Student Profile – Paul Blake

Paul Blake

As professional photography tutors we see so much talent and potential come through our London Digital Photography Courses. Today we are looking at the stunning work of Paul Blake who has joined us for a Beginners Photography Course and two 1:1 sessions with Ion. All of the images in this blog have been captured by Paul and I’m sure you will see why we are so proud of his work.

Paul first signed up for a Beginners Photography Course having bought his first camera, a Canon 600D, for a trip to Norway to see the Northern Lights. The Lights offer such a visually beautiful and mind blowing experience that Paul quite rightly wanted to be able to get the very most out of his new camera and capture some images that he could treasure forever.

Discussing his Beginners Photography Course Paul says: “I knew absolutely nothing about the various functions of the camera or even what to look for when taking a photo. By the end of the two day course I was hooked and knew that this was going to be a hobby that I would enjoy for a long time.”

  Investing in a sturdy tripod, Paul travelled to Norway. Naturally, he found it very difficult attempting to capture such a complicated and unfathomable phenomenon as the Northern Lights, but using the knowledge that he had acquired from our two day course and a great deal of trial and error, he was able to come away with some shots that he was happy with.

Paul has said “Since then I have travelled around the world and have improved greatly with practice. Practice really is the only way to get better and I enjoy the challenge of trying to get the camera to work for me in awkward situations. From the first day with Ion I became aware of just how important it is to understand light and in particular how the camera handles various lighting situations. We’ve all been the victim of blown out skies, underexposed subjects, poor composition etc.

All of these areas fall within Ion’s expertise and I owe much of my improvement to his enthusiastic teaching techniques. I also learned early on that before taking any photographs, to have a walk around to see what interesting angles are available, very rarely is your first choice the best. I forced myself to learn this by going out with just a 50mm prime lens so I had to actually move and not just zoom the lens in and out.”

Paul has spent much of the last year travelling, honing his photography skills and mastering the art of sunset shots and long exposure shots of water, capturing almost all of his images using his camera’s fully manual mode.

Paul is now looking to move into the world of ‘people’ shots and will once again be seeking Ion’s help. “I will again be seeking the help of Ion, who I know will be able to get me started in the right direction…after that it’s down to practice as with everything else.

My advice to anyone starting out is not to be put off by the hundreds of menu settings and to try them out without fear of making mistakes. I have learned so much from my mistakes and continue to do so. Of course the most important thing is to enjoy capturing the beauty around you.”

If you would like to learn how to create stunning photographs like Paul’s then please visit our website by clicking HERE to learn more about our London Digital Photography Courses.