My mum said: ‘David is a very nice person and very easy to get on with.’ – so, it must be true! Seriously though, the importance of this question is critical. The reason it’s the first question. Chemistry is so important, to make sure that you get on with the person teaching, or a week could be a very long time! The only way to alleviate your justifiable concern is to have a short Zoom video call before you commit to a workshop. Then you can feel if the chemistry is right.

Yes. Anything complicated is made easy if you break the subject into modules, then teach each module in a step-by-step way. A logical approach makes understanding easy. The key is to simplify the whole workflow and teach one part at a time in a logical way. This is the approach I take. So yes, you will be able to learn it. Before any workshop, online or in-person, I will also ask you to send me some samples of your photography or a website link to your work. This will help me get a feel for your work and your current retouching ability. I can then fine-tune the workshop to be more efficient and beneficial for you.

Other workshops teach photography from a limited camera perspective. I teach photography from a wider knowledge perspective. All of the artistic background knowledge you need to know about picture-making in general, before touching the camera. Without this wider fundamental knowledge, you don’t have a true understanding of what to do at the camera stage, to make a good picture. Then I teach the camera and post-production. The complete workflow. I take a holistic approach to photography. The complete subject, not just concentrating on one part.

Enthusiasts have my greatest sympathy. They know there is something missing in their pictures, but they don’t know what. They want to elevate their images away from the literal, to be more creative. So, enthusiasts look to workshops to improve, to then find most workshops just teach them how to create an even more polished version, of the literal image they are trying to avoid. This is what my workshops solve, only because I have done photography as a job and I had to be creative, to survive in a competitive field where quality means survival.

The practical benefit of my approach, is that when you travel, you can now see new creative potential in locations you visit. You can create unique pictures even if the weather conditions are not in your favor, or you don’t have enough time to wait around for hours to catch the perfect light. Lastly, you can create pictures that have your own personal creative style. Your pictures don’t look like everyone else’s. You have broken free of the literal restrictions.

The workflow is a structure, not a style. The workflow is a set structure that involves a large number of personal choices at every step of the workflow. It is the cumulative result of all those choices that will create your own personal style. The structure is constant, and the choices or decisions are the variables. The result of all the variables creates your own personal and unique style. You won’t create a style the same as mine, because your choices will be different from mine. We are different people with different preferences.

Online is better if your priority is more the artistic theory, principles, and Photoshop post-production because the sessions are video-recorded live, so documentation of every step of the workflow is in minute detail. However, in-person allows more time and general conversation about topics which also helps to learn. In-person involves practical, at-the-camera experience, better if your priority is more on the camera and composition stage. In-person also allows us to create real, portfolio-quality pictures on location. This helps you learn the workflow better by creating a real picture from start to finish.

I teach you my complete workflow. Every step of making a picture all in one workshop. The artistic picture-making knowledge and principles, then digital photography, Photoshop post-production, and all these are packaged into one logical and structured workflow, that becomes your ‘blueprint’ to follow for your future photography.

The artistic knowledge and picture-making principles, then workflow apply to any subject because it is higher universal picture-making knowledge. It is not subject-specific, The same principles apply to any picture regardless of subject, so the fact your preference is more natural landscapes, whereas mine is more buildings within the landscape makes no difference to the knowledge and workflow you need. All pictures work the same way, regardless of the subject. That is the fundamental knowledge I teach, you just adapt the workflow choices to your needs, situation, and subject.

Just drop me an email. Let me know the dates you prefer and if you prefer online or in-person, as well as what country you live in. However, you may have questions and concerns beforehand – just let me know via email, and we can arrange a Zoom video call to talk over your questions and concerns first, before booking or paying any deposit, etc, to make sure you feel comfortable both with me and the workshop before parting with any money. The online workshops are held Monday to Friday – Not on Weekends.

Yes. It’s satisfying for me to see your progress, it’s not just about a job. It’s also about believing knowledge should be shared and helping people progress by sharing that knowledge. Just, you can also understand, I need to earn a living at the same time. I am more than happy to answer your questions and critique your pictures after the workshop. There is no point in your progress stopping because of a simple question or problem. Just drop me a line and we’ll solve the problem. If it needs a WhatsApp call or Zoom video call, no problem. Indeed I prefer this way to answer questions as writing emails takes much longer and covers much less.

The in-person workshops are all held in self-catering holiday cottages. For a long time in Betws-y-coed on the edge of Snowdonia National Park in North Wales. However, this area can be hard to find good photographs in being an open landscape without many ‘hero’ features. For this reason, I am looking at just outside York in Yorkshire as an alternative where we are nearer to specific features to photograph. This also means being less dependent on weather conditions. All meals are found in local pubs and snacks etc, are prepared in the cottage while working. Workshops start and finish at the cottage. If you need to travel from London, you are welcome to travel with me; donations towards petrol costs are always appreciated.

Yes. The holiday cottages are shared. They have separate bedrooms, bathroom, a lounge, and a kitchen. Electric and heating as well as all bedding are included in the cottage rental cost. You may need to bring personal towels, depending on the cottage. Wi-fi also depends on the cottage. If you feel uncomfortable with shared accommodation, I am happy to arrange separate accommodation, but this would add to the cost.

Bring your camera equipment, tripod, laptop, and portable hard drives for PC to store workshop images. Warm, waterproof clothing and boots, washing kit including towels. I supply the PC with a 27-inch monitor. Meals are bought in local pubs. Snacks and coffee etc can be prepared in the cottage.

Primarily, it is all one-to-one. However, if you have a group then I am more than happy to teach groups. I will never make a group up of strangers myself. The group would only happen if you arrange the group members.

Yes. I do teach the whole process of panorama photography and the use of PTGui stitching software as a separate workshop. Most of my images are panoramas, and stitched images, so I am well qualified to teach the whole subject.

Yes. Many clients after 6 months or a year after the workshop want a quick revision or polishing course. I do these in 3-hour courses where you set the agenda. These are held online unless you have an alternative proposal.

It is not a standard workshop, but I can run a shorter, more cost-effective online workshop that covers everything except the Photoshop retouching stage. You could then apply the picture principles using the software of your choice. Just email me if you are interested in this.

In addition to the main photography workshop held online or in-person, I also offer customized workshops where you tell me what you want to learn, an introduction to Photoshop for total beginners in Photoshop, or for those wishing to upgrade from Lightroom. I also teach panoramic photography and the use of panoramic heads and PTGui stitching software. Please email me if your interest is outside of the main photography workshop described here or if you wish to organize a customized group workshop, I will see what we can do.

I like to see students work before the start of the workshop so that I get a feel for where they are now, and also understand where they would like to get to. I ask for some jpegs or website links before the workshop begins.

Three extra days worth £1,000 are included free with all non-UK workshops. These days must be used only for shooting portfolio-quality photographs. You gain the three extra days of workshop time and knowledge free, along with better workshop material to learn the workflow and portfolio-quality images. In return, I gain new images that I could not get here in the UK, which all help keep my website fresh and up to date.

No. You only need to know your way around Photoshop and understand the basic logic of layers, groups, and masks. I will teach you the rest. This is only because there is not enough time in the workshop to cover the syllabus and teach an introduction to Photoshop. We want to invest the workshop time into how to make pictures and the workflow. Knowing the basics of Photoshop just makes the use of time more efficient.

If you have never used Photoshop ever, not a problem. Just talk to me and we can do a short Photoshop introduction course that will get up to the standard needed to start the main workshop. This needs only a few hours to get you up to speed and ready for the workshop.

No. This is for the simple reason they do not offer the precision and control of using layers and masks to be able to do my workflow and pictures. Indeed, one of the main reasons for so many literal and generic-looking images today is due to using Lightroom. Lightroom is a severely limited creative tool. Photoshop is the only software that allows total creative freedom. I could have a hundred times more work if I could teach my workflow in Lightroom, but I can’t, it won’t work. You can’t make my images in Lightroom or Capture One.

You only need a digital camera and tripod. A computer and Photoshop. The more power the computer has and the larger the screen the better, however, these do not limit your learning, just make the experience easier and more enjoyable.

The online workshop is all live tuition on Zoom video conference software and is free for you as a client to use. Every session is video recorded live for your documentation, not pre-recorded. You will need a computer with a camera, microphone, and speakers. Zoom video software needs downloading, but is free to use. You also need Adobe Photoshop installed.

The online workshops are 27 hours in total. The best formula is 3 hours per day, 3 days per week for 3 consecutive weeks. This keeps the momentum going without overloading you at any one time. In-person workshops are 8 days in the UK and 11 days outside the UK. Outside the UK includes 3, free portfolio shooting days.

Yes. All workshops, online and in-person receive workshop notes before the workshop and Photoshop image files with layers, as we create them during the workshop. The online workshop also has video recordings. This is in addition to the notes you make as we proceed through each step of the workflow.

No. This is purely at your discretion. Obviously the more practice you do, the faster you learn everything, but there is no requirement to do any homework and there are certainly no tests to do.

I will send you a set of files via WeTransfer before the start of the online workshop. Certain images are better for teaching different techniques so we need to work on multiple images throughout the online workshop as opposed to working on just one image from start to finish. It is also beneficial to use your images at times in the workshop because you have a personal connection with the photographs. If you have any favorite raw files of photographs you like, then it is well worth searching them out so we can also use them.

Yes. The online workshops can be, but not the in-person workshops. However, too long a gap between sessions will mean things do get forgotten and the momentum slows down. One session a week is more than possible, but I feel a gap of any longer slows everything down too much. The momentum stops as things get forgotten and need repeating. It becomes inefficient.

Payment in UK Pound Sterling NOT Euros. Payment is by secure online banking as above for workshops For small amounts like the download file, payment is by PayPal invoice. Payment for any workshop is also an automatic acceptance of the copyright, intellectual property rights, and insurance conditions.

All workshops require a non-refundable deposit of UK £900. For UK workshops, the rental cost of the holiday cottage is required when booking.

The workshop balance is due thirty days before the workshop. I can not begin workshops or leave the UK unless the balance is paid in full before the start of the workshop.

The client covers any workshop expenses: accommodation, travel, airfares, etc, but not food, meals, and drinks.

Yes. I am not responsible for any damages, loss, or personal injury to yourself, belongings, or equipment. You must have insurance to cover all eventualities – including any eventuality that prevents you from attending the workshop.

If the client drives on the right-hand side of the road, then the client will do non-UK driving. I do the UK driving.

David Osborn retains full copyright and intellectual property rights over the knowledge and recordings. Knowledge is for personal use only, not commercial use, and must not be passed on to anyone else.

If any session needs to be canceled, we reschedule that session for another day, the session is not lost, nor is there any additional cost or penalty incurred.

Any monies paid are non-refundable. In the case of online workshops, I will try to reschedule the workshop so the workshop is not lost. In the case of in-person workshops, any monies paid should be covered by your insurance taken out, specifically your personal holiday insurance. I am happy to provide any documentary proof of monies paid if you need to make an insurance claim.

Yes. There is no problem bringing partners to the workshop. There is no cost involved on my part for bringing your partner who not taking the workshop themselves.