Sat 24 Nov,10am-5pm & Sun 25 Nov, 10am-4pm.
Through a mixture of classroom theory and practical sessions using live animals and museum specimens, learn how to photograph natural history subjects. With Chris Mattison, wildlife photographer and author and Andrew Gray, Curator of Herpetology at the Museum.
The course is aimed at people who already have a digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) or similar and have some knowledge of how to use it. Point and shoot compact cameras are not suitable for this course. Each workshop will have a maximum of 12 participants. The course is part of Museum Meets, The Manchester Museum’s new year-round programme for adults, which includes After Hours, Urban Naturalist, Courses and Talks.
DAY 1 Morning: Presentation by Chris Mattison: Introductory talk / identification of student’s needs / feedback / discussion Afternoon: Chris Mattison will cover the basics of working with natural light and flash photography. Tackling various subjects, he will work through the process of setting up the animal or specimen, from the initial idea to the final result.
DAY 2 This will be your opportunity to put into practice what you have learnt, working alongside professionals who will give full supervision to enable you to get pictures using your own cameras, and gaining access to some of the live and preserved natural history specimens contained within the collections of The Manchester Museum. By the end of day two you should be able to tackle most of the small natural history subjects you are likely to come across.
EQUIPMENT REQUIRED You must provide your own equipment. Although the course is designed to be suitable for a variety of camera makes and models, you should know how your camera works and how the various settings can be changed: we will be dealing in general principles and there will not be time to teach people how to operate their own cameras, so please familiarise yourself with the instruction manual before attending the course! If you have a separate flashgun that is compatible with the camera, please bring this, along with any interchangeable lenses you may own, especially if you have any close-up equipment. However, we do not suggest that you go out and buy equipment especially for the course: you will be in a better position to choose your purchases, if needed, after the course. If you have a tripod, please bring this but, again, it is not essential that everybody has one.
