As a professional it is important to be always looking to improve and face new challenges and develop new skills.  Each year I try to make sure I attend at least three training days.  In September I went on a one day workshop with John Denton organised by the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers, of which I am a member.  We had an amazing day and some of the picture can be seen on my business facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.728606493819940.1073741827.328329237181003&type=1.  John is a master photographer and an expert on the use of flash and other artificial light sources.  I had a wedding booked for the beginning of December (blog post to follow later in the year on that) and knew that there was the possibility of difficult lighting conditions.  I prefer where possible to use natural light, although I do use studio flash and off camera flash on occasion.  To help me prepare in  the best possible way I decided to book a one to one day with John.  He has a studio near Beverley in East Yorkshire which is on a working farm and so presents lots of opportunities.  We had a model booked for the day, the amazing Sherri-Li Page Walker.  We started with natural light, then moved onto using sunlight and then one flash outdoors before moving into the studio to try a variety of lighting setups and clothing.  We also took some shots using mutiple flash units outside to balance the sunlight with dramatic effect.  Below is just a small selection of the shots taken on the day.  Huge thanks to John and Liz Denton for an amazing day.  I learned lots and it gave me the confidence to know I could cope with anything the weather might throw at me at the wedding the following week.  Finally a massive thankyou to Sherri, who is a natural in front of the camera, never complained despite the freezing conditions, took direction really well and enabled me to get some amazing pictures.

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