ESPA - Training Sessions

I was recently contacted by a local college that supports young people and adults with autism and additional disabilities and getting them into work and getting them experiences and things that they have not done before. They had a couple of students that had a real interest in photography and wanted to do a little bit more with studio lighting and kind of the thought process behind taking pictures. And obviously, I thought it’d be great to be part of this. I have always had a bit of me that pushes training. Over the years I’ve trained thousands of people on different aspects of the photography world, whether that be for businesses or to use their phones better, or 1-1s with people regarding the tech side of things. And this actual trend in kind of further or additional education was a real pleasure to be part of. 

It was a push out of my comfort zone a little bit because of the challenges that were of a group that had a significantly different skill sets. So we had some people that were about to go to college to do photography, all the way through to people that have never picked up a camera before. So I had to kind of tailor the sessions to really mix that spread up. As they didn’t have loads of students, I couldn’t kind of do two sessions, one for one and one for the other. But with my practical tips and hands-on activities, I think we covered all the bases, and people could see the difference in the pictures from when we started the sessions to the end of the sessions, and then the first session to the second session. So I’ve actually worked two lessons with them so far, and there’s some potential for some more in the future. And it’s just great to be able to be passing on my knowledge. 

 You know I’ve said for years, I’m a self-taught photographer in the sense that I haven’t got a degree in this or a master’s in this – my degree and masters are in chemistry and for the vast majority of my career before this, I was a project manager and community outreach worker. So it’s a very different skillset. Being able to give over these skills that I’ve picked up over the last kind of 15 or 16 years, since I got my first camera, it certainly gives me that feel good thing, and certainly the information that I’m giving is significantly helpful to them. Because I’ve been on that journey, I kind of know some of those questions that pop up. 

As I say, training has been something that’s been part of my business for a good 10 years now in reality and to strengthen that offering and to really offer a range of services that cover everybody from people that are using their phones, because it’s the only camera that they own all the way through to photography businesses that are just starting out or even photography businesses have been established for a while, and are just hitting some of those blockers that I’ve hit over the years or I’ve had experience of other people hitting blockers.
My mindset on photography and the photography businesses is often different to others. And in a positive sense that I’m very, very business focused, more so than I am the actual technical photography side of things, I think. You know, customer service and approachability and long term relationship building is more of an asset than being very good at, oh I don’t know, colour gels and studio lights, if you get me. If you’re not getting the clients in and you’re not keeping them happy, you could be the best skilled in the world. But if you’re not getting them in, there’s no business there. 

 So I am going to be doing more training. If it’s something that you, yourself as a sole trader, or if you’re a business who has a camera, that elusive camera in the office that you know is better than your phone, but you don’t know how to use it, then I am more than happy to either get you on one of my online training courses that are going to be launching soon. Or I will happily do one 1-1 or a small group to really train you up on the kit. I’ve done this recently for the likes of Atom Bank and others – the staff there have some knowledge, but having that little bit more knowledge really does make a difference to the overall effects of the photography on their business. 

If this sounds of interest, get in touch…