Low Key photographs are often seen as dark and moody. The opposite of high key, and following on from the last exercise, we will play with dark tones.

High Key Photographs are predominantly white and are created with light tones. They can either be monochromatic or full of subtle colour. Usually, they don’t have a rich black in them, if they do, they are really tone drop outs. For this exercise we are going to explore intentionally over exposing our photographs to create high key images.

This exercise is around restricting yourself with a ten second exposure. Personally, I will be exploring some colour abstracts with this restriction at the beach. But there are so many other things you can do with a set exposure length. Are restrictions good for creativity? I think so.

For this exercise, we explore self portraiture. What does a self portrait tell you about the photographer?

In this exercise, we explore chiaroscuro, using strong directional lighting and high contrasts to show three dimensional form in our subjects. Follow the link to read more about this technique and it’s implementation into photography.

In this exercise, we will explore the different emotional responses to colour. Is it a universal response or a highly personal one? Movie makers think it’s universal as they tint various scenes to increase particular feelings.

Horizontal lines calm viewers according to the theory. Let’s see what they do in your compositions?

In this exercise, we will explore the gentle art of critique, and consider our mentors.

In the age of automation and computers it becomes way too easy to develop a reliance on them. Unfortunately, they often take away our choice and creativity. For this exercise we are going to explore manual.

For this exercise, we are going to explore triangles. They are a few of my clients favourite compositional devices as well as one of my own. Their power in composition is undeniable. Let’s see what you can do with them.

Learning to talk about your work and that of others is a key skill that needs practice. It can be learnt and developed. Identifying the underlying emotions, compositional foundations and intellectual stimulation of an artwork helps you produce better work.

For this exercise, we will practice on our own photographs and the art of others. 

Blue and yellow is a unique colour combination in our visual repertoire. This is because we effectively have a blue / yellow sensor in our mind. We can’t see a blue-yellow or a yellow-blue. In this exercise, we will explore this unique colour combination.

Limit to one focal length. Sounds easy? Staying with it for a full week or more may be the challenge.  

Have you heard the rule of odds? A photograph with an odd number of objects is apparently more appealing than a photograph with an even number. In this exercise, we will test this theory and see where and when it can be broken.

We spend so much time getting our photographs sharp. For this exercise, we are going to explore intentionally blurring our photographs.

Defocusing the background is a simple way to create subject isolation. Do you know how to induce this easily?

We are told a photograph needs a full range of tones, every one between black and white. This gives our photographs true depth and feeling. For this exercise we are going to explore the effects of the tonal range of the photograph.