A commercial photographer based in north Essex has launched a second strand to her business, offering photography courses to both business users and hobbyist snappers.

East Anglian Daily Times: Examples of Sophie Skipper's photographyExamples of Sophie Skipper's photography (Image: Archant)

Sophie Skipper from Colchester hopes to deliver a series of one-day workshops during 2018 to people who want to develop their expertise using DSLR cameras.

Sophie started her business Sophie Skipper Photography two years ago and in the early days benefitted from attending a marketing course run by Colbea (Colchester Business Enterprise Agency) who last year named her ‘Best Young Client’ at its business awards. During this time she has built up a healthy client base producing imagery for advertising and websites. But, she says, she has identified a gap in the market, so has launched a training arm.

“There are a lot of people who have bought a DSLR camera who aren’t getting the most from it,” she said.

“They are told the cameras are simple to use but when they start using it they find it difficult to understand the settings, so they stick to the automatic settings.

“They are letting the camera take control of them rather than having control of the camera to do what they want.”

Sophie’s course offers a simple three-step process to help people understand DSLR manual settings, which she says, will provide “a platform for people to practice and develop”. All the workshosp will be run from Wivenhoe House at the University of Essex’s Colchester campus.

East Anglian Daily Times: Sophie SkipperSophie Skipper (Image: Archant)

She says with so many businesses using Facebook and Instagram to reach out to people, the ability to take pictures that have impact is becoming more and more important.

“The online experience is increasingly visual,” said Sophie who is also working on the development of a six-week online course available to photographers worldwide that they can follow at their own pace.