Top 10 photography courses

Photo: Lakeland Photographic Holidays

1. Learn photography in the Lake District

Lakeland Photographic Holidays is owned by John and Gail Gravett and set right in the heart of the Lake District, this is the perfect location to attend landscape and nature photography workshops. With a choice of limited and active walking photography workshops, everyone can have the chance to learn to take beautiful photos in breathtaking surroundings.

2. Snap seals in Lincolnshire or deer in the Midlands

From photographing seals on a remote Lincolnshire beach, to deer in the East Midlands, Natures Images offers the chance to attend workshops and holidays taught by professional nature photographers. A number of the holidays focus on birds of prey, including owls in mid-Wales and wintering birds in Scotland.

Photo: Natures Images

3. Be taught by an expert in the wilderness of Scotland

Wilderness Scotland is a specialist adventure travel company offers a range of holidays and wilderness experiences, including photography holidays, in some of the most beautiful regions of the Scottish Highlands and Islands. Colin Prior, the foremost landscape photographer in the UK, leads many of their photography holidays.

Photo: Colin Prior

4. Capture the beauty of the North East coast

With courses and workshops for all abilities, Earth’s Beauty offer photography tuition for one-day courses and short breaks in locations all over Britain. Courses include landscape and seascape photography along the Yorkshire coast, passing picturesque villages and high cliffs; and a photographic workshop in Northumberland, visiting magical castles and magnificent beaches along the way.

5. Take scenic snapshots in the South West

Run by two of the UK’s leading professional landscape photographers, Dawn 2 Dusk Photography holds workshops mainly in the South West of England, along with a few in the Lake District. One, two and three-day workshops are available, with settings including wild Dartmoor, the South Hams, rugged North Cornwall and Dorset’s Jurassic Coastline.

Photo: Dawn 2 Dusk Photography

6. A photographic adventure in the Cairngorms

Based in the heart of Scotland’s Cairngorms National Park, Northshots aim is to provide holidays that are ‘a true photographic adventure’. With friendly and knowledgeable guides, tours visit some of the most scenic spots in Scotland and provide ample opportunity for all abilities to take some amazing photographs.

Photo: Northshots

7. Photograph birds in the Peak District

New for 2011, Peak District Birding Holidays are introducing photography workshops to capture wildlife and nature in the Peak District. The workshops are suitable for complete beginners to digital SLR photography and are taught by an award-winning photographer, Iain McMillan.

8. Photograph forests and flowers in the South

Artescape Photography offers workshops in the South of England and Wales, with locations including the New Forest, Suffolk coast, Brecon Beacons and Dorset coast among others. These location workshops are a great chance to make the most of the British countryside, with opportunities to photograph everything from woodlands and flowers, to rivers and seascapes.

9. Try underwater photography in Wales

Andy Davies is a professional photographer in Wales, specialising in wildlife and landscape. He runs a number of one-day and residential digital photography workshops in West Wales, some of which even include snorkelling, SCUBA diving and boat trips.

 Photo: Artescape Photography

10. Explore the Shetland Isles with photos

Shetland Photography Holidays provide wildlife and landscape photography workshops and tours that explore the Shetland Isles. There are chances to photograph everything from lochs and wildflowers to minke whales and puffins. Courses are based at the Orca Country Inn in Hoswick, and workshops teach a whole range of skills using a digital SLR. 

Photo: Lee Mott, Shetland Photography Holidays