Hidden but beautiful old architectural feature with the carved details perfect for photography

Photos From Portsmouth City Museum Photo Walkshop

FOR THE 52nd PHOTOGRAPHY WALKSHOP WE EXPLORED FOR THE FIRST TIME THE PORTSMOUTH CITY MUSEUM BUILDINGS & GARDENS

Note: Sorry we’re so behind with the photos from last year’s photo walkshops, we’ll be sharing lots of them to catch up ready for the next walkshops in January (you can see the upcoming walkshops HERE, still some spaces available).

The 52nd photography walkshop was at a new location for walkshops, the grounds of Portsmouth City Museum. The building itself is an incredible heritage landmark in Portsmouth but the surrounding gardens are an often forgotten beautiful location to explore with your camera in the sunshine. The group all met up and we started at the main gates, beginning to look at different types of architecture composition. This walk was great because we had quite few young people along plus a real mix of cameras, from SLRs through to iPads. With the ornate building frontage captured we moved closer and began looking at different angles and perspectives plus the smaller details and textures that can be easily missed by people passing by.

This walk was great because we had quite few young people along plus a real mix of cameras, from SLRs through to iPads…

Group of photographers at the museum gates looking up at the imposing and ornate building frontage

Some of the photographers tasking part used iPads

The detailed city museum and the year in which it was built, 1897

Looking up at the different angles the building can provide a photographer

Always look up! A photographer captures the high angle

An old lamp hangs from the museum wall, becoming a focal point for our images

These interesting buildings were fun to discover and allowed for us to look at more textures and also try out the use of reflections in our photography…

Next to the main museum building are the old records and stores buildings, which have been closed off for some years. These interesting buildings were fun to discover and allowed for us to look at more textures and also try out the use of reflections in our photography. Much like the gardens, these buildings are by a busy main road but are often ignored and forgotten about so it was good to take some time and have a good look around.

Looking for interesting views when using window reflections

Rust appearing behind the peeling green paint

The old building windows allowed for some great reflections

Rust and peeling paint on an old iron drainpipe

A hidden courtyard in the closed off records building made for a great photography location

We headed around the back of the museum to the main gardens, which at this time of year were a riot of colour and new growth. We began with the mini maze and used our cameras to explore low angles. Next up was trying different focusing techniques when shooting with your camera in amongst the grass and daisies. We tried different ways to experiment with depth of field and also how to make sure the focused flowers were sharp.

We tried different ways to experiment with depth of field and also how to make sure the focused flowers were sharp…

Low angle phto looking along a route in the mini maze

Low perspective capturing the daisies in the museum gardens

Delicate dandelion in the green of the museum ground's lawn

Phtographer looking for those hidden details

Using the flip out screen to help compose those low angle photos

We used some of the different perspective techniques we had tried earlier on these old architectural remains…

Working along the walls of the gardens we ended up at the far corner, which is sometimes hard to see as it is blocked by low hanging tree branches. Under one of the trees is a large and detailed stone plaque that was once a part of another old building. We used some of the different perspective techniques we had tried earlier on these old architectural remains and the surrounding trees too.

The museum towers from the perspective of the daisies

Details of the old architectural remains hidden at the back of the gardens

Our last stop was back to the front of the building and the trees covered in blossom. Also under the branches here is a very early public phone box. We tried out lots of the different techniques here combining reflections, macro and more. A really fun morning out in the early sun!