Travel Photography Course

■ Interactive, dynamic, fun. 'Hands on' shooting and telling your travel story

■ The ideal Travellers Photography course for time pressed persons

■ Learning about camera handling, types of lighting and creative composition

■ Portraiture, landscapes, still life, motion, architecture, nature, wildlife

■ Reflections, heat and dust, snow and cold, the essence and soul of a region

■ Fun and innovative learning with like minded fellow individuals

■ Active 'hands on' learning at photogenic and interesting indoor and outdoor locations

■ Well structured, practical workshops covering a variety of subjects

■ Small groups of no more than 6 persons

■ Post production tips, how to create montages and an e-book

■ Expert tuition from the professional photographer Andrew Thomasson

 

 

 THE COURSE STYLE 

■ A practical 'hands on' course with a series of workshops designed to emulate scenarios you will encounter in your travels

■ We use a variety of great Sydney locations to give you a feel for diverse scenarios.

■ Snapping boats and food at the Pier 4 wharf semi replicates a Greek holiday.

■ Nature and flowers in the Botanical gardens are good practice for shooting in Costa Rica.

■ Tips on architecture photography at the Sydney Barracks can be transported to pictures in Versailles.

■ The bustle of the Rocks markets emulates Covent Gardens.

■ Shooting the white, bright Opera House give you skills in shooting snow covered scenes.

■ Shooting wildlife and nature at Taronga zoo provides invaluable tips for your upcoming Kimberley cruise, Antarctica adventure, African safari or Finnish Lapland dog sled tour.

■ We recognise its impossible to cover everything in one day. To that end you will receive a set of detailed notes to support what you learn and to cover points we may miss. See FAQ section for further details on these notes. 

■ No previous photographic experience required

■ A smartphone, compact, mirror-less and/ or a DLSR camera ( see FAQ's for more information)

■ Memory Card(s): we recommend at least a 4 GB card for each day of shooting

■ Charged camera battery and a spare if you have one

■ A wide-angle is useful for landscapes. A telephoto for wildlife

■ Your travel itinerary and camera instruction book (alternatively we access camera operation details on the day using a smartphone)

 

Time	10am to 5pm
Location	18 Argyle Street, Sydney
Meeting Point	Munich Brauhaus Restaurant / beside outside tables near red phone box

Why do this two day Travel Photography Course?
■ A must for any traveller, this travel photography course is designed to inspire you and deliver the skills you will need to develop a beautiful and stunning reportage style and the art of storytelling.

■ You want a fun yet informative learning experience in the camaraderie of fellow travellers in one of the world's most iconic cities. Over two days you will get to photograph some of Sydney's most photogenic locations including wildlife at Taronga Zoo.

■ You want to get more out of your camera's features and learn more about photography in general. You learn much faster with 'hands on' instruction from a professional photographer & tutor

■ You need to learn how to use your camera properly before hitting the road or getting on a plane. To understand how various settings and modes will deliver the results you want. For instance, capturing fast moving wildlife is ideal in Shutter priority mode. Aperture priority is essential for macro and landscape photography. You need to know about exposure compensation in white, bright snow & beach scenes, about focussing points to isolate a koala nestled in a gum tree. A quality smartphone will deliver outstanding results and be unobtrusive in a crowded Indian market, a drone is perfect for capturing Australia's stunning coastline.

■ Experience matters: compiled by working professional travel and tourism photographers. We are authoritative, consummate professionals in both shooting and teaching travel and tourism photography - NOT 'armchair' experts.

■ Expertise: this one day course has been created by Andrew and Serena who have trained tens of thousands of students through their one and two day Travel Photography courses running in throughout Australia. They are also authors of the worldwide selling Online Travel Photography course. Andrew & Serena have racked up 122 joint countries they have travelled to and photographed. They are consummate travel photography experts.

■ Knowledge is power: You are spending a huge amount for a trip of a lifetime - a cruise to Antarctica, an African wildlife safari, a cultural tour on the Silk Road. You have some good gear. You need to know the essentials about how your camera works, how you can take full advantage of its features, about travel photography across the board, about the conditions you may encounter - the weather, restrictions and local laws, the best time of day, the best time to go, an idea of what you want to photograph. This course will fast track you into the world of travel photography.

What are some of the indoor & outdoor locations we photograph at?

■ We endeavour to go to most or all of the following destinations:

■ The Rocks, The Observatory, Walsh Bay, Botanic Gardens, Woolloomooloo, Hyde Park, Sydney CBD, Darling Harbour.

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Is this course suitable for me?
■ It is Suitable for everyone. Over 29 years, we have had 1000's do this course around Australia from every walk of life, travelling to amazing places and of all ages. It is for any traveller at whatever skill level you are at. The detailed notes are pertinent for any traveller- using any imaging device. Practical workshops at various locations demonstrate 101 tips and tricks pros use - like shooting reflections and starbursts. The tips on light and composition are relevant for any photographer.

■ People who want to earn money as a freelance travel photographer.

■ Experienced photographers who want to learn new skills, about new imaging technologies such as drones, about the specific scenarios they will encounter on their travels.

■ You should be physically able to walk 4-7km on this course. Talk to us about anyone with special needs and we will try to accommodate them.

What happens if it's raining?

■ We do not give refunds for inclement weather. Bring a raincoat and/or umbrella as some of the best photos are taken in the rain. We have a number of indoor shooting location options.

■ We offer a 'repeat for free' weather guarantee. If the weather is really bad we will do a few hours and you then receive a gift voucher to come back at another time. You can also 'gift' your credit voucher to another party.

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How many people will be on my course?
■ A maximum of 8 persons for a highly personalised learning experience. This ensures plenty of one on one attention.

■ We do cater for larger groups bringing in other tutors and splitting the groups into teams. Talk to us about your special requirements such as a 'team building' Travel Photography course for a government organisation, company, your travel or camera club and for private groups.

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What is the difference between the one and the 2 day course?
■ On this 2 day course we also include Taronga zoo and portrait and architectural photography at Cockatoo Island.

■ Extra inclusions are wildlife and nature, architecture, a brief session on basic editing using Adobe Lightroom Classic.

■ More time devoted to each workshop, more locations, more variety.

■ This course is popular with those travelling from other regional zones in Australia and with those from overseas also wanting to learn photography skills and to shoot in the very best photogenic locations that Sydney has to offer.

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Do I have the right camera gear for this course & my forthcoming travels?
■ In your detailed notes you receive upon booking- we give lots of recommendations on the best camera gear, camera bag and accessories to consider before embarking on your trip.

■ Any full or cropped frame DSLR camera, mirrorless camera, quality compact or smartphone is ideal to do this course or for travelling in general. Full frame cameras with their bigger sensors will give better results if for instance you are on a Red Centre landscape oriented holiday where you need fine resolution for wall art enlargements.

■ A wide angle lens is most useful. (Say a 12-24mm) add in a telephoto lens 70-300mm for wildlife or a mid range lens 24-105mm for all round street photography. A 50mm f1.8  is small, cheap and great to have in your kit. Or just do this course with your kit 18-135mm kit lens.

■ Its imperative you think carefully about your travel camera gear. A quality compact with a decent zoom may be all you need. A great smartphone is the ideal companion for the older traveller or backpacker wanting to travel light. Conversely if you want to take fantastic wildlife shots on an African safari or polar expedition - you will need reliable, strong gear and some long telephoto lenses. A snapshooter skier will love a compact like the Sony RX100 series - brilliant photos, reliable, light and fits nicely in a ski jacket pocket.

■ Choose the right gear based on portability, what you like to shoot, whether you aim to be a hobby or a professional photographer and price point.

■ We suggest you aim to have a few imaging devices for increased versatility and we think every travel photographer should try to pack a quality compact. There are many other fantastic, high quality compacts on the market.

■ Look at getting into aerial drone photography - especially for destinations with stunning coastlines and landscapes.

■ Use a newish smartphone with excellent imaging capabilities for everything. They excel for Panoramic shots and video clips and the best imaging device is the camera which is always with you - your smartphone.

■ Build up a system as requirements and your budget allows.

■ Wherever you can and depending on how serious you are - Invest in the best lenses, filters and a lightweight, quality tripod - these should last you a long time under heavy use.

■ Don’t put 'all your eggs in one basket' - better to use lots of smaller memory cards than few bigger ones in case of loss or dysfunction of cards.

■ An on-camera flash unit is useful if you are travelling light

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Can I rent a camera? Buy SD cards?
■ Yes - we have cropped DLSR Canon and Nikon Cameras for rent. The fee is $90. Your camera will have a standard 18-55mm lens ( or equivalent)

■ Quality 32GB SD cards are available for purchase for $25 per card ( or bring your own SD card).

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What are some of the topics covered in the notes I get?
■ Course notes mirror the practical course workshops with detailed with easy to understand, step by step procedures to teach you camera handling skills, about composition, lighting and a myriad of other techniques to become a competent travel and tourism photographer.

■ PREPARATION  - introduction  |  before you go  |  where to go |  when to go |  how to go  |  what to shoot |  on location  |  street etiquette  |  be adaptable  

■ CAMERA GEAR - what gear quick guide  |  full frame DSLR cameras  |  cropped sensor DLSR's  |  prime & zoom lenses  |  quality compacts  |  mirrorless cameras  | medium format cameras  |  adventure cameras  |  smartphones  |  drones |  speedlite flash units  |  tripods, monopods & gorillapods  |  filters  |  batteries memory cards & backup  |  cleaning your gear  |  camera bags  |  accessories  

■ CAMERA HANDLING - shooting modes  |   raw vs jpeg  |  metering modes  |  colour space  |  focusing modes  |  white balance  | iso  |  picture style & control  |  exposure lock  compensation & bracketing  |  adding light into shadows  |  high dynamic range (HDR)  |  using flash 

■ LIGHTING - types  | natural light  |  artificial light  |  white balance  |  time the light 

■ COMPOSITION - leading & converging lines  |  the rules of thirds  |  framing an image  |  reflections  |  look for unusual angles  |   star bursts  |  focusing on detail  |  showing motion  | viewpoint   |  selective focus   |  aspect ratio 

■ POPULAR THEMES TO SHOOT - objects, people, landscapes, buildings & architecture, food & drink, action, wildlife, nature, abstract  

■ BACK AT HOME -  basics of editing  |  editing in Lightroom  |  transferring files-hardware  |  uploading files  |  auto smartphone backup  |  home & office back up  |  showcasing your images  |  social media  | selling online  |  photo books & frames  |  photos as prints  |  tips & tricks  |  summary  |  recommended gear

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Can I bundle or package the 2 day course with the 'Online' Travel Photography course?
■ Yes- we offer a 10% discount when you opt to purchase both the 'Online' Travel Photography course and this two days 'on location' Travel Photography course as a 'bundle'

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Andrew has been training our staff, photographing for us over 30 years and has led many Australian and overseas photography tours for World Expeditions. A superb photographer with the ability to handle pressure and to deal with the unexpected. Andrew is very personable and always delivers way more than asked for. Highly recommended.

-- Sue Badyari / General Manager

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Great to meet you. Christie and I love your work. We think that the 4 attached, at this phase of our project would fit well and we would be keen to see if any of these would be able to be blown up to a large wall art format.

--Kate Hopwood | Head of Design

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Andrew has been our corporate photographer for 8 years shooting all our events, functions and portraits. Focus 10 is reputable, flexible and innovative!

-- Laura 0'Donnell / Marketing Manager

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Andrew photographed our wedding in the English Lake District last August and did a brilliant job! He shot from 10am to 2am in the morning and the thousands of imaging are fantastic. Now I have my own photography business i know what pressure is like on these long shoots

-- Rebecca Downie | owner

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We have worked with Andrew for 19 years now and he is unfailingly reliable and always goes out of his way to help out our business. He have given us training in property photography and is always giving free advice on how we can further improve.

-- Heidi Robertson / Office manager

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Thank you for one of the best 5 days ever. Lots of laughs, learn a huge amount, great group, food was fab, and eating out cheap. Super cooking class, brilliant photography with masses of variety each and every day. A highlight for me was the Full moon festival. Amazing! A memorable adventure. Sign me up for your Cinque Terre course in October! Cheers

--Samantha Knight

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I was Andrew's wedding assistant for quite a few years and he was always generous with his time and expertise. So thank you! It seems a lifetime ago we shot that wedding at Gunners Barracks in this nasty Covid 19 era.

-- Caragh Lyons | Solutions Architect

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Hi Andrew,

I just wanted to say thank you again for Friday. I learned so much in such a short amount of time. I’ve been showing all of my photos to anyone that will look and listen. I’ve attached a few of my faves. After you left I went back to a few of the aviaries and just practiced. Your knowledge of my camera was really impressive and the way you explained things to me made it really clear.

--Angelica Butler / Creative Director

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