3B Media love sharing knowledge and love it when something just clicks.  Flash photography is one of those things that once you know what’s going on behind the scenes then everything makes sense.   Our really popular course, Exposing Flash is for all those photographers who want to take control of their flash photography and learn to master their flashguns to create energetic, fun and funky portraits.  We’ll be showing you how to take the flashgun off the camera, and give you the fundamental building blocks of flash photography using a variety of creative and practical techniques to take and make pictures you never thought possible with just one flashgun.

This really is an eye-opening day, and we believe there’s currently no other course that gives you as much useful information on flash photography in the UK.  If you’re always fumbling with your camera and flash settings in the dark and still not getting the results you want, then this is definitely an investment you need to make.

The content of this practical workshop, based in the heart of Leeds city centre, will allow you to repeat the techniques you’ll learn with your own equipment and without the need of an assistant.  We’ll have our 3B model for you to shoot on the day to create fresh images for your portfolio.

• The pros and cons of manual flash Vs E-TTL

• The relationship between ambient light and flash; know this and everything becomes clear!

• Great tips and tricks to get the most out of your flashgun

• Easy, impressive and repeatable techniques to take your off-camera flash photography to the next level.

Whatever the weather, you’ll leave with fresh, portfolio quality images, exciting and repeatable skills on how to shoot great portraits and a 3B Media worksheet pack so you don’t forget what you’ve learnt!

You can view full details of the workshop and book online via our website here.

We’ll show you some great posing techniques to get the best out of even the most nervous couple and leave them with some great pictures and good memories.  You’ll also leave with loads of invaluable information surrounding the planning and practicalities of wedding photography.

This workshop is not a gear-intensive course and will give you an amazing portfolio of images that will be repeatable on the wedding day. A basic working knowledge on how to use your DSLR will be required, as we’ll be focussing less on technique and more on your style and approach to photographing weddings.  At only £275 per delegate including lunch and refreshments, this is a great investment to your photography and your business.

You can view full details of the workshop and book online via our website here.

The other major draw to this incredible application is the power and control you have over processing the images. The choice you have in turning your picture from an average one into a well polished and beautiful one is mind-blowing, but it can be daunting to the first time user with what to do with all those controls. We’ll show you what they all do, what order to do them in, and loads of great insider-tips to get the best out of every single image.

In short, Lightroom allows you to turn around your photography better, faster and more consistently than any other program out there. You’ll wonder how you ever managed without it. If you haven’t yet purchased your copy, you can download a FREE demo version here: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.

The workshop is classroom based in the heart of Leeds city centre and it suitable to all professional and amateur photographers looking to take their image processing to the next level. The price is £175 per delegate including lunch and refreshments, which is nothing compared to the hours you’ll save once you’ve learnt what we’ve got to show you!

To book online and find out all the details of the workshop click here!

The pre-wedding/engagement shoot works really well in getting couple to relax in front of the camera, so when it comes to the day, they know what to expect and we can work faster to get great results without dragging them away from their guests for an entire afternoon.  Engagement shoots are included with all my wedding photography coverage, and you get to keep all of the pictures on disc!

The latest photography workshop with my sister company 3B Media is called “One Day Weddings” and covers all about client relationship building including the pre-wedding shoot adventure, posing the couple, the big day itself, and much more.  See the website for all the details and to book online.

The course is on 14th September 2010 and is just £225  per delegate including lunch and refreshments.  There are a few places left, but get in quick to reserve your place.  Call Lou on 0113 238 1011 or email info@3bmedia.co.uk.  Alternately you can book on the website here http://www.3bmedia.co.uk/index.php/workshops/weddings and you’ll find the full information on the course and a downloadable course brochure.

If you’re eager to get into the world of creative professional wedding photography then get involved in 3B Media’s inspiring workshop.

I was lucky enough to be working alongside fellow 3B Media partner Barnaby Aldrick, who was there on photographic duties for the day, and that makes a huge difference.  If you’re thinking about getting a wedding video commissioned alongside your photographer, then it makes sense that they will be able to work with, and not against each other for the duration of the day.  So if this is something you have in mind for your big day and you like the style of video you see here, who better to reach out to than 3B Media to record and document your entire day?  Get in touch with us at info@3bmedia.co.uk to talk to us about covering your wedding through both photography and film.

PS. Look out for the throwing the bouquet moment . . .

You may be aware that Barnaby Aldrick, Phil Barber & myself, all established Leeds-based snappers, joined forces last year to pool our skills into 3B Media.

[FYI: The 3B's come from the B's of our nicknames 'Barber', 'Booker' & 'Barns']

Our common goal has been to create an exciting, forward-thinking company with 3 major goals:

1. To run fun workshops train & develop the stills & video skills of photographic enthusiasts & aspiring pro’s
2. To take on interesting commissions in photography & video that we wouldn’t be able to approach as standalone photographers
3. To inspire one another & the world of photography through our 3B Media website.

So after running successful training courses, we’ve spent these past months beavering away at coding our vision into a working website.

Introducing www.3Bmedia.co.uk!

Let me show you around the key pages…

After studying the photography training market around us in Yorkshire there appears to a lack of training for amateurs & aspiring professional photographers. We’ve all been on or heard horror stories about training courses with too many delegates / sharing too little equipment / fighting over too few models / not having enough teachers to go around. So at 3B we decided to run a few simple courses for small groups, with all the B’s on hand for a more one-on-one experience.

The courses we’ve currently offering include:

And there are more details about each course in the Workshops section of the site if you’re interested in joining us to sharpen your skills!

The next major section of the site has been the development of the 3B Pages.

The 3B pages are the evolving, ever-expanding hub to our website, where the reader will find bucket loads of useful information and inspiration. The Pages link to the 3B Photo & Video galleries – for inspiring 3B stills & video commissions – the 3B Friday page – where every week (guess which day) we post professional techniques, tricks, and ideas on how to take your photography / business further – the 3B Amazon Store, detailing the gear we use & rate and finally the 3B Blog – our electronic signpost, pointing out news, changes within the site (such as new projects added to the commissions page) and new 3B Fridays posts.

So we hope you enjoy our shiny new site. It’s still a work in progress and will grow and change as time goes on. But it’s there for you and we’d love you to follow & comment on the blog, drop us a line if you’re interested in using us for a commission or fancy joining us on one of our upcoming workshops!

Anyway, below are a few of my photos from the today’s fly-by visit.  Most of these were taken during recording, and being stuck in one place with one lens during the takes was quite restrictive but also quite liberating.

The first workshop we held was “Urban Portraits”, a one-day course on shooting people in the everyday urban environment using only natural light and minimal camera gear.

We started the day with a quick lesson in basic exposure and camera settings to get our delegates up to speed for the day ahead.  After this, I headed up the morning’s sessions by teaching how to look for backgrounds and suitable places to shoot.  Developing an eye for great places to photograph people against is crucial in getting good shots.  I showed the group that there are always plenty of opportunities wherever you look, and gave some advice on what to do when those opportunities run out.

This shot of one of our models, Alex, was just around the corner from a busy entrance to a restaurant.  This could’ve been easily overlooked, but by changing your viewpoint and using the curved walls, we created a background out of something that isn’t necessarily obvious immediately.  The changing light on the walls also helps to add interest and contrast.

I then went on to give advice on communication.  How to talk to anyone that you’re photographing, to get the best out of them, whilst making them feel at ease and relaxed.

Below is one of Phil’s shots from the day and one of my favourites.  Here, he’s used the leading lines of the ceiling lights to add some movement and dynamics to the shot without distracting from the subject.

After a full-on buffet lunch, a question and answer session, and warming up after shooting all morning in the chilled January air, we were all back outside where Phil led the afternoon’s session.  He first talked about composition; the basic rules and then how to break them.  He gave some great advice and ideas on how to change your viewpoint to get a completely different shot.  Starting off with just a brick wall and a model, we got the delegates to think about creating as many different photos with just these two things.  He also gave some practical tips and guidance on how to deal with different natural lighting, whether that be overcast, direct sunlight, shade or sunsets.

We gave everyone plenty of opportunity to shoot the models, whilst sticking around to answer questions, give advice, and help out when all else failed.  Before we knew it, all the delegates had taken over the day and were dying to shoot the models in every location they could find using all the advice we had taught them all day.  It was great to see how their confidence grew, and how their shots were improving throughout the day.

Below are a few more of my shots I managed to sneak in between the delegate’s time with the models.

This is Katy, who was our make-up artist for the day.  After getting our models ready for the afternoon’s shoot, she stepped in for a few shots herself.

At the end of the day, we headed back to our conference facilities at The Round Foundry Media Centre, in South Leeds, where Barnaby was busy on a MacBook Pro.  He had taken a dozen or so of the best shots from the day and gave the group a practical demonstration on post-processing using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop.  He showed how to get the best from the RAW files out of the camera, pushing them to give them a final polish.  In preparation for the day, we had developed some of our own 3B Media Adobe Photoshop presets, which can be quickly applied to create several effects or just to push the picture in the right direction.  These we gave away in a little goody bag, along with detailed course literature from the day on everything we had covered.

Several cups of coffee and a final question and answer session to settle any last niggling queries, we wrapped up and headed to the pub for a quick pint.

All in all a fantastic day, and we got some really positive feedback from all the delegates.  We will be holding the next Urban Portraits workshop soon, and regular blog readers will be the first know.  If you’re keen on getting involved and want to find out more, either email me directly or via the 3B Media email – info@3bmedia.co.uk  We’ll also be announcing our other workshops in the near future, so stay tuned for these and if there’s any training days you’d like to see, then please get in touch.

In the meantime why not become a 3B Media fan on facebook?

I’m excited for 2010 and have some great plans in the pipeline, including a trip to New York in August to celebrate my 30th.

I have lots of amazing weddings booked in some fantastic venues with some brilliant couples.  I have a new range of headshot packages, for all you actors and performers looking for a new year kickstart. More about these later this week.  Myself and the rest of the 3B Media team have our Urban Portraits photography workshop lined up for the end of this month – there are still a couple of places left if you’re quick!  Download the brochure here and we’ll be developing a full range of courses over the next year.  Phil Barber challenged us both to row 1,000,000 meters by the end of the year – just short of 20,000 a week; that should sort the post-Christmas weight out!  I’ll be creating my new Facebook fan page, so you’ll get to see more pictures and have fun tagging yourselves, and of course the blog will be updated regularly too, along with Twitter.  I’ve also got me an entire 6 season’s of The Sopranos to watch courtesy of my girlfriend.  28 discs and 4675 minutes of the best TV you’ll ever watch (Yes, even better than The Simpsons and 24).

Anyway, I hope 2010 is a great year for you, and see you all soon.

Rob.