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Lou O’Bedlam Sessions

If you haven’t come across LA photographer Lou O’ Bedlam’s work before you really need to take a look. This man has a way with light and the lens rarely achieved in such an effortless and beautiful way. What is so extraordinary about his work, is his disarming ability to capture something of the soul of his subjects, showing an element of truth not often found in an era where people are increasingly in control and aware of the way they are represented.

Lou will be giving a talk and a series of workshops at the studio from 24th- 27th June

Talk: Friday 24th June 7.30 pm £6

With time for a question and answer session at the end, Lou’s talk will not only include some of his favourite work and influences, but will also touch on the way in which he arrived at the style of imagery that makes each photograph so uniquely his.

Portrait Masterclass: Saturday 25th June 10- 2pm £60

This 4 hour workshops will focus on:

Perfecting Your Vision:- How to hone in and identify your visual language, learning how to craft an individualized style.

How the Tools Shape the Shots: Looking at how different cameras lead to very different results, and how much of an influence they can have on your work.

Interacting with Models:- Investigating the ways you can interact with the people you are shooting, whether they are seasoned professionals, or complete stranger whose face you just “have” to shoot.

Advanced Portrait Session: Sunday 26th June £85

The advanced course will delve deeper into the psychology of portraiture, the relationship between artist and subject, and the ideas and thoughts that help to form successful portraiture. You will also cover the finer points of achieving personal artistic goals relating to improving your photography. Moving beyond the purely technical aspects of creating imagery, there will be a focus on the motivation behind your work, and ways in which it can help to support the implementation of your artistic vision.

Both workshops will allow time for guided shooting with a model….

One to One sessions: Saturday 25th – Monday 27th June £65/hour

There are a limited amount of one to one sessions available over the weekend. They could be either portfolio based if you would like feedback on your work, concentrate on the methods Lou uses to produce his work, or focus on a specific technique you would like to master. Sessions can be booked by the hour.

Lou’s work can be found on:

His site

His Flickr

For more information or to book a place on any of the sessions, email or call

Places on the sessions are filling up fast, so if you are interested in booking on any of the sessions, get in touch before they’re gone.

Noah Kalina visit

Noah Kalina has been at Garage studios over the weekend, starting with a talk at the Lighthouse on Friday night, and continuing by running a series of fantastic portrait & lighting workshops on Saturday and Sunday here at the studio.

The sessions included a discussion of Noah’s work and techniques and some time in the studio, progressing to exploring his distinctive methods of mixing natural and artificial light sources.

It’s been a great weekend, and we’d really like to thank Noah, and everyone else involved, for making it such a success. For information about upcoming events and guest photographers at Garage Studios email or call on

Did you get a new camera this holiday?

Are you looking for a course to understand your new Diana or Holga Camera, at Garage Studios we offer the only UK course dedicated to those quirky but well loved Plastic cameras. Discover how to get the best out of your new camera- or dust off the one in the cupboard and come and join our enthusiastic tutor who will guide you through and inspire you to take great images that you’ll be proud of. Both are humble and simple cameras but its important to understand the basics, the quirks, and the common errors of each model and you will soon be shooting with wild abandon- confident that this little plastic fiend can handle everything you put in front of it.

Discover the fun and amazing results you can get from film photography. The course includes two films to get you started, and a photowalk around Brighton and runs for approx 5 hours, with a price of £75. This course will leave you inspired and excited, but also will save you some money on costly film processing as we get you past the early ‘mistakes’ most new Holga/Diana users make. The next dates are Sunday 30th January and Sunday 20th Feb, and you can book direct on our paypal page, or mail us

If you want some inspiration then check out this group of great Diana images on flickr- and then come and join us for a course.

CHRISTMAS GIFT VOUCHERS AND OFFERS

As the festive season is approaching and the hunt is on for unique and interesting gifts, we’ve designed some offers to take the panic out of Christmas shopping and get your creative juices flowing.

Whether you have just bought a new camera for someone you love, know someone who would like to hone their lighting skills or even want to buy present you can enjoy with a friend, we have the perfect gift for you…

HOLGA & DIANA WORKSHOP AND CAMERA GIFT OFFER

Learn to love your quirky plastic camera, and create atmospheric images in a weekend workshop with Garage Studios.

Buy your camera and course together and get a 10% discount on your camera and 20% discount on the cost of the course.

The perfect gift for al those with a flair for creativity!

CHRISTMAS GIFT VOUCHERS

Give someone the gift of photography training this Christmas. Whether you are buying for someone who is a complete beginner and has just bought a new camera, they have been interested in photography for a while and want to improve their flash techniques or creative photography, or they have been shooting for years and want to learn advanced lighting techniques and work on a full editorial shoot. We have courses for every level of ability and interest.

Want something a bit more specific? We can tailor 1-2-1 training sessions with experienced tutors to tailor to your exact requirements.

BUY TWO COURSES TOGETHER AND GET A 10% DISCOUNT

Whether you would like to buy a really special gift for a friend of loved one, or you want to book a place for yourself and someone else so that you can go on the course together, as a thank you gift we will give you a 10% discount when you book on more than one course.

If you would like to have a chat about which course would be the best gift for someone you know, or if you want to book on a course, email or call and we will do everything we can to help.

Portraiture Course

The first of our Portraiture Courses ends this week, which is real shame as it has been a great one to teach. The course is taught by Kevin and Natasha who both have very different personal approaches to Portrait photography.

We look at different bodies of work by big name Portrait photographers each week and give some insight into what makes their work so strong and identifiable. As we keep the classes small- maximum 6 students, we are then able to construct 2 different lighting set-ups and portrait scenarios each week.

This week we were focussing on slowing down the session, building on observation skills, and trying to add some strength to the images. I think each of the students below have managed to find a differing viewpoint and also show that ‘something else’ in their image, that defines their own visual language.

The model is Ottavia, who may be known to anyone in Brighton that attends Life Drawing classes- this is his first experience of sitting for Photography Portraits but I think he has a tremendous presence in these shots.

I will write-up a full summary when the final week is over and I have the students best images in.

If you’d like more details about the course please go here.

otto stares

This is by ImageMunky

Portrait Test 5

This from BitBin

Ottavio - Garage Studios Portraiture Course

Daniel Turati

Otto, for short.

Andy

Click the pics to see more on the students flickr streams. Thanks Kev

Portraiture Course

Have you ever stood in front of an image at a gallery or opened up a magazine and spent minutes (or hours) just staring at the face of someone you have never met. Something about the expression, the light, the mood that catches you completely off guard and fascinates you….. How can we go about creating a portrait like this that has the power to hold the viewer and stop them in their tracks?

Richard Avedon

Starting on 29th September and running for 3 consecutive Wednesday evenings, our Portraiture course will examine the key principles involved in portraiture, looking at the work of key photographers such as Richard Avedon and Nadav Kander, whose unique styles are used to create captivating and arresting images. The course not only covers the style and methods of well known photographers such as these, but progresses to guided shooting sessions in the studio where you will learn how to recreate these and other typical lighting techniques.
Importantly, you will also learn how to engage and interact with your subject discovering ways to get the most out of them and your image.

The course is taught by Kevin Mason who has a wealth of experience in shoot portraits for the fashion and magazine industries, and Natasha Alipour-Faridani our expert in lighting, who has shot for many band promotional images and headshots.

This is a very hands on course, with an emphasis on your individual progression and development. There will be focus not only on helping you understand your individual camera, but also in cultivating your style and voice as a photographer.

The cost of the course is only £155 for the three weeks, including all models and equipment. All you need to bring is your eagerness to learn and your camera.

If you would like more information, or if you would like to book on the course , call us at the studio or email us now.

Garage Studios do wedding photography…..

We get asked a lot to shoot Weddings, but as you’ll see from our site we don’t shoot weddings, we can recommend a few Brighton Photographers but its not really something we do…. unless of course you have a really special idea, or fantastic service in mind. So last weekend we found ourselves sleeping in a Teepee on a boutique campsite in the heart of the Sussex countryside. The bride and groom Danny and Kim are a fantastic couple. They wanted us to shoot film and large format Polaroids, and as they had a beautiful setting, with an amazing amount of care and dedication going into their day we just couldn’t say no to them on this occasion. You can see a few of the images below- two truly unique people, who made us incredibly proud to be their with them. You may also notice that Danny is the owner and author for PulpPress who Natasha and Kevin shot promo pictures for some months ago. A truly brilliant day was had by all…..

Are you a Holga enthusiast?

Do you love your Holga camera? Have you tricked out the little plastic beast? Do you embrace both the light and the light leaks?

Hows your knowledge of polaroid backs and do you know how to get that little something extra out of a Diana F?

If so then we may have some exciting paid opportunities for you at Garage Studios, as we will be introducing a bigger and better version of our Diana/Holga course very soon and we are looking to find an excellent teacher . There is also the  possibility of a future publication for our imprint Garage Studios.

Please just drop us a mail at with a link to some of your Holga/Diana work. Previous teaching experience isnt necessary but enthusiasm and love of the little plastic beast really is vital.

holga_120_gcfn

Lou O'Bedlam Workshops

We have had Lou O’Bedlam at Garage Studios doing Portrait workshops and telling us brilliant anecdotes about the Life and Times of LA’s Polaroid and Portrait master. Its been an absolute blast so far, and some of our favourite Brighton Photographers have attended courses or come to meet the guy in person.

You read some of Lou’s account here
and check the Brighton Flickr group for some ace shots by the course students. So far we have had the ever brilliant Sally Reynolds modelling and the stunning Rosy Cherrington.

Its one of the things we are most proud of being able to achieve this year so thanks to all those who have supported in some way. Kev

Talk and Portrait Workshops by Lou O'Bedlam

We are very pleased to let you know that we have booked LA based photographer Lou O’Bedlam to fly over to the UK and teach some workshops at Garage Studios as well as giving a talk about his work.

Lou’s Flickr
Lou’s Blog

The weekend workshops, Saturday 15th May are almost entirely sold out now, although if you can book and pay at the same time you may be able to secure a place- there may also be some cancellations but Lou has a lot of followers of his work and you will have to be quick. However due to demand we have now added an extra date for Monday 17th May.

lou o bedlam 1
Lou is running the Workshop which will be approx 4 hours, as a Portrait Masterclass, and will be talking and shooting, (we will provide some models for him) explaining his technique, his core interests as a photographer, and how he interacts with his models and is able to capture such beautifully simple but engaging images. He will look at how specific cameras force him to work differently with his subject, and how his unique way of looking at light allows him to ‘see’ a model. We have had to expand the usual number of students to keep up with demand for this workshop, but there will be time for you to shoot (if you wish) with a model with some tuition from Lou, or you can just attend and learn by watching and listening to him work. Lou will also talk about how to get your work seen, and how to capture your audience, through online and print presence.

lou o bedlam 2

This is a unique opportunity, and one that we are extremely pleased to be able to hold at Garage Studios, and it is our first attempt to bring in a photographer from outside of the UK exclusively to teach for us. We are offering the workshops at a special price.

4 hr workshop Full Price £33
Student (ID) £25
(ex Garage Students £30)

There will also be a talk on the Friday Night 14th May with a nominal fee £4 where Lou will show some of his favourite work and tell some of his classic stories. Again you will need to book in advance for this talk.

lou o bedlam 3

To book a place please contact us direct via email, we can accept Cash/Cheque or Bacs transfer, hopefully we will be able to squeeze you onto the course. Don’t miss out on this one…

Lou’s Flickr
Lou’s Blog