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

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 27^th-28^th 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.

Images by Jessica Burling

Images by Gabriella Shemtov

Images by Emma Norton

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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