One to One Photography, Lightroom and Photoshop Training

If you prefer to have customised training on your own rather than with a group of other people, or are unable to attend our one day group photography courses, we are able to offer personalised one to one photography tuition at a time and a place to suit you. One to one training is based entirely around your needs, and has several advantages over group courses :

  • One to one photography training in the East Midlands by Peak Digital Training. Photo © Chris Jamesthe training can take place on a day and at a time that is convenient for you (any day of the week except Saturdays) to fit in with work or family commitments
  • it is available anywhere – including your own home – within a 15 mile radius of Chesterfield (or throughout the East Midlands and Yorkshire subject to travelling charges)
  • it is tailored to your physical abilities – so if you have limited mobility or have difficulty walking, kneeling etc, we can choose an appropriate location.
  • you can learn at your own pace in a way that best suits you best – without the distraction of other people.
  • the training concentrates just on the areas that you want to learn or improve – whether you are a beginner or more advanced user.

One to one training is very intensive, and in our experience, a 4 hour session is the ideal length – any more than that leads to “information overload” and is too much for most people. For this reason, we recommend a couple of shorter sessions – with time in between to enable you to practice what you have learnt – rather than a full day’s training. However, if you do want a full day’s training, you can book 2 sessions to run one after the other.

A 4 hour training session costs from just £140.00. Travelling charges apply for locations more than 15 miles from Chesterfield in Derbyshire. Please contact us to check availability and discuss your training requirements.

Xmas voucher from Peak Digital Training for photography courses and one to one training in Derbyshire, Sheffield & Peak DistrictThis Christmas, we are also offering a special gift voucher for our courses. Great value at £99.00, ordered online and valid for the whole of 2024, you can see full details here.

 

Online Training From Just £40.00

We are now offering one to one training online. In addition to our 4 hour in-person sessions, we are offering a special 1 hour training session for just £35.00 online (or by phone).

To cater for the different computer systems and devices which clients may wish to use, we have tried out various software platforms, and chosen two methods of delivery.

  • Skype is probably the best known and longest-established platform. It is very simple to use, and has the advantage that many people will already be familiar with it. It is already included with Windows 10,  but otherwise can be downloaded for free for use with earlier versions of Windows or Mac OS. Versions are also available for Android or iOS phones and tablets. You can check that your system meets the requirements for Skype here.
  • Google Hangouts may be less well known, but it is potentially even simpler to use, as it works via a web browser and only requires users to have a (free) Google account – which many people already have. Most desktop and laptop users will simply have to log in to their Google account before joining the video call (a downloadable free app will however be required for use with mobile devices). In our tests, we found that image and sound quality seemed to be a bit better than Skype, and the screen sharing options are nice as well. You can check your system’s compatibility with Google Hangouts here – pay particular attention to the web browser section to make sure yours is supported.

For either of the above options, you will also need to have a webcam and microphone. Most laptops, tablets and many desktop computers (eg iMacs) already have these built in, but if yours doesn’t, separate ones can be connected by USB.

Camera and Photography Training

Nikon D-SLR cameraOur training is suitable for all types of digital camera – from compacts to bridge cameras, mirrorless compact system cameras and dslrs. Since Peak Digital Training was established, we have seen literally hundreds of different models and makes of cameras on our courses – including ones from Canon, Fujifilm, Kodak, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax, Ricoh, Samsung and Sony. If we are not already familiar with your camera model, we will learn how it operates before the training session. Whether you are struggling with a new camera, or just want to understand your existing camera better (e.g. before going on an important trip), we can explain in plain English such things as:

  • what its buttons and dials do
  • how to access the menus, and what the menu items actually mean
  • how the different shooting, metering and focussing modes work
  • how to get correct exposure and colours in your photos
  • when and how to use filters on your camera
  • how to improve the composition of your images

We can offer training on shooting many different types of subjects, with an emphasis on landscapes and nature photography. Popular subjects include waterfalls and moving water, long exposures, night photography, wild flowers and close-ups, and shooting for HDR or panoramas.
Our trainer is a professional photographer with over 30 years’ experience. He has an extensive knowledge of Derbyshire and the Peak District, having been photographing it for over 35 years. He can recommend the best locations for your training based on the types of subject, time of year and lighting conditions. These can include not only the usual “honeypot” locations, but also much less well-known and more sensitive ones which are unsuitable for taking larger groups of people.

Adobe Lightroom Training and Problem Solving

As a user of Adobe Lightroom since version 3, our Lightroom trainer is very familiar with this software – which he uses to manage and edit his own large collection of images (both digital and film scans). He can help you to get started using the application – including advice on where to actually store your images, how to organise them and how to set up your workspace and preferences in the application. For more experienced users, he can teach the whole workflow from importing images from your camera to editing and outputting them for a variety of different purposes – such as for printing on your own printer at home, preparing files for sending to a lab for printing, or creating web galleries.

And if you are having problems with Lightroom (such as if your pictures suddenly seem to have disappeared, or can no longer be edited) we can help you solve them – potentially saving hours of your time.

As training via video link is particularly well suited to software training (as you can easily switch between seeing your own computer screen and the trainer’s), the 1 hour session by video link for only £40.00 is great for resolving specific problems that you might be experiencing with Lightroom.

Adobe Photoshop Training

We can also offer training in the use of this advanced application for editing photos – please see here for further details. Photoshop is a complex application which is capable of far more than most photographers want or need to do, so please contact us to discuss what techniques you would like to learn, and the training will be tailored accordingly.

Don’t forget that one to one training can also be bought as a gift using our photography training vouchers.