Groupon Offer Review of Shutter Sheep Nightime Photography Workshop

I was given the opportunity to try out on of the local Groupon Belfast offers, and as soon as I saw the Shutter Sheep Night-time Photography Workshop I knew that was the one I wanted to do.

Booking online was straightforward, and although the workshop had to be rescheduled due to heavy rain, there was lots of communication and a new time slot was booked.

So last night, my eldest daughter and I headed to Starbucks at Victoria Square, Belfast, wrapped up warm with cameras and tripods at the ready.  We met up with Philip from Shutter Sheep and with only one “student”, we headed over the Lagan to our location for most of the evening.

There was lots of practical tips and Philip shared his advice for choosing the correct settings for each of our cameras. With us all on Manual, we learned how to choose our focus, ISO, appeture etc. At one point Sammy the Seal swam past for a closer look.

As the sun began to set we were able to see how the light, wind and calmness of the water changed. We were treated to a flask of hot chocolate as we waited.  Philip demonstrated with ND Filters how they could help bring out the details in landscape photography.

Eventually we got to the magic “blue hour”, and with lots of encouragement from Philip we got some beautiful images.

This is probably my favourite of the many I took.

I also thought it might be fun to create a slide show of how the light changed from when we arrived, to when we left:

Later we moved to 3 other locations to put our new knowledge into practice.

The Lagan Weir

Later we photographed “Nuala with the Huala” statue,Victoria Square and some shots of traffic trails of light.

Overall it was a great night. I learned so much, Philip was very patient, and his enthusiasm for photography was infectious.

So next time you see a Groupon offer, and hesitate, wondering if you should try it?  My recommendation is to definitely GO FOR IT!

Disclaimer : This review was brought to you by Groupon but all opinions expressed are my own.

To find out more about Shutter Sheep visit the website (I am tempted to do another workshop on North Coast at sunset), or check out the many favourable reviews on Trip Advisor.