2020 Full Programme of Photographic Workshops

November 10, 2019 in Photography Workshops, Photography Classes

Local Photography Workshops

2020 is going to be a fully packed year for photographic workshops.

I’m planning a large series of photography workshops locally to Hinckley and all will be based around enjoying photography, having fun and playing with making pictures, making photography accessible to almost everyone.

Photography isn’t always about making beautiful and dramatic photographs. My philosophy has always been to be playful with photography. I explore my imagination to create mini stories that use my photographs to help the viewer visualise the scenes in my head.

I create photographs with context that transport you to a place where the world doesn’t exist and only your ideas do, making the ordinary seem extraordinary!

I’m designing a programme of workshops that covers a variety of genres to suit your desires. So far these are the ideas I have for workshops and depending up on the level of interest will depend on how far I delve in to making these workshops happen:

Landscape Photography in Hollycroft Park
Learn how to make something from nothing - Ashby Canal
Landscape Photography - Croft Hill
Night Time Landscape Photography & Private Post Production Tuition - Croft Hill
Urban Landscape Photography - Hinckley
Street Photography Using A Mobile Phone -Birmingham (inc. train)
Landscape and Woodland Photography - Burbage Common
Night Star / Landscape Photography (Secret Location) & Private Postproduction - Exclusive Workshop
Bluebell Photography - Hartshill Hayes
Rural Ramble - Location currently unknown.

These are the ideas I have for workshops next year.

Also available is private photography tuition:

Half Day - £175
Full Day -£300

Please ask about this by contacting me directly - paul@paulhands.co.uk

Also available to buy as a gift for your loved ones.

On each workshop, I’ll work closely with your current skill level to help you get to grips easily with how to do what you want to do and if you don’t know what you want to do, I’ll help you to realise what that is.

Then I’ll elevate your skill level to be more self sufficient in terms of using your camera and managing your ideas.

If you need to learn more about using your camera, you’ll learn that. If you want to learn more about composition, I’ll teach you easily and If you need to work on developing ideas of what to photograph, that’s in the bag!

Let your imagination go wild, for anything is possible!

For me this is so simple, I live and breathe photography and filmmaking.

I can teach anybody at any skill level, unless you’re a master of photography because once the technical side of photography has been succeeded, the rest is about imagination and I’ll help you to tap in to that and begin making work that surprises even yourself.

That terrifying night, creatures from afar, from worlds we didn’t know existed, arrived on Earth. They appeared / materialised in a way that we couldn’t understand. They landed and the first began to open…

Playful Photography is where it’s at!

I’ve been honing my craft for almost a decade professionally and have been taught by the best through official tuition at NWHC (level 3 and HND) and De Montfort University, where I graduated with a High 2:1 BA Honours in Photography and Video.

I’m more than just a photographer, I consider myself as an artist that uses a camera and my intentions are always to make work that I love. I wish to pass on my love for photography and help you to develop a similar passion.

I’ve learned my profession from the masters and offer much more than just how to use a camera.

Street Photography Workshop - Birmingham

This programme of workshops is currently in the design stages and are subject to change.

So for now, please simply register your interest either with an email to me paul@paulhands.co.uk

or subscribe to my blog via email for news as they come to fruition below…

I'm a Photographer and Filmmaker but WHY?

November 15, 2018 in urban landscape, Low Light Photography

What’s the point of making photographs and films?

There comes a time in any creators life when they question themselves.

I think I know the answer but then again, I’m not sure?

Derby Road, Crossroads, Hinckley, Leicestershire.

What do I achieve by making photographs?

Who cares anyway?

The above photograph was made on a whim. I’d always planned to make a picture from these bollards, knowing somebody had drawn a question mark on one. It attracted me because it’s quirky. I grabbed this photograph while walking home from a friends house late at night and while I a little worse for wear.

It’s a powerful picture and one of my favourites (of many)!

I made it because I like the look of it and fits with my quizzical mind. It doesn’t fit with any project and stands alone as a single image. Once I got home and did a little post production on it. I only ever perform digital darkroom techniques and never crop a photograph in post. This is simply because I have been trained to get it right in camera and it’s become a firm belief of mine, that if you have to alter the picture in post, then it’s not good enough anyway and I tend to just move on if I don’t get it right.

WHY THOUGH?

I posted it on social media and possibly got a few likes from people following my social pages but that’s it. That’s where it stopped! What was the point of that? Well, I’ve got a huge library of photographs that tell a story of my journey through life and it gives me a record of the weird things that I notice on my travels. A lot of my photographs also tell parts of other peoples stories and journeys.

I like to think I can second guess peoples stories. Was this man walking home from the pub late at night? I noticed the difficulty in walking up this hill, so I flattened it for him, levelled it out.

I often take my dog for walks at night and with my camera, just looking for things that I find interesting. Usually it’s something different and more often than not, the photographs just pop up on social media and then sit on my hard drive. I always plan to print them and make a book one day (which is sooo expensive)!

So, going back to they why…

I wrote a post about this on social media and it went something like this…

“Why do I bother making photographs? I mean what’s the point? Seriously, I could just sit at home and look at other peoples work on the internet or spend some real time going to see an exhibition.
Actually, I’ll tell you why. It’s because I have to. It’s a burning desire that cannot be ignored. I’ve become a creator, a storyteller.
Well I’ve always been quite good at talking up stories but now I know how to use a camera, I have to do that.
It’s like having a child and needing to have time with them, to see them and watch them growing. It’s not exactly like that but I can only liken making pictures to that with this level of passion.
Every day I see something that would make a great photograph, in fact I see things more than just once a day and it hurts when I can’t record that moment. It burns away inside of me.
I am a photographer and now I’ve said it, I can’t ctrl z that!
I must make, I must create, regardless of how many people like my work, regardless of who sees it and regardless of what anyone thinks, I still have to do it.
I know I could never stop!”

— Paul Hands

I think this just about sums it up, although you’ll never get to understand how my mind works, I don’t think I’ll ever know, I just know it’s a little bit odd, a bit weird and not quite the same as everyone else.

Let’s just leave it at that shall we?

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Low Light Urban Photography Workshop

November 08, 2017 in Photography Classes, Photography Workshops

Night, Low Light Urban Photography Workshop

I'm running a rare and unique low light urban photography workshop in the hours of darkness.

This is one of the very few workshops of this kind in the UK.

I've been making these types of photographs for a long time and have also been running workshops for a long time and never have I wanted to teach this type of photography because it's my specialism and I always wanted to keep it close to my heart but my profession is going in a variety of directions at the moment.

So I'm offering this opportunity to just four people!