3 Adropačky, 3 cameras, but only two days of course shooting. So show us, girls, show us!

"A chef should know what he's cooking," read the invitation from our photo course supplier. And so, on a beautiful Saturday morning, the three Adropa girls set off for the Photographer in 2 Days course in Liberec.

/This is him... Topi Pigula/

I was looking forward to the course, although my feelings were mixed. I couldn't imagine how I could learn photography in two days. I preferred not to give myself any hope that even I could become a photographer after just one weekend. I don't own a camera, I only take pictures with my cell phone, and if I ever held a camera in my hand, I'd press the shutter button for dear life to make sure there was a better chance of getting at least one photo.

The Suffering of Topi, Day One

We were greeted in the classroom by Topi Pigula, the lecturer, and after the first few minutes it was clear that it was going to be a pleasant weekend. Topi is a friendly and helpful man with a good sense of humour. We handed out brief scripts and got down to the basics of photography theory.

Clone, depth of field, shutter speed, time priority... The course hadn't even started yet and I already felt like I was done, but all it took was a good explanation, a few follow-up questions, a few more answers and you'll understand what's what and how it works.

1. outdoor photography

After manually setting up the cameras, our whole group (8 participants and the lecturer) went to take pictures around the Liberec dam. The cold wind cooled down our hands, but even that didn't stop us from taking photos like wild. And as Topi said, "There is no such thing as bad weather, only a badly dressed photographer."

Author. Adéla M.

By Vlasta M.

Topi Pigula was focused on each of us, and when we didn't know what to do, he was always willing to give advice. We stayed outside with cameras in hand for about two hours, and when we returned to the classroom we critiqued each other's chosen photos (constructively). Not to get at each other, but to learn what to improve and how.

We also learned a few tricks to get better results using Zoner Photo Studio - like keeping an eye on the so-called histogram, which tells us how much light and shadow to add to a photo.

I took away a lot of information and knowledge from Saturday's course, but for me the most important part was this: 'You don't need talent to take nice photos, you can learn everything. You just need to master the basics of photography and composition, know your camera well and learn to use it with confidence."

Sunday's Game of Shadow and Light

On Sunday morning, we met first in the classroom where we got another load of information, this time about proper composition. Sunday wasn't so much about the technical side of photography as it was about mastering the correct and interesting composition of an image. Enlightened by the previous day and the new lecture, we headed out again, this time to the city centre.

Unlike Saturday, it was properly warm, the sun was shining and we were faced with a new challenge - to manage to work with more light and shadow. And because it was beautiful, the centre of Liberec was filled with people who, in their own words, thought we were an art club or perhaps a bunch of Japanese tourists.

Author: Vlasta M. Author: Adéla M.

Authored by Kateřina K.

We ended the second day of the course in the classroom by showing and evaluating the photos. The progress was really visible, we were all satisfied with the larger number of photos, even our lecturer sang our praises and awarded us certificates of completion of the course.

Vlasta Marušáková

Evaluation

Vlasta: I still consider myself a beginner, but I also feel that I suddenly understand the camera more. I suddenly look at photography in a completely different way. I am attracted to going out in the city and in the countryside with a camera in my hand. Even on a simple trip to work, I notice my surroundings more, looking for inspiration for interesting photographs and imagining how I would capture an object.

Katerina: I've experimented with photography a bit before, but not in a very focused way, more of a trial-and-error way. After the course, everything suddenly made more sense - it was able to consolidate all the superficial and fragmented information that I had rather missed and didn't really understand before. Suddenly I know how things are related and how to set up the camera to get the result I want.

The only slight "blemish" on the whole course is the venue signage - it wasn't clear from the road or the entrance to the site whether we were going the right way, and the "no passage allowed" sign at the entrance gate didn't exactly help either.

On the other hand, huge thanks and praise then goes to the lecturer. Not only was he great at working with a group that included complete beginners as well as (slightly) advanced ones, but most importantly he managed to motivate me not to put the camera down again, but instead to concentrate more on the shoot and continue to improve. And this is the biggest benefit of the whole photo weekend for me.

Adél (yes, the singer): I feel very good about the course, mainly because I really learned something. I didn't know much about my camera that I brought to the course, only how to turn it on, zoom in on the subject and press the shutter. Now I know how to set it up and use it properly to take a nice photo.

After shooting in the field, it was time to discuss our hilarious and failed photos and Topi was happy to share various photography tricks with us on this occasion. I think the photo course is the perfect choice for beginners and intermediate photographers who may not even aspire to become a professional photographer, but are bored of taking the same photos over and over again on manual.