Guest post by Emma Lucy

So it's guest post time on my blog today. This time it's a lovely post by the wonderful Emma Lucy, who came on my Off-Camera Flash Photography workshop in Brighton the other week and very kindly wrote a blog post on here experience. Here is her post:

The joy of photography is you never stop learning. You can always learn something from another photographer, whether it they way they do business or how they approach their photography.

I am predominantly a natural light photographer. I do have some studio lights but because most of my work is on location then using them isn’t really practical unless I hire a big heavy battery pack. So I’ve been wanting to learn some off camera flash for a while.

I’ve been a follower of Adam’s work for a while and first met him last year at an industry event. Our paths crossed again at the awesome Photography Farm Week last month and I tagged along to his light painting workshop. Adam is a natural teacher and is so full of enthusiasm with what he does.

So I knew I wanted to learn more about off camera flash, having only experimented with it a bit and ‘blagging it’! So I booked onto Adam’s Brighton workshop.

I turned up to find a small group of photographers (perfect to get a good amount of one on one teaching as well as group), some of who I knew from various means. Adam worked through the very basics – from getting comfortable with your speedlite to more advanced – working with light modifiers and how distance and other factors affect light. Everything is in layman’s terms but if you do want to explore the more technical side of it Adam actively encourages you to ask questions and explains everything is an easily digestible way.

I came away from the course (a few gin and tonics down with a few of the other guys there) feeling inspired and confident with what I’m doing. I even plucked up the courage to do a self portrait when I got home. I also embrace any chance to meet other photographers – I find other photographers so enlightening.

If you’re thinking of doing this course, get on it! I wholeheartedly recommend it. It’s all very well being a natural light photographer but there is always going to be instance where you will need to whip out your flash and your triggers.

On that note, if you’re wondering what I use to trigger my flashes, I have some Yongnuo RF-602 that you can buy from eBay. Inexpensive and does the job nicely!

Here’s some rather ropey shots from the day! I do believe Adam has another workshop taking place in March in Brighton and another in Bath soon.

I’m so sorry Adam, I had to blog this next shot! Adam teaching us distance…. Sarah Morris and James Gifford Mead practicing! My trusty model Ben And a quick portrait of Ben and my selfie *cringe* (the temperatures don’t really work side by side but for illustrative purposes only, you understand!)

Thanks so much Emma Lucy!

I'm running flash workshops in Brighton & Bath, as well as Belfast & Glasgow (as part of Photography Farm) over the next couple of months, if you're interested in attending one of my workshops, please do give me a shout by clicking on this link: I want to learn how to light from the Grand Master Flash.

Everything you ever wanted to know about Flash photography, but were afraid to ask!

I'm teaching a couple of flash photography workshops in Bath!!!!!

Yep that's right I'm taking the show on the road and spreading the love.....well the knowledge.

I was asked recently if I did any workshops in the west country and as I'm based in Brighton I thought it would be a good idea to Go West.

So i've got the weekend of Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th March dedicated to everything flash and I'll be teaching two workshops in the Bath area as central as possible for those traveling by train.

The workshop on 23rd March is already looking like it's fully booked so it's just the 24th that I have spaces for at the moment, so if you're interested drop me an email.

The workshop will be a combination of my On-Camera and Off-Camera flash photography workshops, so it'll be pretty compreshensive and should set you up to be totally comfortable with your flashgun and how to get the most out of it.

We'll be looking at:

On-Camera Flash:

* Understanding your flash and its settings

* Bouncing flash to create soft lighting and how to shape your light

* Balancing daylight and flash for very sunny situations

* Using on-camera flash indoors

* Creating natural looking images taken with flash

Off-Camera Flash:

* The fundamentals of off-camera flash

* Equipment needed to get you started and take your photography further

* The core principles of getting a correct exposure every time

* The different way in which your light can be shaped / changed for creative techniques

* Changing the colour / hardness / depth of your light

* How to use the different techniques in any environment

So the idea of the workshop is to make sure that you don't have a fear of flash and can go into any situation and get amazing results. It's a very practical workshop and not technical in the slightest bit.

I'm still trying to source the perfect venue at the moment and am talking to a few places, but if you know of anywhere in the area that may work, please do give me a shout.

But for now places are limited to 8 on each workshop and i've kept the cost down to £115 for the whole day.

I'm also planning on teaching a few other workshops all around the country, so if you're interested in me coming to a town near you, let me know.

If you'd like to reserve a place or more details about the flash photography workshops, please do give me a shout.