Wildlife and Pet Photography Workshop for Beginners with Matt Akister on 24th of May

On May 24th we are running a beginners DSLR photography workshop. This Workshop will be run by the very experienced and talented photographer Matthew Akister. Matt has extensive experience photographing animals in the wild such as Kruger National Park as well as in Botswana and Namibia as well as many other exotic locations around the world including the Rain Forest. He has worked at the Vervet Monkey Foundation and Monkey World UK. He also works as a freelance pet photographer. I encourage you to check out his website and see his galleries and experience at https://www.mapap.co.uk/

This workshop is aimed for artists who use and own a DSLR camera but are still using it in Auto mode and want to take their photography to the next level. So if you want to be able to take amazing photographs of your pets or take these skill to the zoo or on safari then this workshop is for you. It will be a mix of practical and theory with time spent in the classroom as well as heading outside to shoot. (so bring some warmer clothes).

The workshop will be held at Rookesbury Park in the main house with the practical taking place on the picturesque grounds. This is an absolutely stunning back drop for your photography. Food and drinks are included in the price and will be provided by the Rookesbury catering team. Please message any dietary requirements.

The day will be broken down as follows.

1. meet and greet and spend roughly 10 minutes photographing the dogs, using these images as a comparison.

2. theoretical: learning the basics of the camera. How it works, settings, focusing mainly on exposure triangle (ISO, shutter speed, aperture).

3. more practical. Using what was learnt in 2. to start shooting in manual mode and get well exposed images.

Lunch break

4. theoretical: learning about what makes a good image, focus on eyes. depth of field depends on what you’re shooting etc. Learning about angles. lower down you shoot the more blurred the background. How the sun affects light/colour. cover “golden hour” theory.

5. theoretical: how to work with your subjects, predicting wild animal behaviour vs controlling dog behaviour. how to get the best out of your equipment.

6. theoretical: examine a few of my images. Go through what was good/bad technically and artistically.

7. more practical. put everything together and see the improvement.

The running times of the Workshop will be 9:30 am arrive (starting at 10) to 4pm finish.

The address for the workshop is Rookesbury Park, Wickham, Fareham, PO17 5AZ

The workshop has a minimum requirement of 8 people for it to run. If we do not reach that amount the workshop will be cancelled and anyone who has booked will get a free refund. Members of SNA get a 10% discount.