Snapping with Shutter Scotland

David Russel was running a free taster photography course as part of his new company ‘Shutter Scottland’. We arrived at our morning venue, Loch an Eilean, with no wind and a stunning view.  The fantastic castle, Scotts pine and silky Loch made for an excellent venue choice even with the low light levels.

First shot of the day, a moody Loch an Eilien.

Playing with 'depth of field' with some funky looking lichen.

We started with a free for all 'point and shoot' session, designed to unleash our creative juices and get used to the cameras.

With the low light levels, big awesome landscapes were tricky.  David suggested focusing in on the small details.

We moved quickly to look at the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the camera.  Exposure was the first topic of conversation, discussing how; ISO, shutter speed and aperture affected the amount of light reaching the sensor. We had a play in the 'AP' (aperture priority mode), adjusting the depth of field to emphasise features and draw your eye through the image.

I love the texture and color of Scotts Pines.

Next on the list was composition.  I had previously experimented a lot with the ‘rule of thirds’ so was happy to hear about using lines to draw the eye through an image and how layers create sense of depth and heightened interest to an image.

I like how the foreground layers bring your eye into the contrasting perpendicular trees.

Again playing with different layers to create a sense of depth.

After a well earned lunch, David showed us some of his great images to inspire us to work with different type of light in the afternoon.  Back lighting, raked light, direct light and diffuse light were all mentioned in the slideshow and it was a pity that the afternoon light didn't give us the chance to work with all of these different styles.

I loved these colors and shape, just like a woodland rainbow.

An awesome log in the 'Green Lochan'.  Lines lead into the shot.

We finished with a quick look at panoramas.  Lots of portrait shots stuck together, ensures a good height, high resolution and a huge width.  With a steady upper body and some cunning software, David explained that taking great panoramas was quite simple.

My first attempt.  Can't wait to do it on a high snowy mountain.

Take home messages

• If you want to be a better photographer, stand in front if more interesting stuff.
• Find something interesting, then 'dance around it' until you find a good angle.
• Once you understand the technical stuff, the rest is down to artisticness.

Cheers David for a great day.  I learned a lot and am now inspired to play with all the light techniques once we get a nice sunny day.