Birmingham's premier photography studio
Training
Steve Underhill - Photographer and Senior Trainer
Since taking photography more seriously back in 2004 - Steve has worked and studied hard to become a knowledgable and experienced photographer.
Since an early age, Steve has been interested in art, design and the creative industries - completing a degree in Design and then becoming a full time, professional photographer 3 years ago. Steve has spent many years working within the industry and has experience in commercial, portait, product and wedding photography. This broad range of skills make him the ideal person to pass on this knowledge and help people develop their skills and style within the world of photography.
All the courses at TipTop Photography studios have been written and are delivered by Steve and are based on the things he knows that photographers want and need to know.
Steve is also a lecturer at Birmingham City University - specialising in 'styling for photography' and developing the skills of students at degree level
Here are our current photography courses:
All of our courses are delivered by our full time photographer and experienced tutor - Steve Underhill with groups of upto 8 people. Please select the course that you are interested in - check the available dates and drop us an email to register and book your place
**Unless stated all of the courses are delivered out of our Birmingham based sudio - 199 Warstone Lane, B18 6JR
** Our courses are dependent upon a minimum of 3 people attending - if this number is not reached for the course you have selected you will be offered an alternative date
Introduction to Digital Photography- 4hrs - £75
Make the move to Manual and let us take you through from automatic snapshots to professional images with our full time professional trainer.
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What is exposure - The exposure triangle Aperture/Shutter Speed/ISO
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Using your camera settings
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White Balance
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Basic Focusing
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Aperture priority & Shutter priority
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Raw v’s Jpeg
Studio Basics - 4hrs - £75
Never worked in a studio or want to develop your skills further - we will take you on a tour of the studio and introduce you to all the equipment available. This session also includes working with a model to practise your new found knowledge
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6 x portrait lighting styles
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Introduction to studio flash heads
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Controling your lighting with modifiers
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Basic camera settings
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121 shooting time with a model
Photoshop & Post Processing - 4hrs - £75
Opening Photoshop for the first time can be scary - let us take you from opening your camera files, through Camera Raw and editing your images to a highly polished standard
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Adobe Bridge - organising your images
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Camera Raw - exposure, sharpening, white balance and more
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Photoshop - layers, levels, cropping, cloning, spot healing and more
Portrait Photography - 4hrs - £75
How to use a light meter & using your cameras inbuilt light meter 2hrs £20
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How to photograph a model in the studio, composition and styling
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Black and white background lighting
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How to pose and work with models
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Portrait lighting - high key and low key
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Getting the most out of your equipment to create stunning images
Depth of Field & Composition - 2hrs - £20
Understanding the impact of aperture, focal length and subject distance on Depth of Field. Take a look at the rule of thirds, perspective and leading lines to add that dynamic edge to your images
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DOF calulations
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Aperture, Focal Length and Subject Distance
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Basics of composition - rule of thirds and leading lines
Monthly Mentoring - from £20 per month
With years of experience within the insustry and over 8yrs running a busy studio - we would like to offer our support to photographers who are developing their own styles and/or business
Online monthly mentoring £20 per month – work on an assignment which challenges you to learn new techniques and photograph different subjects , receive tips, guidance, and feedback on your photos. (min 3 month sign up)
Premium mentoring £35 per month– portfolio review, personal assessment and assignments set each month, gap analysis, fortnightly communication, reviews and phone support. (min 3 month sign up)
121 Training : We understand that during your photographic journey you may come accross certain things that you dont understand or would simply like to imporve. We also know that these can be unique to individual photographers - we want to help you with these things so that you can move on and develop your skills even further.
With that in mind - we offer 121 training sessions with our senior photographer - Steve Underhill. He will assess any training requirments that you have and ensure that the time you spend with us is tailored to your specific needs. We know that group sessions are great but we want to make sure that YOU get the most of the training and support you recieve.
Here are some testimonials about Steve's training and coaching skills (taken from HotCourses)
"Steve's explanations on the technical aspects of taking a photograph were very easy to understand and vanquished some of the mysteries of what goes on inside the camera. He whetted my appetite to try and take more control of the settings on my camera, instead of relying totally on the 'automatic' option. I am sure I will return to Tiptop Photography, I'm keen to do some more of their beginners courses."
"This course was perfectly pitched for my level of photography skill, Steve had a very relaxed personality and explained the technical jargon an processes of photography in laymans terms so that you fully understand how the different setting will effect your pictures. Thoroughly worth while course."
"This was without doubt the best course I have been on. I learnt more in one afternoon about photography than I have done in the last 30 years reading magazines. Steve put it all into context in a relaxed and very informative way that anyone can understand. A great course for anyone who is interested in taking great pictures with a digital camera"
"I have attended two courses now at TipTop Photography. The booking process was simple and the photography tutor Steve was very knowledgable. He taught at a pace that suited the group, there were 6 of us. I learnt more in 4hrs that I have done in 4years. Cheers buddy."