Information About Matt - Wolverhampton teacher

Personal Description:

I started taking photographs when I was 10 years old and have had a passion for the subject ever since. I became a professional photographer in 1986, having studied and been taught in the classic style, of large, medium and 35mm format cameras, at the Defence School of Photography. I have had the good fortune, to have developed my skills from 'wet' photography, through the transition to the digital world of imagery and software we have today, so I have been fully trained on Photoshop, pretty much from it's early days of release in the 1990's. My working experiences have been incredibly varied, from 'Front Line' news photography, magazine studio work, research photography, 'air to ground' and air to air' work, from rotary aircraft. I have shot Studio and location portraiture, from individual sitters, through to groups of up to 3,000, shot from helicopters, cherry pickers and step ladders, with several private Royal and VIP commissions. I have worked from technical macro photography, through to expansive landscape photography, plus high speed to night time slow exposures in adverse conditions. Since leaving the Army in 2006, I have run my own freelance commercial photography and training business, with commissions for ASDA UK, Breitling, Rolls Royce, The Kennel Club and the Royal Air Force Charitable Trust to name a few. I also shoot commercial and private portraiture, advertising, research work and events, including weddings. I have also taught Air to Ground photography to UK Police Air Support Units, plus a multitude of basic camera courses to operational police units, country wide. I presently offer School Workshops for GCSE students, plus private tuition to a number of established clients.
In my spare time, I'm out walking the dogs, but I always have my camera with me, old habits die hard.

Teaching Experience:

I first began teaching photography to a competent level in 1998, instructing individuals and small groups of students from basic photographic understanding and techniques, through to advanced shooting methods, use of flash, supports and Infra Red Photography. My early students were generally all military, ranging from private soldiers, through to senior Officers on Attaché duties. In 2001, I was appointed head of Army Photography and Army Photography Operational Training, where I was responsible for developing all aspects of Digital photographic research and training, which gave me an incredible insight into all aspects of teaching practices in both photography and photographic software. When I left the Army in 2006, I initially taught UK Police units, basic digital photography, using Photoshop to critique and teach from. I am presently developing GCSE Workshops for schools, of which I have already successfully delivered four over the past few months, which has given me the inspiration to broaden my teaching practices.

Teaching Approach:

Learning to take photographs and becoming a competent photographer, is all about learning the basics, making loads of mistakes, learning from them and trying again. I don't think that there is a particular right or wrong way to shoot images, as long as you know what you're doing, know roughly what you want, and then enjoy doing it and not worrying if you make a mistake, as a mistake is part of the learning process. There is no secret art to taking a good picture, apart from actually picking up your camera and shooting what you see. Therefore, my lessons tend to be heavily orientated towards the practical element and building your confidence to understand what your camera is actually capable of and then using it to tell your story. The beauty with teaching and learning photography today, is that it's all digital and can be seen and critiqued in camera or quickly loaded on to a laptop, so you can teach/learn practically anywhere, which helps when shooting landscapes, street photography, or in the studio. Being a teacher of photography is all about filling in all those things a book can't quite show or tell you.