If you want to send a truly unique and personal card this year – grab your left over sparklers from Bonfire Night and your tripod (and maybe a friend) – we’ve got some great ideas for you.

1. The Spinning Christmas Tree

This is a great effect – the room is still, yet the tree has come to life!

Rotating the tree! Great fun!

How to get this effect: 

Ok… first – remove clutter and reflective objects that are nearby – mirrors, presents etc. Whilst gifts are Christmassy, they get in the way for this! If you can, set up the tree on a large board or if it’s a real tree, make sure your pot slides easily. You need a slow, smooth rotating action for this to work.

Now, set up the camera in the room on a tripod or table, with all the lights off except for the tree. You’ll need to be able to crouch behind the tree too.

Set the camera to manual. Get the shot framed in the view finder. Set your aperture to the lowest possible setting, and set your shutter speed to around 1 min 30 secs or if you have a remote control and bulb setting, use that. Set your ISO to 100 and your WB to Auto.

Use a dark cloth and cover the lens. Check in your view finder there is no light creeping in.

(Here’s where its sometimes good to have a friend nearby!!)

Push the shutter button get between the camera and the tree. Remove the cloth and get behind the tree. Slowly start to rotate the tree. Remember – you have a minute and a half – no need to rush.

once you’ve gone round about half a rotation, stop,  grab your cloth and move quickly back behind the camera, replace the cloth and leave until the shutter speed has finished – or turn off the shutter.

You’ll end up with a tree that looks like it’s moving!

Set up near a landmark in your city and paint the tree with a sparkler.

Spin around and lower your arm from over your head to your feet to get this effect.

2. The Sparkler Tree

A great way to use those left over sparklers from November 5th and have fun with your camera!

How to get this effect: You’ll need a friend, sparklers, a reliable lighter (we prefer candles), a cloth and a dark outside space. 

Again, set your camera to manual on a tripod, with the lowest aperture and ISO possible, shutter speed to 1 minute 30 seconds, or bulb with a remote and white balance to Auto.

If you want to achieve the “star” on top of the tree, like in the picture below, this is where your friend and the cloth come into their own. As above, remove the cloth once you’re set and the sparkler is lit. Draw the star and then shout or signal you’ve drawn the star, cover the lens for about 10 seconds. Move the sparkler to the next point, remove the cloth and zig zag down.

Once you’re done drawing, cover the lens again, or release the shutter on the remote. By placing a cloth over the lens, it means you get more crisp lines and remove ghosting of the person drawing the tree.

How to write with light:

To achieve this, you’ll need a very dark room and a pen style torch.As with the other instructions, set your camera to a low ISO, a low aperture and a long shutter speed or bulb.

When using a torch, it’s more simple – once you’ve written the letter or word, just turn it off and begin the next word! that way all the letters will be clear.

If you want to learn more before setting out with your sparklers, book a Red Cloud Days Night Photography Course. 

There are some truly unique spots to photograph – from amazing architecture, the famous pier, stunning scenery, exciting history, Brighton Beach…. and many, many more.

If you need some inspiration – fear not fellow clickers! Red Cloud have the best angles and frame fillers in the city!

And…. Why not Book onto a Red Cloud Photography Course in Brighton?!  A great way to learn all the techniques we have described below.

1. The Pier

Why not practice your pan shots and long shutter speeds down at the Pier?

Rollercoasters and rides are great fun to photograph! And wait until dark to capture an iconic image of the Brighton Big Wheel – lit up at night.

We love this image by flickr member paulkondritz

For a great shot of Brighton by night, look at this picture by Flickr member ‘Catherine :]’   –  We are impressed by the effect Catherine :] created with the long shutter speed – it captures movement and makes the pier look alive!

2. The Royal Pavillion 

You’d be forgiven for thinking this view is of an imperial palace in India or China. This is actually the Royal Pavilion in Brighton.

A wonderful shot of the Pavilion with great use of reflections!

The stunning architecture that can be seen today is the work of John Nash. John Nash was the architect to the Prince Regent and the man responsible for Marble Arch and the redesign of Buckingham House to create “Buckingham Palace”.

The picture above by Howzey  is one of the best we’ve seen of the Pavilion –  looking dramatic and regal!

3. The Chattri

The word “Chattri” means umbrella in Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu – and is the name of this monument built in the South Downs over Patcham.

The memorial structure was erected in 1921 as a tribute to the Indian soldiers who died in the First World War. The monument was built on the site of the cremations of Hindu and Sikh soldiers who succumbed to their wounds and died.

Flickr user paulkondritz caught our eye with this great use of HDR photography – Well shot, Paul!

When you reach the monument - accessible on foot, bike and on a horse – you will be rewarded with stunning views of the surrounding country side.

In WWI, the Royal Pavilion (Number 2. above) was used as a hospital for injured and wounded Indian and Ghurka soldiers who fought for Britain in the war.  You can see a great album of photo’s on Flickr of when the Pavilion was used as a hospital here.

We were also impressed by Flickr User gandalphthegrey and his interesting angles and use of HDR.

4. The Brighton Wheel

Enjoy panoramic views of Brighton from the Brighton Wheel – and don’t forget your polarizing filter to make sure you reduce glare and reflection.

Use a polarizing filter to reduce glare and increase or decrease saturation – to achieve results like downthedip has.

5. Brighton Beach

If you’ve managed to get pictures of the Wheel, the Pier and the Pavilion and you’ve still got room on your memory card; why not take a stroll down to the beach?

Catch the reflection of the sunset, or inject some colour into your portfolio with a picture of the Brighton Beach Huts.

We think this picture by Lorenzo is excellent – we can taste the see air from our desks!

What a wonderful use of the parallel lines of the buildings in this picture – great shot!

We also recommend: http://www.brightonphotographersgroup.com

Have you got any photos from the Olympics? Send us in your pics to learnmore@redclouddays.co.uk

Luckily the weather stayed nice for our tutor, John Evans and our photography guests – meaning they could fully enjoy the beautiful venue and location, surrounded by hills. We all stayed in a  great old farmhouse where we got to enjoy the first class accommodation and brilliant hosts.

We spent the first day spent on the farm with our photography workshop held in the living room preceded by a lovely cooked breakfast. Everyone got stuck into their course materials and we began teaching the group the routine of basic camera functions of Exposure control, Shutter Aperture and ISO. We then went out for a shoot session in the grounds of the farm to practice all the group had just learnt. After cake & tea (very important) we got stuck into shutter priority with the barns supplying resident Swallows and House Martins to capture on camera- no easy task mind!

After beautiful homemade soup and rolls for lunch the group ventured to the village and a lovely scenic wood with all manner of photographic possibilities available, including a river and the Deri woods with bluebells. After going back to  the farm for an Image critique and feedback we all finished up for the day with a lovely Hot Tub soak in the outside garden. 

Our second day began with another all important hearty breakfast before the gang headed onto The LLyn Vyrnwy – a good  trip over the valley and around very scenic country.  We all walked to the Sculpture park to get a great overview of the dam wall and woods so we set to work using the full manual controls of the camera and began metering techniques – but not before a lesson on White balance and AE lock!  Another hearty lunch was taken in the cafe near by and a visit to the Bird Hide to photograph all manner of Birds from Siskin to Greenfinch, including a resident squirrel.

The group had a fantastic weekend – well taught and well fed was the great feedback we received! If you’re interested in our upcoming photography holidays drop us an email at: learnmore@redclouddays.co.uk

Nigel

 Feedback from the course: 

“Had super weekend, thank you. John is a great Guy and a good teacher and we found Lloyd and Janet to be excellent hosts. The area must be one of the most beautiful in the British Isles and the Goat in Llanfair Ceireinion serves toothsome food at reasonable prices. All round, and we were lucky with the weather, a 

great time was had etc.

Feedback from the course: 

Thanks again
 Nigel” -  Nigel Thompson

This offer applies to the following courses only:

Brighton:
9 Jun 2012 (Sat) One day course -intro to digital photography £115

Bristol:
5 May 2012 (Sat) Two day course – intro to digital photography £180

Cardiff:
19 May 2012 (Sat) One day course -intro to digital photography £115

Edinburgh:
9 Jun 2012 (Sat) One day course -intro to digital photography £115

Leeds:
12 May 2012 (Sat) Two day course – intro to digital photography £180

London:
19 May 2012 (Sat), Half day introduction to digital photography £75

Newcastle:
26 May 2012 (Sat) One day course -intro to digital photography £115

Nottingham:
28 Apr 2012 (Sat) Portrait & Studio Photography £195

Oxford:
19 May 2012 (Sat) One day course -intro to digital photography £115

To book contact us now on :115 9078634  or email:  learnmore@redclouddays.co.uk

http://www.redclouddays.co.uk

1 day photography course in London

1 day photography course in Brighton

1 day photography course in Brighton

London Photography Tour

London Photography Tour

London Photography Tour

Fancy looking at more photos from the courses – check out our Facebook page for loads more!

• Photography enthusiasts love to learn more, a photography gift voucher is perfect for any camera lover.  Choose any amount and they can redeem online for any digital photography courses!  Click here

• Every photography enthusiast needs one of these, Joby Gorillapods. From compact cameras to DSLR’s – stand your camera just about anywhere. Click Here

• Have you ever loved your camera so much that you wanted to eat it? Now you can with Camera Cookie Cutters – The Most Delicious Cameras You’ve Tasted. Click Here
  
  

• How about a subscription to a photography magazine? We love Digital Photographer magazine, out monthly. Click Here 
• Go old school and get a Pinhole camera kit that they can make themselves.  Click Here

• An inventive way to enjoy your morning coffee with the camera lens mug. Click Here 

SLR stands for single lens reflex, which simply means the camera has an automatic mirror built in. This allows the viewer to see exactly what is front of them.  Which is a god-send compared to old, pre-SLR cameras where what the photographer saw through the view finder was often back to front and upside down. A ‘D’ in front of SLR simply means digital.

At Red Cloud all our courses are designed for DSLR use, we want to help you get the most out of your camera, but first you need to choose one. So why do we use DSLR’s? A digital SLR offers full and complete control over the camera, from the aperture to ISO, to file size, to white balance to pretty much everything. Only an SLR has interchangeable lenses, widening the huge range of situations you can photograph. 

There are a wide range of DSLR’s out there, and you could spend a fortune, but you don’t need to. An entry level DSLR needn’t cost any more than £500, we’d advise sticking to brands such as Nikon, Canon orFuji.

Before purchasing a camera, always go into a shop to get the feel of several different cameras and see how they feel in your hands. Make a note of the weight, the strap, the buttons and how easy it is to grip. Try shop such as; LCE, Jessops andCalumet. Local camera shops are also a good way to go, usually having been around a long time, with no one brand to give the hard sell.

You can buy a DSLR camera body by itself and buy a lens separately; this is a good idea if you know which lens you want. Most entry level DSLR’s are sold as bundles – which include the camera body and a kit lens. A kit lens is basically a ‘starter’ lens which is normally an inexpensive lens at the lower ends of the manufacturer’s ranges, which is an ideal lens to begin with and learn on.

It is generally cheaper to buy a DSLR online, but we’d still advise always going to a shop before hand to check the camera you want first hand.

DSLR’s are getting more intelligent by the day; but a good standard DLSR used properly and with the right knowledge will give fantastic results and last a long time. So even if you don’t buy one the latest one released, you’ll probably be able to get a good deal on a camera that’s been around a while.

• Composition, composition, composition – using the rule of thirds grid can help you add that extra something to your photos  by framing your subject along the intersections (take a look here for more help on this)

• Depth of field – a creative use of depth of field will help add an air of mystery to your Halloween photo, use this to draw viewer’s eyes to the main focus of your subject.

• Flash - Typically its dark around this time of year and you’ll most likely be shooting at night. Which means you’ll need to use your camera flash. Try to diffuse your flash by covering it with paper or bouncing the light off nearby surfaces.

• Increase your ISO – usually your ISO is the last thing you want to change. But it’s Halloween – why not break the rules and add some grain to your images for an extra spooky feel. Plus it means you can shoot better in the dark!

Have you got some Halloween photos to share? Email, Tweet or Facebook us your photos.

The basic principle behind the rule of thirds is to imagine breaking an image down into thirds (both horizontally and vertically) so that you have 9 parts. As follows:

Looking through your camera viewfinder imagine the frame split up into imaginary thirds.

With this grid in mind the ‘rule of thirds’ now identifies four important parts of the image that you should consider placing points of interest in as you frame your image.

The theory is that if you place points of interest in the intersections or along the lines that your photo becomes more balanced and will enable a viewer of the image to interact with it more naturally. Studies have shown that when viewing images that people’s eyes usually go to one of the intersection points most naturally rather than the center of the shot – using the rule of thirds works with this natural way of viewing an image rather than working against it

The above subject in this photograph looks as if she is running out of space within the frame.

By simply re-framing the image we give more space to the subject which enhances the whole composition.