Heather Landscapes Courses near Sheffield

Waterfalls, heather and sunset all in one day!

Digital photography courses Sheffield. Photo © Chris James

Saturday August 10th – 1.00pm to 8.30pm. Places available.

Saturday August 17th – 1.00pm to 8.30pm. Places available.

Places cost £99.00 per person. 

These courses are being held on the edge of Sheffield, in the area around Fox House and Stanage Edge, and are readily accessible by public transport from Sheffield. To make sure that you get plenty of individual attention and can have your questions answered (as well as to allow for adequate social distancing), numbers will be limited to a maximum of only four photographers. Please contact us if you would like us to send you a booking form.

The courses will run from early afternoon until just after sunset, and have been timed to coincide with what should be the peak of the heather season. This area area has a wealth of subject matter for the landscape photographer, with high gritstone edges, abandoned millstones, a beautiful wooded valley with lots of little waterfalls, and natural rock outcrops as well as superb views over the Dark Peak for sunsets.

A waterfall in woodland near Sheffield. Photographed on a landscape photography course by Rob Parker
One of the waterfalls photographed on a course of ours by Rob Parker

Each course will be divided into two parts, with the first part (before the light gets more interesting in late afternoon) probably being spent photographing the waterfalls and moving water in a delightful wooded valley, where you will have the chance to experiment with different shutter speeds and long exposures. You will need a tripod for this (but we have some that you can borrow if you don’t already have one of your own), and we also have some sets of filters that you can borrow for use with the moving water and waterfalls.

Thank you for an excellent course last Saturday. Lots more knowledge now on the dials and buttons and am now beginning to see the differences they make. Your patience in going over stuff from my first course which I had forgotten is very much appreciated. Again, you managed to have the perfect mix of photographers which added to the enjoyment.”  Richard

We’ll break for afternoon tea in a local pub or tearoom (not included in the course price) – where we will also have a chance to review the photos you have taken on our laptop.

Then we will head up onto the moors, in an area which has some of the best heather moorland in the whole of the Peak District – as well as superb views over the Dark Peak to the west. In addition to the heather there are plenty of other natural subjects – including many photogenic rock formations and gritstone edges. These will open up other options for long exposures with moving clouds if sky conditions are suitable. Since sunset will be at about 8.00pm, we will be able to get some great shots in golden hour light, at sunset and in “blue hour” if conditions permit. The course will finish at 8.30pm.

Sunset over the Peak District © John Jackson
Sunset photo taken by John Jackson on one of these courses

 

There are also numerous objects of interest resulting from centuries of mankind’s activities up here over the centuries  – including hundreds of abandoned millstones on the hillsides, old packhorse roads, gritstone quarry faces and quarry buildings, and even an Iron Age hill fort. You certainly won’t be short of potential subjects!

A landscape photography course on moorland near Sheffield. Photo © Chris JamesThe locations we will be using are all quite accessible, so we can spend the minimum amount of time walking to locations, and the maximum time actually taking photographs. Even if we go to Stanage Edge (the highest point), the walk will be no more than 1/2 mile and involve about 350ft of ascent from our vehicles – so it should be well within the capabilities of anyone who is reasonably fit (though it is not suitable for people who have mobility problems). We will be on moorland where the paths are often rough and uneven, and there will probably be some muddy and boggy areas, so stout footwear with good grip is strongly advised, as is appropriate outdoor clothing for the time of year.

As this is an intermediate, rather than beginners’ level course, it is important that you are already familiar with the basics of photography and how to use your camera in other than the “all-automatic” mode. If you are not confident about how to use shutter speeds, lens apertures and ISO to control exposure, and how to focus your camera, please look at our beginners’ digital photography courses near Sheffield where we teach those skills.

Abandoned millstone on moorland near Sheffield. Photo © Chris JamesOn these Peak District landscape photography courses, we concentrate less on what the buttons and dials on your camera do, and more on the creative side of photography.

Subjects covered include:

  • composition for picture impact
  • creative use of lens apertures, shutter speeds and different types of lenses
  • how to get the colours looking the way you want them in your photos
  • tips for shooting in RAW format for maximum quality
  • shooting in fully manual (M) mode
  • how and when to use different types of filters on your lenses
  • correct tripod technique

Our landscape photography courses are most suitable for owners of digital slr or mirrorless cameras that have interchangeable lenses – whether it is Nikon, Canon, Sony, Pentax, Ricoh, Panasonic, Olympus, Fuji, Samsung or any other make. Compact and bridge cameras may also be suitable, but some may have certain limitations due to their small sensor sizes, and whether or not filters can be attached to them. Please contact us for advice if you are unsure whether your camera is suitable.

We also run landscape and beginners’ level courses in other parts of the Peak District. See here for details of all the other digital photography courses we currently have scheduled. Please contact us to request a booking form, or if you need any further information about any of these courses.