Online Photography Workshop

Composition and Framing

What distinguishes street photography from other forms of visual art is the speed and decisiveness of the execution. While a painter may carefully craft their works of art over the course of hours, days or even months, the street photographer’s compositions are often created in a matter of milliseconds. In order to be able to compose quickly and accurately, we must first understand the relationship between our eyesight, the viewfinder and the lens before we can photograph what we ‘see’ in our mind’s eye.

“Knowing what to exclude from the frame is just as important as what you choose to include.”

Workshop Format / Requirements

This one-on-one workshop is carried out over conference call using screen share to quickly and easily share learning materials and photographic content. It is broken up in to 3 separate sessions, each with specific tasks given at the end of each session for you to complete before the following session.

On the final session, you will receive a special ‘one roll’ assignment which will require you to draw upon the lessons learnt during the workshop to produce 36 compositions based around a single subject, theme or location of your choice.

Each participant is expected to have access to the following:

  • Video conferencing software such as Google Meet

  • Film camera (35mm or 120)

  • 3+ rolls of a negative film of your choice (C41 or B&W)

  • Film developing services (self developed or film lab)

  • Full Frame Film scanning

Preferred Scanning Format

Full frame scans or prints of your images are critical for judging your compositional and framing skills. Placing the negatives on a light table and photographing them with a digital camera and macro lens is the ideal way to digitize your negatives for the purpose of this workshop. If you do not have access to these tools at home, some film labs offer this service. The files can then be sent to me via a file transferring site such as WeTransfer.

Workshop Schedule

  • Upon receiving your workshop request, I will be in touch to confirm a suitable date and time for our first session. Once confirmed, I will email you an invoice for the workshop.

    Prior to our first session, I will have you send me some of your recent work to give me an idea of where you’re currently at with your photography.

  • The first session begins with a brief review of your recent compositions to identify areas for improvement and gather an understanding of your photographic goals before moving on to:

    ➤ A Brief History of Composition in Photography

    ➤ Drawing Inspiration from Ukiyo-e & Other Art Forms

    ➤ Composing for Different Aspect Ratios

    ➤ Popular Composition Techniques

    At the end of the session, you will be tasked with some exercises tailored to your photographic goals and style of photography aimed to push your boundaries and experiment with a variety of compositional styles and techniques.

  • The second session begins by reviewing your completed tasks from the first session before moving on to:

    ‍➤ Making Use of the Full Frame

    ➤ Rangefinder vs SLR Framing

    ➤ Countering Parallax Error

    ➤ Cropping for Publication

    At the end of the session, you will be tasked with some exercises tailored to your photographic goals and style of photography aimed to push your boundaries and experiment with a variety of compositional styles and techniques.

  • In the final session of the workshop, I will review your work completed between sessions, identifying areas for improvement before discussing the following:

    ‍➤ Composing Environmental Portraits

    ➤ Utilising Layers Within a Scene

    ➤ Placing Fleeting Elements Within a Composition

    ➤ Hipshot / Snapshot Photography

    The final assignment of the workshop is a ‘one roll’ challenge based around a single subject or theme with an emphasis on composition, drawing upon the lessons learned during the workshop. Once developed and scanned, I will assess your work and give detailed feedback via email within 7 days of receiving the images.

  • Online Workshop: Composition & Framing

    • 550 USD

    A comprehensive quote will be issued upon receiving your booking enquiry.