Complete a college course in Photography

Complete a course in Photography

A camera is a powerful tool, one that can capture a special moment, event or location that when displayed can take the viewer back, bring tastes, smells and sounds to the forefront.  I have always had an interest in photography, but my camera only could create snapshots of life, I wanted the tools and skills to capture the moment.  With our baby on the way, we both wanted to capture as many of these moments as possible, this was my motivation.

Purchasing my Nikon 3300 in the boxing day sales I had the tool, and when Clare suggested signing up to a photography course at Bolton College under the tuition of wildlife photography specialist, Iain Byrne, I would acquire the skills.  I was a student again.

A 16 week course detailing how to professionally use a camera focusing on Aperture, Shutter speeds, ISO's, etc but also having a look at the editing side via Photoshop.  The idea was to create a full portfolio that identified the new key skills learnt and also to have my photographs displayed at the college.  I was not the best student in my latter years and both university attempts, but this was something I was really interested in, and I was ready to focus (sorry, no pun intended).

Whilst on the course we had a couple of field trips to test our skills in live environments.  The first of those was a rainy day in Manchester.  Arriving at Victoria Station, our first destination was Manchester Cathedral which tested our knowledge of apertures and shutters speeds going from the brightness outside to the dark, stain glass window lit interior. Moving to the John Rylands Library for our final destination, I was able to capture some interesting shots that I would later use in my portfolio.  One photograph that always stands out to me from our wedding photo's was one taken from a different view point, taking a photo of someone taking photo from a digital camera or Ipad.  I wanted to replicate this and my final shot of the day I managed. This was a great experience of being out and about with fellow photographers in a natural environment.

Speaking of, our second field trip was over to Martin Mere Wildlife Reserve.  Ducks of every variety, geese, swans, flamingo, stork, birds flying in every direction and twitchers hiding in dens and shelters to capture a glimpse of some rare winged delight.  We were there to do some nature photography, and having lived so close to the reserve yet never graced it doors, I did not know what to expect.  A serene, relaxing and colourful amble around the shores of the meres provided ample shots to add to the portfolio.  Trying to take animals from different angles, capturing birds in flight and admiring the pink flamingos in formation.

Over the 6 month period of study and practice, I felt my eye become more attune to the shot, my creative knowledge of what was possible with a lens become more adept, I was learning a new skill and was able to apply into the real world.  One evening I went to the top of Winter Hill in Bolton for a town firework display, here a beacon was light to commemorate the event.  I got some half decent shots of the fireworks, but my pride and joy was the beacon flame frozen in shot.


To complete the course, a portfolio had to be created showing our improvements and new skills learnt.  I passed with a distinction, full marks for the work I had done.

Now it was time to apply to the real world, our baby was ready for her close up