Photo School

Leadenhall Market - This was my shot of the day with all the vertical and horizontal lines along with the never-ending flags, the row of lights and the soothing colours.

I recently bought myself a new camera as a birthday present and decided on the Pansonic Lumix G3 in red - mainly because of the compact size, interchangeable lens and electronic viewfinder. Also helped that as an Olympic Sponsor, there was an offer for £50 cashback which eventually sealed the decision for me.

I know absolutely nothing about cameras or photography so enrolled myself onto a jargon-free course with the Photo School with Natalie.

I was nervous as I was going on my own and was convinced that everyone knew what they were doing but within the first 10 minutes of introduction, it turned out that 80% of the group had owned their camera between 6-12 months but was still using their camera on the 'automatic' mode so that gave me great comfort.

I did 2 classes - the first one being camera settings and the second being creative composition.

The first 90 minutes was spent learning the different buttons and modes on our cameras before we headed out for approximately 45 minutes in the City to explore and take photos. I wandered far... started off in Leadenhall Market but I slowly wondered towards the Gherkin and Lloyds Building with a knowledge of aperture and white balance!

In creative composition, we looked at photos that Natalie had taken and the sort of things that can make something very mundane into something of interest. After the briefing, we all ventured out and again and I took a lot of photos - albeit most of them didn't turn out great but the class and the group discussion certainly opened my eyes to new things that I would have normally just walked passed without even a second glance but now, it all seemed so fascinating and got my imagination and creative juices flowing - those that know me, should know that I am not a very artistic person! Now, I am obsessed with lines, patterns and symmetry!!!

Anyway, I did take some good photos and now feel fairly confident in using my camera and cannot wait until a free day and good weather where I can just go wandering around in London with just my camera and experiment.

Here are some of the other pictures that I took on the day:

Messing about with the white balance - this was incandescent

I liked the lines from the stairs and bannister plus the curve of the roof!

My attempt at framing using one of the arches of the Gherkin. Also tried to make it as symmetrical as possible! 

The Gherkin - loved the fact that there is one huge black streak running through the building as well as the pattern of the diamonds down to the three triangular arches at the button. The top is deliberately missed off to try to emphasise the height of the building and the reflection of the other buildings in the glass was a fluke!!

Rule of Thirds! This was actually a sign/plastic screen outside a shop in Leadenhall Market and this is an example of something that I would have never even taken a second glance at before the class but can now see how it can be turned into something that looks so pretty!