Courses that inspire creativity

Peter Smith found learning with the help of a professional tutor and fellow students inspirational.

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The 60-year-old from Underwood in Nottinghamshire attended our City and Guilds Photographic course in Alfreton in a bid to develop his photography skills.

And the culmination of the course saw Peter's 'Crayons in Bubbles' picture chosen as a runner-up in this year's City and Guilds photographic competition.

The winners and runners up had their images exhibited at the Morley Gallery in South London in September.

He said:

"Being judged to have produced an image that was worthy of being a runner up in a national competition was a delightful surprise.

"It gives me confidence try new things in the future.

"Initially the inspiration for the image came from a fellow student's startling photograph of a set of coloured pencils that he'd brought along to one of the early sessions.

"His image was simply stunning. I took the idea a step further and put the pencils in a dish of lemonade and photographed the result."

City and Guilds

The City and Guilds course was made up of two separate elements, image capture and image presentation.

Peter recalls:

"I enjoyed the friendly, lively, classroom atmosphere because it made that process of learning so much more fun.

"It's difficult to pinpoint one particular highlight of the course, though the fieldwork sessions were excellent because they were a chance to develop the theoretical skills taught in the classroom.

"They were the chance to take photographs with a professional photographer at hand to offer advice, suggestions and solutions; an amateur's dream scenario."

Advancing skills

Next term Peter is continuing the digital photography theme by attending an image manipulation course, which will also be run by the same tutor, Philip Wells.

"It's inspirational to learn in the company of others and with the help of a professional and knowledgeable tutor such as Philip.

"It should be said that to make a real success of the course students need to be prepared to do some homework but it's not a chore when lessons inspire you.

"I always came away from Philip's with a thirst to want to know more."

Much more than learning

But it's not just learning that Peter gained from the course, he also made new friends.

"Without such courses learning wouldn't be as much fun because it would be a more solitary experience.

"The phrase adult learners suggests people of a certain age but in my experience it brings together people from a variety of backgrounds from twenty years of age to their seventies.

"To me that's a huge benefit. Courses like this provide a stimulus to get away from the hearth on a winter's night and develop skills and enhance one's knowledge. It's one way of enjoying life."