Focusing My Photography With Frui
Every year I choose a number of New Year resolutions that are either hard to stick to for longer than a certain period of time, or never get done at all. Lose weight; the diet was over by Jan 7th. Go to the gym; attendance dates: 2nd, 4th and 28th Jan. That was clearly a fail there too.
This year, whilst adding all of the above to my standard list – I decided to add something new. Something slightly vaguer, defined by my own motivation and my general insatiable hunger for information. My main resolution was to learn about all sorts of things I so far know little or nothing about. As an objective – that is incredibly indistinctive, but it also means the world is my oyster.
The beauty of Groupon is that with their own motto ‘Live your city for less’ – I get to do plenty of cool stuff that I wouldn’t have done otherwise, purely because at a fraction of the price, I’m willing to try it out. I set out enrolling on a bunch of courses, filling up my already jam packed schedule with random activities.
My father is avid photographer and my cousin is a budding Mario Testino. As you can imagine, there is a great deal of competition in my family to win the title for ‘The Most Creative’. I decided to sign up to evening photography courses with Frui to learn what on earth they are always talking about, and why my pictures look so naff in comparison to theirs.
As a huge lover of my old Casio Exilim H5 (with its super airbrush feature making me look 10 times better than I really did), it broke my heart when it disappeared one day never to be seen again. In terms of investing in a new camera – everyone seems to be walking around London with these great big clunking things with lenses galore. Contraptions until now I couldn’t even begin to make sense of.
Established photographer Louis Amore, was the ever patient instructor, and an amazing photographer in his own right. He took us step-by-step through all the basic and not so basics; including both the functionality and how to put together the ideal composition for your photograph. Whereas before words like ‘aperture’ and ‘Iso’ were words I only used in scrabble, now I know the ideal ways of using them together with the appropriate shutter speed. (How smart am I sounding right now?)
In all seriousness, the benefits of the course were immeasurable. I was surprised there was considerably more theory taught than I had originally expected. The first hour and a half, talking through light sensitivity, how to manage it, the types of settings for different environments and really getting our heads around how to put together the scene – I started to feel like I understood much more about the difference between a simple “posey” Facebook photo, and how to get the quality in the shot like other photographers seem to do.
Recently when I’ve been looking to take a shot, I’ve found myself thinking about the rule of thirds, leading lines, and how to put a frame within a frame instead of just my good or bad side. We got some great insight into sports photography, and tested out how to take great pictures of moving objects – so there is no running away from me and my camera now!
We had a great opportunity heading out with Louis and the group to do some night shots by the Thames, I also got a chance to see why, and how, I had been going horribly wrong. All in all, I came out of this, perhaps not the new Henri Cartier Bresson, but the all new Lua Cooper, promising not to take any more dodgy shots that focus solely on your nose.
P.S Keep an eye out on Groupon as they frequently run deals with Frui across the country. Whatever your level – beginner or advanced; you’ll receive the expert advice and tuition you need to take photographs like a pro.
Recent Comments