ling yeung b

If you’ve been following me on Instagram, you’ll have noticed quite a transformation in the last 24 hours, and it’s all down to the incredibly talented Emily Quinton.

I signed up to Emily’s Makelight Level One workshop a couple of months ago, and I’d been looking forward to it ever since. I’ve been on a (landscape) photography workshop before, but you only need to take one look at Emily’s stunning Instagram feed to know why I was so so excited!

Armed with my iPhone and DSLR (technically it’s Jimmy’s but what’s his is mine, right?), I arrived at this beautiful studio with plenty of natural daylight in northeast London… an hour late… but that’s a long story…

Anyway! In the flesh, Emily is equal parts lovely and inspiring. She’s honest about her experiences as a photographer, writer, tutor, blogger and mummy-of-four (!!!), and she’s generous with sharing her knowledge and even letting students try out her camera and lenses.

She talked us through everything from lighting (it’s the Makelight workshop afterall), composition, styling, and finding inspiration, to technical stuff like aperture, exposure compensation, editing and how to get the best out of different social media platforms.

Emily also brought along all kinds of prettiness, from vintage baking trays to one of my favourite blooms (ranunculus), so we could practise styling and composition as well as photographing.

The morning session was mainly focused on smartphone photography, and here are a few of my favourites from my trusty little iPhone 5S.

In the afternoon, I got out my SLR, played around with styling some more, and practised taking photos using different apertures and exposure compensation settings. And here are a few photos from the session!

In my end of 2014 post, I said I want 2015 to be an inspired year, and I don’t think I could have asked for a better start! Emily has filled my head with pretty ideas and my heart with a renewed sense of positivity, and I can’t wait to share them with you all! So thank you Emily, see you at the level two workshop!