Saturday 17th April 2021
I cannot believe this day has come—my One to One Tuition with the lovely Fiona Turnbull at Lacock Photography. I originally booked this for January 21 as my 40th Birthday present to myself because of lockdown; we reschedule for April. I think the universe aligned for us to have this day, as the day was perfect and so much fun with lots of learning.
The location I chose was Bradford-On Avon, Wiltshire (it was so nice to have a change of scenery). We met at the Station Car Park, and the weather was charming; we couldn't ask for better weather.
I started with my 18-55mm lens. My three targets on the technical side were Focus, Composition, Overall focal point. I had this clearly in my head a moment ago, but as I was typing, it disappeared, so hopefully, I have remembered well; Fiona will correct me when reading this. This is how my brain is with my continuing recovery from my Anxiety and Depression. I know I have to live with this for the rest of my life; for me is continue to accept this and find different ways of how to get to the result I want as the old ways which worked for me, doesn't work for me now and continue with this new version of myself which I am loving.
For me, it's good to go over the technical again, as when I started my photography journey, My Anxiety and Depression was still high. I couldn't take it all in as my brain was foggy. A couple of months ago, I had my blip, so I lost how to focus and get my images sharp, and I got too comfortable using my big lens all of the time. I need to be aware that I need to use my other lenses more, which having tuition with Fiona was about and, most important, having fun.
Back to the day itself, we checked that my camera was good to go, and we came across this chappy with his dog, so Fiona went over and asked if we good take some photos of him and the Alsatian, which turned out he was looking after for a friend, he obliged for us. So I set up my camera on TV and 1000 shutter speed, with Fiona's guidance, and we snapped away; one of the photos came in my top six.
We continued with our exploring; we photographed the barns, walked to a little garden with was selling drinks and food outside, the Robin wasn't playing for us, but there were some cute Tulips we loved. This also made my top six.
The next stop was the river, so much activity going on there. We chatted to a couple with their dog Dora, turned out they met Fiona at Bowood a couple of years ago, which was quite funny. Fiona is now a celeb🤣. Dora didn't fancy going into the water.
Fiona and I got to the river bank; there were paddleboarders and rowers; it was so much fun practising action photography, with something totally different.
We spotted another spot which we could get closer to the river; we got to that spot, both of us crouching down, I couldn't get right down, as when I tried I stung myself, it was just amazing watching the rowers, amazing speed and strength they have. I could have happily spent all day there. Surprise Surprise, a couple of the photos made the top six.
We headed towards the canal; Fiona was looking at the geese ornament; I wasn't paying attention as I was looking at the Cat on the barge boat; Fiona realised what I was doing; the cat wasn't playing ball. Eventually, the cat came back out and managed to take some photos of her. This made my top 10, but it's really hard picking the top 6. We chatted to the owner and his friend; it was time for a coffee a break, where Fiona viewed my photos. They were looking good, but I need to keep on top of the ISO.
I changed my lens to my other new lens - 24mm, as it's perfect for landscapes.
We went to a garden and practised with my new lens, by the town bridge. It was like wow, I could see the difference with it for landscapes. I found my sweet spot on my new lens. To find this, you need to go to your lowest stop number and click by three; that number is your sweet spot and then by one, so for this, my sweet spot is F5.6 or F6.3. We crossed over the road to take photos of the bridge; we both felt naughty, so we hopped over the small fence to take better photos of the bridge.
We went to the other side of the bridge to see what the angle was like from there. The below photos made the top six.
We continued through the little streets, visited the church and headed back to the Car Park to head back to Lacock Photography to edit my photos from this morning and have lunch.
Afternoon at Lacock Photography
In the afternoon, we looked at my photos; I had to pick my top ten and then reduce them to be my top six. Editing I really struggle with at times. Fiona went through this with me, which I learnt so much from. I took away the following from this element:
View my photos which are similar in batches, select my favourite one
Thinking about the crop more
Play with the Radical filter
Fiona showed me how to do Paneling.
The Hide
I was very privileged and honoured that Fiona let me see her Hide and practice Wildlife photography. It's really amazing, peaceful, so tranquil; I could spend all day there, photographing, watching and listening to the birds. If I have a hide, I won't get any work done 🤣. I saw Bluetits, Robins and blackbirds. I gave my big lens ago (70-300mm). It was struggling with continuous shooting and Al servo mode. Fiona suggested one shot with continuous shooting, which worked better for my big lens.
I loved every minute of watching and photographing the birds. It was an amazing experience.
After the Hide, we went for a walk to Reybridge to see if we could see the ducklings; unfortunately, they were not there today. That's wildlife. They are not predictable—another time. We headed back and edited my photos of the birds and picked the top two, one of the bluetits and one of the Robin. You will find my Robin photo in my special photos, as Fiona and I both went wow.
I totally loved every moment of today and looking forward to practising what I have learnt from today. I totally recommend Lacock Photography for tuition (One to One Photography Tuition (lacockphotography.com)) if you want to brush up or to continue learning photography, and their workshops with other people are brilliant too (Photography Courses - in the Birthplace of Photography (lacockphotography.com)). My next workshop with them in July is Bath Photography Walk, which I am really looking forward to.
Here are a few more photos from the day.
Just been chatting to Fiona; the correct terminology and what I need to practice are the following:
The three points for the day were: technical quality, composition and point of view
To find the sweet spot on your lens is actually 2 stops from your lowest f-number (6 clicks)
Play with my Radial Filter
I didn't mean panelling; it's Panorama
I am so glad that I have Fiona guidance regarding terminology.
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