SignaturePhoto Photography Courses

Sydney summer rain showers, clouds & mist made for some atmospheric black & white photos on a recent SignaturePhoto Smartphone Photography Workshop! A fun group & afternoon.

A lovely winter Saturday a couple of weeks ago in Sydney’s ‘little Vietnam’ while wandering the back streets on SignaturePhoto Travel Photo & Pho Tour! A hive of activity made for some great street photography captures by my workshop participants. And the best pho lunch in Sydney!
Next Photo & Pho Tour Sat 30 August 2025 11am-2pm (suitable for all cameras incl smartphones.). Check SignaturePhoto website for more info.

Excellent street portrait taken by Samuel a couple of weeks ago on the beginner 1-day Essentials Photography Course.
This lovely lady kindly allowed my students to take a few quick photos of her in-between a break from a dance routine practice with her dancer friends in CBD.
I suggested to Sam this would be a good time to try out his new 50mm f1.8 prime lens and use an aperture of f2.8 to blur out the busy background with a shallow depth of field.
Under time pressure, Sam captured this wonderful portrait - great composition/ framing and nailed the exposure / light on the dancer.

Shades of Pink - wonderful wild flowers using shallow of depth of field captured by students Aoife and Chiara on SignaturePhoto Beginner Essentials 1-Day photography course in Sydney last week. These excellent images were taken using entry level DSLR cameras - photography is not about expensive camera gear but understanding depth of field, apertures, selective focus, composition & light!

On my iPhone and Smartphone photography workshops I often get asked how and when to use the ‘Portrait' mode setting on iPhone and Android smartphone cameras?
While it is called ‘Portrait’ mode on smartphone cameras to simulate shallow depth of field / blurry backgrounds, particularly when taking photos of people to isolate the person or animal’s face from a busy background, ‘Portrait’ mode can also be effective for blurring busy backgrounds for other subjects such as birds or flowers so the focus is on the subject as in these examples taken on iPhone camera in past couple of weeks.

If you want to learn some useful photographic tips on how to create blurry backgrounds using your smartphone camera and when and when not to use this feature - come and join either SignaturePhoto iPhone Photography workshop (next date Sat 19 April) or Smartphone Photography workshop (next date Sun 27 April). Both workshops $95 p/p.
For more info and booking form visit SignaturePhoto Photography Courses website https://www.signaturephoto.com.au

A few black & white images taken on yesterday’s SignaturePhoto Smartphone Photography Workshop with a mix of iPhone, Samsung & Google Pixel cameras users.

"Thanks Sarah, we enjoyed every moment of yesterday’s course. Thanks for being so lovely, encouraging and being you. We will book again for the next course soon.”
A lovely review & message from Carolyn who attended SignaturePhoto's Essentials beginner 1-Day photography course last Saturday.
These photos taken by past students during the Essentials photography course.
The next 2025 Essentials photo course date is Sunday 16 February.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas 🎄 & happy holidays & New Year!

Excellent images taken by students Adam and Alf on last Sunday’s beginner Essentials photography course which includes hands-on practical shooting of a variety of subjects: portraits, street, flowers, buildings, landscapes. A fun group of 6 using their DSLR and mirrorless cameras!

Thanks so much Dan for this wonderful 5 star review of our August Smartphone Photography workshop & for posting one of your many great photos you took on your iPhone.

Delighted to receive an Honorable Mention Award in the prestigious Paris (PX3) 2024 International Photography Awards (Prix de la Photographie) in Portraiture category for series of my recent Wodaabe Gerewol Festival Chad portrait images.
titled: Strike A Pose - Male Beauty Contest in The African Desert.