Art's Eye blog

Art Hutchins has updated his blog with some very kind words about the course. You can read his constantly updated blog here, or read the cut-and-pasted copy below........

Right from the off, Andrew got down to the many issues facing anyone contemplating becoming a Freelance Photographer today.  

There were eight of us, some who had travelled for a few hours and from a good distance away, and others more local to the Brighton area, but all who had chosen to participate in this four day course, because they needed the information and understanding it promised.  

With ages ranging from early twenties and fresh out of University, to mature students already working full time in other occupations and thinking about starting out as part-time freelancers, to those like myself who are already fully committed to making a living as a freelance photographer.

Andrew made no extravagant claims, nor did he paint a rosy picture, often telling us how it is and what is essential to know to get off the ground.

In serious and balanced tones, using a minimal amount of anecdotes and a few selected images from his extensive portfolio to illustrate the many relevant facts and pointers, which would be invaluable to any generic group such as ours. He spoke of the pitfalls to be avoided and the gains to be had, if we followed the advice and information he had to impart to us. 
There was no waffle or ambiguity about what he had to tell us, and all of it was down to earth common sense, loaded with good quality information to get us a chance to get anyone of us up and running.

He delivered all of the content as laid out in the course description on his website, and then went further with good fundamental and practical exercises, giving us guidance and constructive feedback at each step and something to measure our progress by. 
At the end of each day I and I believe the others, came away tired but with our minds full of the experiences and insights we had gained.

The best of these exercises was the field trip to Hove seafront on the second of the two weekends. Given a simple brief to shoot three styles of image, we were blessed with spectacular skies after the stormier weather of previous days.  Some headed for the beach, others into the town, and though there were not the summer holiday crowds, there was plenty to capture in an hour. 

The diverse interpretations of the brief in our individual results when we got back to the classroom, was highlighted by the fact the everyone felt their photography had taken a huge step forward, and indeed this was certainly true of my own. 

I felt more grounded and certain of making a living from photography then I had before the course.  

Andrew is both inspirational and objective, despite a few minor technical difficulties along the way, none of which appeared to interrupt him delivering, which I am sure is true of him as a professional.  

The course is great value and one which I would recommend to anyone considering going freelance and unsure of what it involves, and as others I am sure will testify, Andrew Hasson is inspirational and he delivers the goods.

**Andrew's reply**..........Very nice of you to say so, Art. It was a pleasure to have you as a student, as it was all of you, of course. Sorry about the technical hitches!