Our photography course dates for 2017 are now on the site and open for booking.

We have listened to feedback and scheduled almost all of our group courses on a Saturday and we have increased the number of beginners photography courses.

We are still offering beyond beginners photography courses, but slightly fewer of them in the mix in 2017.

Our steam train photography courses also have a full schedule in 2017 and this year we are running half day courses which coincide with special events on the East Lancashire Railway such as their famous 1940s weekend and their classic bikes rally which will offer keen a photographers an extra something to inspire some great shots. We will of course still be going into parts of the railway not open to the public such as the signal box and the engine sheds.

Places on all our group courses can be bought as photography course gift vouchers which make the perfect present for a friend or loved one (or even yourself).

People sometimes ask us which is the best course to go on for them if they are not sure of they are a beginner or would be better on a beyond beginners course.

Everyone is slightly different of course but a simple rule of thumb is to ask yourself: when I pick up my camera do I sometimes still use the AUTO setting? If the answer to that is yes, or you feel a bit unsure about the exposure triangle then you would be better going for a beginners course, but let us know in the pre-course questionnaire we send you that you have some experience already and we will do all we can to adapt the course on the day.

If you are very comfortable with your camera’s main functions and the exposure triangle, but want to move your skills on, then a beyond beginners course is almost certainly the one to go for.

As always, if you have a question about our photography courses, then please give us a call on 01706 452840 and we will be very happy to help.

See you on a photography course soon!

Flying Scotsman Photography Courses

The Flying Scotsman is coming back!

We are delighted to announce that we will be offering steam train photography courses when the Flying Scotsman will return to the East Lancashire Railway in October.

The dates when the Flying Scotsman will be running at the ELR are 13th to 16^th October inclusive.

Photographing the Flying Scotsman close up and from vantage points not open to the public is an opportunity not to be missed by any steam train photography enthusiast and tickets are already selling fast.

This will be the second opportunity for visitors to see Flying Scotsman at the East Lancashire Railway, following its test runs on the line back in January of this year. This time instead of its black undercoat, the world famous engine will be resplendent in its BR Brunswick Green livery.

Our photography courses when the Flying Scotsman ran on the ELR in January were hugely over-subscribed so don’t miss out.

Each photography experience is a half day and we are running two per day, morning and afternoon. The cost is £75.00 per head and for that you get expert tuition and guidance in a small group setting in areas close to the engine that are not open to the public and you get to ride behind the Scotsman on the ELR network.

To book tickets on this unique steam train photography course please visit the East Lancashire Railway site on this link

Manchester Street Photography Course

Our first photography course of the year took place yesterday – a Manchester street photography course.

This is where we meet at the John Rylands library on Deansgate and then depending on the weather we head off into the city for a half day course, taking our inspiration from the architecture, the sights, the work going on in the city.

In fact anything that inspires us and we shoot on the move with emphasis on working quickly.

We had eight people on the photography course yesterday which is an ideal ratio of tutor to delegates and for mid February we were fortunate with the weather.

We are looking at adding more Manchester Street Photography Course dates soon, so keep an eye on our calendar of photography courses.

To keep up to date with our latest news, subscribe to our newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us @NWPhotoCourses on Twitter.

North West Photography courses was proud to play its part in the the triumphal return of the Flying Scotsman to the East Lancashire Railway.

Instead of teaching others to take photographs of steam trains we were on hand to capture the guests of the ELR and the diners on the first run of the Scotsman who enjoyed fine dining on the run up to Rawtenstall.

We have created a gallery of images from the night www.northwestphotographycourses.com/gallery and images are available to purchase as professional prints in luxury board mounts, ready for framing.

Discounted photography courses available in New Year Sale.

For the next two days you can bag a discounted photography course simply be entering the code Early Bird 2016 when booking any of our photography courses.

The discount doesn’t apply to our steam train photography courses run in partnership with the East Lancs Railway but it does apply to our beginners photography courses, beyond beginners photography courses and we will also apply it to our one to one photography courses (just mention it when you call)

It also applies to our photography course gift vouchers.

The offer ends at midnight on January 1st 2016 so don’t miss out on a great offer on discounted photography courses.

Street Photography Courses in Manchester, starting at the John Rylands Library

The calendar of our photography courses in Manchester and beyond in 2016 has been published.

The Flying Scotsman – Photo East Lancs Railway

Our first outing comes in January when we kick off with a real bang with a series of courses photographing the Flying Scotsman on her return to the rails after a ten year, multi-million pound re-fit. You can  choose from a half day up to three days of photographing the Flying Scotsman and getting closer to her than any member of the public can, thanks to our partnership with the East Lancs Railway which allows us behind the scenes to parts of the railway not open to the public.

In fact our first group photography course of 2016 is our Manchester street photography course in February when we take to the streets of Manchester for a fast paced half day course starting at the famous John Rylands Library on Deansgate.

After another Manchester street photography  course in April our calendar settles down to  a regular programme of Beginners Photography Courses and Beyond Beginners Photography Courses in both Bury and Lymm.

We also have a range of dates for our Steam Train Photography Courses which we run in partnership with the East Lancashire Railway. These courses are booked via the East Lancs site.

We are running our residential Lake District Photography Course in the second week of April when we will take a small group for a relaxing and luxurious photography course and hopefully our visit to the centre of the Lake District will coincide with a good show of Wordsworth famous daffodils and the fells are sure to be coming into colour as spring arrives but still the chance of snow dusted tops.

Finally, our calendar of photography courses will change in the year as we are planning to launch new types of courses, possibly venturing on to the North West canal network to see landscapes industrial and natural and we are hoping to be offering some courses taking in some of the historic houses of the North West.

Stay tuned and if you want to be amongst the first to know please sign up to our newsletter, like North West Photography Courses on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Or just give us a call on 01706 452840.

Receive a gift card for you to write a personal message and instructions on how to book the course

Photography course gift vouchers for Christmas gifts.

Photography course gift vouchers are the perfect Christmas present, for you if you are a photographer and you would like to improve your skills or for someone who else who has a camera and would like to develop their technique.

Everyone knows someone who is difficult to buy for so a photography course gift voucher gives them the choice of when they want to go and what kind of course will suit them, from someone who just wants to get off AUTO, to someone with years of experience who would be thrilled to have a one to one course to really push their photography skills.

They will come away with skills that last a lifetime.

Our photography course gift vouchers are priced at £10, £25 and £50 vouchers so you can combine any way you would like to buy a place on on of our photography courses in Cheshire or photography courses in Manchester or Photography courses in Lancashire (in Birtle, near Bury).

Our gift vouchers can be used on any of our photography courses with the exception of the steam train photography courses that we run in partnership with the East Lancashire Railway which are booked directly with them.

Payment for the gift vouchers is via a secure server using Paypal or credit/debit card and we send you a gift card featuring one of our images which is left blank for your own message and the voucher itself which does not have the amount printed on it.

Your friend or loved simply has to give us a call with the unique reference number and let us know which one of our photography courses they would like to book.

You can choose to buy a part of the cost of a photography course or the whole amount as you wish.

You can be certain that the course will be a small group and tutored by expert, friendly photographers who are able to impart decades of experience behind the lens and help people at every level of skill or experience to discover what they can do with a camera.

Or you could buy a Christmas jumper…

Give us a call on 01706 452840 and we will be happy to advise you.

We are thrilled to share our new Steam Train Photography Courses video which showcases the photography courses that we run in partnership with the East Lancashire Railway

The video gives a flavour of all the aspects of the photography courses that we run at the ELR which take you behind the scenes into the engine sheds and the famous signal box (the largest of its kind in the UK).

It also shows how we work with the fabulous volunteers on the railway who are happy to stop and pose for our photography course delegates, showing the ‘people’ side of the railway, along with the magnificent locomotives.

What does the Steam Train Photography Course Include?

The day is suitable for photographers of all abilities as we tailor the content to your requirements and the small group size means that there is plenty of opportunity for one to one tuition on exactly what you want from your photographs of steam and diesel trains

We the day begins at the ELR main station in Bury with a welcome over a cup of team and then we begin in earnest developing your technique both in our classroom at Bolton Street Station and on the platforms.

After a quick sandwich lunch (included in the price) we board the train, shooting more images as we make our way to the picturesque surroundings of Irwell Valley station which has great vantage points for photographing trains as they make their way up and down the line.

After rejoining the train, we make our way back to Bury where we  lift the barrier to let you into areas the public cannot see and we spend a good amount of time with the maintenance teams at work on the engines, getting up close to the trains and providing you with scores of opportunities to take photographs of the trains and the historic workshops.

If you would like to book on to our steam train photography courses please click HERE