OK, so you LOVE your photography and you can't wait to do more! You've search online and found dozens of photography workshops that ALL look fantastic!
Which one do you choose?
How do you know the best one for you?
Here's 7 questions you should be asking before enrolling in a photography workshop.
1. WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THE PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP?
Find out what exactly is included in the photography workshop. Some offer tuition only where you have to pay for transport and accommodation on top of the tuition fee. Others, like ours, are ALL-INCLUSIVE where everything is included once you land at the nearest major airport. All ground transfers, luxury accommodation, exquisite meals, and drinks are included in our photography workshop fee.
2. HOW MANY PARTICIPANTS ARE THERE IN THE PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP?
If it's a classroom-based course, the number of participants really doesn't matter - you'll be in a lecture-style environment learning from the teacher. If it's a location-based photography workshop, like ours, you don't really want to be standing with 20 other photographers, fighting for the best position to capture that elusive sunset shot!
Our workshops are limited to JUST 6-8 participants only and book out many months in advance as a result. Make sure the course caters for your needs.
3. HOW MUCH TIME WILL YOU BE SPENDING WITH THE COURSE LEADER?
To some extent, you enrol in a photography workshop because the leader has knowledge and expertise that you want to know. Spending time during the course with the leader is what you're paying for. Make sure the leader is available during the course for any questions and to chat. I've heard horror stories of leaders taking participants to a location then disappearing to capture their own images, leaving the participants to fend for themselves!!!
I'm available ALL DAY throughout our workshops - I pick you up from the airport, travel with you to the workshop location, dine with you at every meal - as well as obviously conducting the workshop with you every step of the way. There's plenty of opportunities for questions and chatting about photography. In fact, I find that much of the learning comes outside of the times you're out photographing!
4. WHAT IS TAUGHT ON THE PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP?
Make sure you understand what the course is about. What is it that is taught? Is it basic camera techniques, post-processing techniques like Lightroom or Photoshop? Is it a workshop or a tour? Most of our courses are photography workshops - we find that most participants want to photograph, particularly at locations that are hard to get to. We maximise your time by photographing as much as possible at the BEST locations at the BEST times of day. This is where I will spend plenty of one-on-one time with you to teach you more about your camera to get the best results possible, as well as critiquing your images ON THE SPOT to give you immediate feedback on how to improve your photography. You'll have the opportunity to download your images and have valuable time with me to critique your images in a group session, whereby you'll learn from myself and others in the course. I have extensive experience in post-production workflows and techniques using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop.
5. HOW MUCH TIME IS SPENT AT EACH LOCATION?
If it is a location-based photography course, find out how much time you'll be spending at each location. I've read some itineraries where we wonder how it is even humanly possible to get to each location in the days allocated! On all our workshops, we spend ALL THE TIME you need at each location - many hours are spent exploring and photographing in the best light available to capture the photographs YOU want. Our itineraries are carefully planned in order to spend THE MAXIMUM time at each location to have you coming away from the workshop with THE BEST photographs possible.
6. WHAT SUPPORT IS OFFERED AFTER THE PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP?
Imagine doing a course, looking over your notes, and not being able to contact the leader AT ALL to help answer any key, lingering, unanswered questions??? VERY FRUSTRATING!!!
ALL my photography workshops offer UNLIMITED email support for a lifetime after the workshop. You'll have exclusive access to my 25 years of photography knowledge and experience to help you with your photography.
7. HOW MANY PARTICIPANTS ARE REPEAT CLIENTS?
This is probably the most important question and should be the FIRST question you ask. A business doesn't survive without repeat clients and repeat clients are a good indication that they've enjoyed their experience the first time round at least! My photography workshops have AT LEAST 50% of the participants having been on at least one or more of our course already. They just love it! Often they realise that there's far more to learn than they realised, so they come back to learn more. At other times, they love the camaraderie and therefore love the experience of photographing at a different location with me and the other participants.
CLICK HERE to see all the testimonials from our past participants.
Thanks for reading!
Cheers,
Want to join me on a Landscape Photography Workshop soon?
CLICK HERE for a list of upcoming workshops.
