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DERBY
PHOTOGRAPHY
GROUP

Upcoming Events

Capturing the Spirit of the City - Street Photography Meetup

Capturing the Spirit of the City - Street Photography Meetup

Sunday the 14th of August
Market Place - 10am - 2 hours
We will use this session to explore how we can take photographs of the city which are more meaningful and creative than a 'picture postcard' style image. We will look at how we can best represent our city with images of it's buildings, streets and people; and provide a new perspective on familiar surroundings.
book now
£21pp     10 places left - requires 3 bookings to proceed
Beginner's Photography Class

Beginner's Photography Class

Sunday the 28th of August
Alvaston Park - 9am - 3 hours
In this three-hour beginner's class, you will learn how to move past the auto function of your camera and start exploring some of the other settings. It will give you the basic principles to be able to explore more of what your camera is capable of and take your photography to the next level. We will discuss how controlling aperture, shutter speed and ISO can give you more creative control; And how balancing the exposure triangle can help you achieve the perfect exposure for any situation. We will also look at composition and how we can frame our subject to draw the viewer in.
book now
£55pp     only 6 places left - requires 2 bookings to proceed
Black and White Photography Meet-up

Black and White Photography Meet-up

Sunday the 11th of September
Mercia Marina - 10am - 2 hours
In this class, we’ll strip the colour out of our photos in order to focus on the basics. We’ll be looking at how monochrome images can emphasise light and shadow and how we can use it to focus our viewers attention on our subject. We’ll place more emphasis on contrast and shape, and play about with exposure. We’ll also cover some technicalities like shooting in RAW and why ISO matters less than in colour photography.
book now
£21pp     11 places left - requires 3 bookings to proceed
Beginner’s Photography Class

Beginner’s Photography Class

Sunday the 25th of September
Derby Cathedral Green & River Gardens - 9am - 3 hours
In this three-hour beginner's class, you will learn how to move past the auto function of your camera and start exploring some of the other settings. It will give you the basic principles to be able to explore more of what your camera is capable of and take your photography to the next level. We will discuss how controlling aperture, shutter speed and ISO can give you more creative control; And how balancing the exposure triangle can help you achieve the perfect exposure for any situation. We will also look at composition and how we can frame our subject to draw the viewer in.
book now
£55pp     only 5 places left - requires 2 bookings to proceed
Landscape Photography Meet-up

Landscape Photography Meet-up

Sunday the 9th of October
Dovedale - 10am - 2 hours
Derbyshire’s Dovedale offers some great locations for landscape shots. We will explore how to reimagine scenes which have been shot by hundreds of tourists before us. How can we set ours apart from the crowd? We’ll look at finding focal points, playing with composition, introducing layers to our images and changing our perspective.
book now
£21pp     open - requires 3 bookings to proceed
Nature Photography Meet-up

Nature Photography Meet-up

Sunday the 16th of October
Mapperley Wood Nature Reserve - 10am - 2 hours
Come and capture the riot of autumn colours at Mapperly Wood Nature Reserve, a narrow belt of woodland with a stream running through it. This meet-up will cover the best ways to capture nature in all its glory from the smallest details to wider woodland scenes. We’ll definitely find interesting plant and bird life as this reserve contains some of the county’s most vulnerable habitats. We’ll be considering light, composition, texture and perspective.
book now
£21pp     open - requires 3 bookings to proceed
Beginner's Photography Class

Beginner's Photography Class

Sunday the 30th of October
Mapperley Wood Nature Reserve - 9am - 3 hours
In this three-hour beginner's class, you will learn how to move past the auto function of your camera and start exploring some of the other settings. It will give you the basic principles to be able to explore more of what your camera is capable of and take your photography to the next level. We will discuss how controlling aperture, shutter speed and ISO can give you more creative control; And how balancing the exposure triangle can help you achieve the perfect exposure for any situation. We will also look at composition and how we can frame our subject to draw the viewer in.
book now
£55pp     only 6 places left - requires 2 bookings to proceed
Architecture Photography Meet-up

Architecture Photography Meet-up

Sunday the 13th of November
Friargate & Derby City - 10am - 2 hours
A walk along Friargate towards the City Centre will offer us an architectural trip through time with old and new buildings offering a variety of subject matter. We will look at how we can tell stories with our photographs through the use of perspective, scale and composition. We will hunt out architectural details and find new ways of presenting them; and take wider scenic shots which give a flavour of the city.
book now
£21pp     open - requires 3 bookings to proceed
Beginner's Photography Class

Beginner's Photography Class

Sunday the 27th of November
Elvaston Castle Country Park - 9am - 3 hours
In this three-hour beginner's class, you will learn how to move past the auto function of your camera and start exploring some of the other settings. It will give you the basic principles to be able to explore more of what your camera is capable of and take your photography to the next level. We will discuss how controlling aperture, shutter speed and ISO can give you more creative control; And how balancing the exposure triangle can help you achieve the perfect exposure for any situation. We will also look at composition and how we can frame our subject to draw the viewer in.
book now
£55pp     only 5 places left - requires 2 bookings to proceed
Long Exposure Photography Meet-up

Long Exposure Photography Meet-up

Sunday the 11th of December
Derby River Gardens & The Morledge - 10am - 2 hours
We will be using the busy area around Derby’s bus station to explore how we can capture movement in an urban setting using long exposures. Then moving around to the river gardens to look at what effects can be achieved with a long exposure on water and skies. We will look at how different shutter speeds can produce different results and what else we need to consider when setting up our camera for a long exposure.
book now
£21pp     open - requires 3 bookings to proceed
ABOUT DERBY
PHOTOGRAPHY
GROUP
Come along to our photo sessions to dust off your camera and get snap-happy with a professional photography instructor.

Brush up on your camera skills and learn new photography techniques whilst on a photo walk class with other local keen photographers!

We run two hour photography sessions based on a photography theme/technique/style and they take place in various locations around Derby.

New to photography? We also run a popular 3 hour Beginners Guide to Photography Class once a month. And once in a while we will run special niche 3 hour classes, for example, Astrophotography - so do subscribe to our newsletter to know when the next on is!

Who can attend? Open to all skill levels, from beginners to keen amateurs. The photography instructor is there to help you with camera settings and provide any advice you need.

What to bring? We recommend bringing a camera that has full manual mode or semi-manual modes (Aperture or Shutter Priority). Compact cameras and smartphones also welcome!

The meeting point and full details for the day are sent in the booking confirmation email to the email address you provide at time of booking.

Join the Derby Photography Facebook Group here to share your photos after the session.

Our classes and photography sessions are limited to a max of 5 students - due to current COVID restrictions

We ask that everyone attending a meetup follows social distancing guidelines:

Stay home if you're sick.
Keep 2 metres away from others.
Don't make unnecessary physical contact with others. Avoid physical greetings, such as handshakes, hugs and kisses.
Wash your hands regularly with alcohol-based sanitiser.
Cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze. Use a flexed elbow or a tissue.

REVIEWS
It was very enjoyable. Nice location and very informative. A lot to take in in just 3 hours , but Emma was brilliant and answered any questions we had. I hope to be joining you on some other meets when I've had a bit more practice. Thank you
5/5
Jackie Watson
August 2nd 2022
Zoe was fabulous as usual. Looking forward to more courses. Thank you
5/5
Claire Murray
March 20th 2022
Excellent as usual! Very informative and lots of fun.
5/5
Claire Murray
March 12th 2022
A bit chilly! Apart from that, it was good. Zoe gave us particular things to look for rather than just wandering around.
4/5
david cowper
February 13th 2022
Today was my first time with Derby Photography Group. Zoe is amazing, she has been guiding me in compositions and camera settings today. I would again come for such photo walks.
5/5
Noel Padgaonkar
February 12th 2022
Fantastic meet up again, amazing location at Dovedale and great tuition, suggestions and information from Zoe again. Looking forward to the wildlife one in March at Wollaton Park.
5/5
Nick Goodall
January 17th 2022
Derby Centre Night Session 27/11/21. This meeting was brilliant, Zoe went through settings, set some challenges and talked us through how to achieve the results required. Incredibly useful and made to feel welcome. Will be attending another session soon indeed.
5/5
Nick Goodall
November 29th 2021
Really interesting evening learning a few techniques I'd not used before which gave me some interesting and quite artistic results especially the light trails and the twinkling xmas lights
5/5
Mike Stead
November 29th 2021
Amazing what I learnt in 2 hours. For me Zoe was great at getting the balance between guiding me towards taking better photos re shutter/aperture and manual focus settings and then letting me practice. Really informative and fun session.
5/5
Mike Stead
November 8th 2021
Very useful event. Greatly improved my confidence
5/5
Dave Millington
November 8th 2021
Zoe was responsive to the needs of everyone in the group, and gave us tips and inspiration to develop our skills.
5/5
Anna Laffin
September 5th 2021
I enjoyed meeting up with Zoe who is enthusiastic and picked a good area to photograph.
4/5
Caroline Swift
May 15th 2021
INSTRUCTORS
Jen Mason
Jen Mason is a portrait photographer based in the East Midlands. With over fifteen years of experience as a photographer, Jen has worked in many aspects including portrait and fashion, and had various publications in both digital and print.
Emma Duder
Emma Duder (It's pronounced dew-der, Dude!) has a background in fine art and graphic design and has been taking photographs for more than twenty years. She works as a weddings and events photographer around the Midlands and lives with her husband, daughter and a cat called Frog in Derby. She is very down to earth, calls a spade a spade and loves to share her knowledge and passion of photography with others... whether they're interested or not!