My Photo Diary » Photo Training by Michael Turner

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See the light….

Welcome to my Photo Diary and Photography Workshop Website.

Whether you're new to photography or a seasoned enthusiast I hope you'll gain inspiration and useful tips from my blog postings over the coming weeks and months. Browse the web site and you'll also find details of informal and friendly photography workshops covering basic camera techniques for beginners through to advanced courses in people photography, landscapes, travel photography and photo-art.

Feel free to leave comments on the blog and if you have any questions, do drop me a line.

You can also join in the conversations and get to know me better by following on Facebook or Twitter. I'll look forward to meeting you.

Back On Dry Land

Wednesday, August 25, 2010 Posted in Uncategorized

After three weeks aboard a 55′ sailing boat in Greece we’re safely back on dry land. With our mixed crew of Greek and Dutch friends, Jonathan (skipper), Conny, Lex and Uncle Nic, Janet and I have circumnavigated the Peloponnese Peninsula anti-clockwise from Athens in temperatures approaching 40C. I’ll post some pictures when we’ve caught up with ourselves and re-acclimatised to life in cool and rainy Cheshire!

Just a month or so before we left for Athens I set up this new photo-training blog, transferred my old blog across and started work on the main pages of the web site. Inevitably time ran a way with me, but after three weeks on hold it’s now time to pick up the pace again. The great thing about being on a sailing boat is that you get plenty of time to think so I’ve coming back briming with ideas and I’ll be sharing these on the blog over the coming weeks. I’ll also be rolling out our winter programme of photography workshops and bringing the blog to life with plenty of pictures….I hope you’ll join me.

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Sony World Photography Awards

Monday, July 12, 2010 Posted in Photo News

Congratulations to David Handley for winning the recent Sony World Photography Award for fashion. David is a local lad from Poynton in Cheshire, but now based in London.

Topically, in view of the recent football World Cup, David shot his winning images under the blue skies of Cape Town. David’s a fantastic children’s fashion photographer and has been a regular photographer for the excellent Junior magazine for the past few years. Find out more at http://www.juniormagazine.co.uk

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Introducing….

Saturday, July 3, 2010 Posted in Random Thoughts, Workshop News

….the Michael Turner Photography blog and photography training website.

This is just a short introductory post on my new blog to keep you up to date with progress and our photo-training plans for the next few months. By the end of July the site should be looking fairly complete, with booking forms, new course details, general course information and a newsletter in place. You’ll appreciate that these things take time, so thanks for your patience. In August we’ll be sailing a friend’s yacht around the Peloponnese Peninsula in Greece. We’ll then be raring to go with our first courses for the Autumn starting in September.

These are exciting times and Janet and I are looking forward to meeting lots of new people and making new friends with a passion for photography. If you’d like to be kept informed then do contact us and we’ll be delighted to add you to our email list.

We’re looking forward to meeting you.

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A Little Boy and his Grandad

Tuesday, May 25, 2010 Posted in Portraits

During the course of a family lifestyle portrait shoot in Lancashire last week it became apparent that the little boy, Charles, has a very special relationship with his grandad. Charles lives in Canada with his mum and dad and baby brother Jack, so he doesn’t get to see his grandad too often. So, when Charles comes over to visit, he just loves to copy everything that his grandad does…tidying the garden, setting up the barbecue….and, especially, fixing things in grandad’s shed. Lump hammers and spanners are not the first props that may spring to mind for a portrait, but lifestyle photography is all about capturing relationships by telling a story. These photographs will mean the world to Charles when he’s grown up and has a shed (and maybe even grandchildren) of his own.

Always looking up to his Grandad…

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Lessons from the Berbers

Friday, May 21, 2010 Posted in Random Thoughts, Travel

In these tough economic times we can all learn a business lesson from this Berber jewellery trader that Janet and I came across recently in the Lower Atlas Mountains near Marrakech. Every day he hikes up the mountain to set up his stall on this steep, rocky footpath that leads to spectacular waterfalls high above the small village of Setti Fadma. This guarantees him a steady flow of potential customers during the day. Now that’s dedication!

Admittedly, his temporary shop is no doubt well away from the attentions of the tax authorities and health and safety (if it exists in Morocco!), but we were so impressed with his sheer hard work that it made him at least one sale that day. Anyone who knows Marrakech will know that the locals are always keen to sell you something (well, anything in fact), to the point where it can become tiresome after a long day sightseeing, but today we were happy to reward this Berber entrepreneur. Janet is now the proud owner of a locally made turquoise and silver necklace (bartered for in true Moroccan tradition of course).

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