Beyond the Obvious with Julia Wainwright

Why do so many of us come home with several versions of essentially the same picture?

It happens to all of us. We find a good subject, we are delighted and we take the same frame again and again. It is only later, back at the computer, that we notice every picture is a variation on one idea.

Julia Wainwright has a simple answer, and she is going to share it with us. She takes a short shot list into the field. It is not a rigid plan. It is a handful of ideas to work through when a subject is in front of her, so she comes home with a portrait, a moment of behaviour, a picture of the animal in its place, and more, rather than ten of one kind.

Julia will show how a little forward thinking gives you a more varied set of pictures, without taking away the fun of the unexpected. She illustrates it with her wildlife photography, from Iberian lynx to polar bears, and tells the stories behind the images as she goes.

Not a wildlife photographer? This is still for you

The pictures are wildlife, but the ideas work for any subject. Portraits, light, weather, simplicity and symmetry are just as useful on a city street, in the garden, or at the coast. The talk is suitable for photographers of all levels and interests.

What's on Julia's shot list

• Portraits. Making a visual connection with your subject.

• Behaviour. Looking for interaction and the little stories between animals.

• Action. Anticipating the moment and being ready for it.

• Environment. Showing your subject in its place, not just filling the frame.

• Light, weather and atmosphere. Using what the day gives you, even the days that look unpromising.

• Simplicity and symmetry. Two ideas that help when a scene feels too busy.

About Julia

Julia Wainwright FRPS is a keen photographer best known for her wildlife photography, particularly birds and large mammals. She exhibits widely in national and international competitions and she enjoys sharing the stories behind her images and the practical thinking that helps her find more variety in the field.

See more of Julia's work: juliasimages.com

From Mark

Julia and I spoke back in March about her wildlife talks and one idea stayed with me afterwards: the shot list! I recognised myself in it straight away. I have come home from plenty of days out with a card full of pictures and very little variety. Julia's approach is a practical fix for that and it is the sort of thing you can use on your very next outing.

This is Julia's first event with us, and I am really pleased to welcome her. Her pictures speak for themselves. The lynx looking straight down the lens is the one that stopped me!

Tickets

Three options. Each one includes everything in the one before it, so please choose the single option you want rather than adding them together.

£6, the session and the recording.

Join us live on Monday 19 October and put your questions to Julia. The recording will be on the website within 24 hours, and you have it for four weeks.

£12, and Julia's handout to keep.

Everything in the £6 ticket, plus a PDF Julia is writing for us on the shot-list approach: the main ideas, practical prompts to take into the field, and a few of her photographs to show what each one looks like. It comes to you after the evening and unlike the recording it does not expire. It is yours.

£18, and a full year to watch.

Everything above, with twelve months of access to the recording instead of four weeks.

Why a year? A shot list is something you use in the field, and most of us are not in the field every week. You might watch in October and not get to try it properly until a spring trip or a summer holiday. With the £18 ticket the recording is still there when you are packing the camera bag.

The recording is watched here on our website. There is no download, and access is for the person who bought the ticket.

The talk runs for an hour or more, with time for your questions at the end.