Starting university in a new city can be an exciting, but also daunting, prospect. It can take a long time to get to know your local area and, at first, you may feel like a tourist about town. Having the chance to explore the best local spots to eat and drink, and find out about the hidden gems of Durham or Newcastle, is a great way to start your university experience as you mean to go on. Coupling this with learning how to best capture these beautiful locations with your smartphone camera makes for a great introduction to your new home and leaves you with the skills to carry on sharing your experiences with friends and family.
Durham smartphone photography workshop
Durham is a fascinating city with a rich history. Dominating the centre of town is the Cathedral and Durham Castle, surrounded by the loop of the River Wear where we start our tour, capturing the Cathedral and reflections. Moving into the Cathedral, the cloisters make for some excellent contrast shots and will be well known to Harry Potter fans as many Hogwarts scenes were filmed there.
Heading north along the winding cobbled streets up to Elvet Bridge gives the chance to experiment with perspectives, reflections and panoramas of the old town. No fresher’s week is complete without seeing the colourful rainbow umbrellas along Princes Bishops Place, where we take our final shots. Making our way back, I recommend stopping for the best coffee in town at the Flat White café. Here, I can show you the best apps and editing techniques to create a professional finish to your images.
Newcastle smartphone photography workshop
Newcastle is a fun and vibrant place and no more so than down on the Quayside. Here, we will take in the famous bridges from the Tyne to the Gateshead Millennium footbridge, as well as the architecture of the waterfront buildings and the Baltic Centre. This is a great area to experiment with reflections, perspective and action shots (there’s always something creative happening on Quayside!). If we are here on a Sunday, the riverside is bustling with the weekly market featuring local independent traders. The Bridge Hotel is the perfect stop for a pint, some final shots of the building’s beautiful stained glass and a chance to edit your photos from the day.
If you’d prefer to stay in town, the wall art outside the Dog and Parrot pub is an ideal start, from where we can then take in a circuit of the amazing architecture and shop window displays in every direction.
An in-person smartphone photography workshop lasts 2 hours and can be booked as one-on-one or as a group. The descriptions above give an idea of a general workshop, which takes in the best bits of these historic cities. But I’m more than happy to tailor the session to your interests, your local area, or to particular smartphone photography skills you want to develop.
To find out more and to book a student smartphone photography workshop in Newcastle or Durham, please contact Becky at becky@jetblacksquares.com and if you use the code STUDENT10 at the checkout on any Newcastle, Durham, Oxford, Cambridge, London or St Albans safari, you can get 10% off the price of a safari.