Question 1

Deposits, payments and cancellations

Accepted Answer

For weekend workshops, a £139 deposit  is required to confirm your booking. This can be paid using the PayPal  button on the website or by BACS once I’ve sent you an invoice. The remaining balance must be paid at least 28 days before  the workshop date in order to secure your place; if the balance is not  received by this point, you may lose your place and your deposit may  also be forfeited. 
In order to ensure that late cancellations do not  make courses unviable, we have a robust policy around refunds, and it is  recommended that you consider taking out insurance to protect against  unforeseen events, as you can arrange insurance to cover any financial  loss caused by a cancellation but we cannot do this on your behalf. Once  paid, course fees are not refundable, but they may be  transferable to a later workshop if the spare space can be filled by  another student before the course runs (either by me, or by you finding a  replacement).

Question 2

What camera do I need?

Accepted Answer

It must have the ability to move from automatic mode onto manual control. Any compact, bridge, mirrorless or DSLR camera will be fine, as long as it has some kind of mode dial with settings such as 'A', 'P' and 'M'. If in doubt, please contact me to discuss.

Question 3

What do I need to bring with me?

Accepted Answer

What do I need to bring with me?
 • Please bring suitable outdoors shoes or walking boots - we won't be walking far, but we will be wander onto unpaved areas such as beaches and moorland
 • Your camera (obviously!) and any lenses that you have
 • The following accessories will be needed if you are to fully take part in all of the photo shoots and types of photography that we will be doing: A tripod; A circular polarising filter for at least one of your lenses; A set of Neutral Density (ND) filters, ideally a 3-stop (ND 8), a 6-stop (ND 64) and a 10-stop (ND 1000). These can either be circular to fit at least one of your lenses, or can be square along with a suitable filter holder for your lens. Please get in touch if you need any advice on this.
 • Please bring your camera manual if you have it - either a paper copy or electronically. If you can't find the original, a quick online search usually finds an electronic version.
 • It would be helpful to bring a laptop with suitable photo editing software, but this is optional.
 • Please make sure you have at least one memory card and battery (fully charged!) and do bring a spare battery and your battery charger just in case. 
 • Waterproofs - for both you and for your camera equipment (a waterproof rucksack or camera bag would be ideal) - I won't make you walk around in pouring rain (we will instead do some more indoor work) but there's always the chance of getting caught out. 
 • Drinks and snacks - although we won't be too far off the beaten track and can dive into a shop if necessary, it's useful to have something to keep you going in case we don’t go near a shop when hunger sets in.   
 • Please bring some change in case it's needed for parking

Question 4

What level do I need to be at with my photography?

Accepted Answer

This is a workshop for photographers who know the basics of operating their camera, but either need a refresher or want help developing their photography skills further.  Although we will spend 2-3 hours at the start of the weekend ensuring that everyone is at the same level, the majority of the workshop is taken up by taking photos (with me nearby to help), discussing photos, and processing photos. It is therefore important that you have at least a basic understanding of the following:
- Composition rules (rule of thirds, lead-in lines etc)
- How to manage where to focus
- How to shoot on Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority

Optionally, it would be helpful (but NOT essential) if you also have at least a basic understanding of:
- How to shoot on Manual  and manage exposure
- How to bracket
- How to use ND filters

Question 5

What happens if the weather is bad?

Accepted Answer

We can cope with most weather, but persistent rain is a real problem. In five years I've yet to have a weekend rained off completely, but being Devon, it is a real possibility. If this were to happen, I will do my best to find relevant indoor photography activities, and move the timings around to try and miss periods of rain. However, there is still a risk that bad weather may obviously adversely affect the quality of the weekend activities and your enjoyment of them.

Question 6

I have some questions about the accommodation?

Accepted Answer

Most questions about your accommodation at Mazzard Farm, should be answered by checking out the following links:
https://www.mazzardfarm.com/before-you-start-packing (https://www.mazzardfarm.com/before-you-start-packing)
https://www.mazzardfarm.com/faqs (https://www.mazzardfarm.com/faqs)

Improver's Landscape Photography Workshops in Devon

Build on your basics and grow your landscape photography skills over a relaxed weekend in Devon

Workshop dates