What A Year
It's hard to believe that a year has passed since I made the big decision to leave my job as office manager for a holiday letting company and start on a path of my own.
As with all business ideas, it grew and changed as I developed my first initial idea of just selling my landscape photography at Padstow Farmshop, Trevone Farmshop and Slickers DogHouse as well as on my website - expanding into a vision of sharing my love of where I live, and my passion for photography. My ‘guided photography walks’ were born!
Searching Instagram and generally online for photos of the Padstow area, it’s a well-photographed location. But I would think to myself - “ooh, if you just stepped to the right and did this with your camera or phone you could really improve that picture!” Composition is what makes the photography special, and being able to really see what is around you is something I have a knack at showing people how to do.
Have you ever looked at a professional photographer's picture, and then at the one you have taken of the same location, and wondered why theirs has the edge? Well, 9 times out of 10 it is down to the composition. Are they using leading lines, the rule of thirds, framing, depth of field, balance, contrast - if you’d moved 3 foot to your left or crouched down your whole image could change. A camera alone cannot make a great photo. Imagination, creativity, inspiration and a connection with your surroundings are the tools you already have, even if you don’t realise. The composition is how you translate this into your photography.
These are the techniques I teach on my guided walks. I demystify and simplify composition, helping you see your images, take better pictures and show you the principles that you can use anywhere. Your holiday snaps will never look the same again!
Your camera is just a tool, so it doesn’t matter if you have a smart phone, a point-and -shoot, or an expensive DSLR - I will help you capture the beauty of Padstow and the surrounding area.
Being a local lass, Padstow and the surrounding area runs through my veins! As we walk, I don’t just work with you on your composition and camera skills - I also give you a guided history of the places we pass and photograph, giving you a much more in-depth experience of the area.
If you would like to keep on working on your composition skills after the walk, I have a closed facebook group for my clients to join where I regularly post composition challenges. This is a great way to keep practising what you have learned and carry on improving your photography - plus a forum to show off your skills and get feedback from fellow photographers.
My guided photography walks are now very popular and I have loved every one that I have done. Meeting new people, getting them engaged with their camera and learning new techniques - photography is fun!
Unlike a lot of photography workshops, I move around a lot - taking in lots of different views and light conditions, giving you more knowledge of composition and techniques, producing better photographs that you will be proud of and want to print out.
Once I had decided to run with my photography passion as a career, now all I needed was a website to get my name out there. This was a big learning curve for me, and definitely out of my comfort zone! Luckily I had friends who could help me with the basics, and despite some wrong turns I am very happy with how my web presence has worked out - and continues to evolve.
I also love doing my daily weather Instagram stories and Twitter posts, you can keep in touch with Padstow all year, rain or shine, I’m always out and about!
From the start I was also offering beach location dog photoshoots, on the several beautiful beaches in the area. A natural portrait of your dog, with plenty of action shots of them having fun! This usually entails me rolling around in the sand and getting covered in sand and dog hair - but I love it, and have met some beautiful dogs.
This soon progressed into people photoshoots as more and more people asked if I could capture them within my landscapes. I now offer a range of photoshoots from Family, anniversary, engagement, lifestyle, birthdays and even weddings. You choose the location that’s special to you and I will capture you in it. Capturing people at special times is very rewarding and I’ve met some amazing people.
I also offer a commercial range - property shoots, garden shoots and have even taken a range of images for businesses to re developing their websites.
I’m out every day taking photos which are all for sale and the best ones will go into my annual calendar.
The support and interest that everyone has shown me has been very humbling, it has been the best decision I have ever made. I love my job!!
To celebrate my first year in business I’m having a ‘like and share’ competition on Facebook to win one of my guided photography walks. So pop on over - like my page, share my post and let me know which walk you would like to go on.
Kate Whis Photography Facebook page