (click here)

– Telephone; 01946-506416
– Email; Click to email
– Website; Click to visit

‘Serious Amateur’ photography course in June ’18

Wednesday 6th June is the date set to start the Serious Amateur photography course.
To book please telephone; 01946-595476 or email; Click to email

Digital Photography for Serious Amateurs is aimed towards those who may know a little about their D-SLR camera already and we show you some greater possibilities; we go deeper into some more advanced techniques including HDR, off-camera flash, star trails and multiplicity.
– A total of 11 sessions over 6 weeks (6 classroom based and 5 field trips)
– Runs on Mondays 6-9pm, the field trips are usually at weekends.
– Full price; £110  (£55 concessions)

New Beginners & Serious Amateur dates in June 2017

A quick update that there are two new dates for your diary;

– Digital Photography for beginners – starts Thursday 8th June 2017
– Digital Photography in the studio introduction – starts Wednesday 7th June 2017
For more information on these or any of my courses please click here.

If you’d like to book a place please use;
– Telephone; 01946-506416
– Email; Click to email
– Website; Click to visit

Beginners and Studio Photography courses in 2016

A quick update that there are two new dates for your diary;

– Digital Photography for beginners – starts Monday 23rd January 2017
– Digital Photography in the studio introduction – over two Thursdays; 9th & 16th February 2016
For more information on these or any of my courses please click here.

If you’d like to book a place please use;
– Telephone; 01946-506416
– Email; Click to email
– Website; Click to visit

Beginners photography course to start

Monday September 19th is the date we’ll start the next beginners photography course.

Its your opportunity to find out how to improve your photos, discover common mistakes to avoid, pick up loads of tips and generally get more from your camera.

The course is delivered in a friendly and informal environment and is a great way to help you enjoy your photography.  The group will be small and there’s no need to worry if you’re an absolute beginner because others will be too.

If you’d like to come along please call 01947-595476 (leave a message with your contact details if you need to) or email your details to jbarrett@whitehavenacademy.org.uk

More detail including prices can be found by clicking here.

Spring 2016 course dates

Great news for photography lovers – new dates have been announced for my courses!

– Digital Photography for beginners – starts Monday 11th April 2016
– Digital Photography for the serious amateur – starts Monday 6th June 2016
– Digital Photography in the studio introduction – starts Saturday 14th May 2016

If you’d like to find out more please click this link, you can also contact me to get more info.

Date announced for Serious Amateur photography course

Wednesday 3rd June is the date set to start the Serious Amateur photography course.
To book please telephone; 01946-595476 or email; Click to email

Digital Photography for Serious Amateurs is aimed towards those who may know a little about their D-SLR camera already and we show you some greater possibilities; we go deeper into some more advanced techniques including HDR, off-camera flash and multiplicity with more use of software such as use of layers in Photoshop and Photomatix.
– A total of 11 sessions over 6 weeks (6 classroom based and 5 field trips)
– Runs on Mondays 6-9pm, the field trips are usually at weekends.
– Full price; £100.  Concessions available for over 60’s and other benefits.

New course dates announced

I’m really pleased to announce new dates for my courses!

The beginners course starts on Wednesday the 15th of April and runs for 5 weeks.  We have field trips at weekends where we go and put into practice what we’ve learned in the classroom.  This is a fantastic opportunity to learn more about your camera and how to take the photos that you want and not to leave everything to the camera to make the choices for you! … and no you don’t need the latest SLR with very expensive lenses!  Even ‘bridge’ camera users will be able to apply the techniques we use.

Then on Saturday the 6th June the Studio introduction course starts with an introduction in the classroom, followed the Saturday after (13th June) with a live model in the studio using our lighting and backgrounds.   You will learn how to work with a model and some good external lighting techniques.  Even if you don’t plan to take this up it’s a really fascinating introduction to how lighting works and affects the look of your photos.

For more information on pricing and how to book click this link.

Studio Photography course a success

This was amazing, everyone was incredibly enthusiastic and got an incredible amount from the course.  Thanks to Charlotte who modelled for us today, fantastic results for all!
To see the available courses please click here.

Serious Amateur course completes

We all had a great time on the Serious Amateur course, on the 5 field trips we managed to snap some fantastic images and the photos each of the group produced were fantastic!
For more on the courses available please see here.

Photography course dates announced (updated)

I’m pleased to announce start dates for some of my courses;

– Digital Photography for beginners; 14th Jan 2013 / 3rd June 2013
– Digital Photography for the serious amateur; 5th Nov 2012 / 15th April 2013
– Digital Photography in the studio; 19th & 26th Jan 2013
More info;  http://www.photographynorthwest.com/photography-courses-whitehaven-lake-district-cumbria/

Please call 01946-595476 to book any course

My Photography Courses are proving very popular!

Word about my Photography Courses certainly has got around and the demand as high as ever.  We will be adding more dates for the Introduction to Studio Photography course as we go through the year – the first three studio courses after Christmas were fully booked within a few weeks!

The Beginners course has now concluded and Summer term dates will be announced soon.
The Serious Amateur course starts in mid-April and we only have a few places remaining so be quick 🙂

I have to report that I didn’t expect the large demand for these courses, especially being tucked away in West Cumbria.  I really enjoy hosting them and I know that everyone who attends reports leaps and bounds in both skill and general confidence.

Don’t forget that to book your place on my course or to request an information pack please contact the centre directly;
– Telephone; 01946-595476
– Email; Click to email
– Website; Click to visit