Testimonials

Simon Parsons has asserted his right under the © Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, to be identified as the photographer of this work.

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Hello, I am Simon Parsons, a landscape photographer from Southwater in West Sussex, close to the beautiful South Downs National Park.

Simon Parsons has asserted his right under the © Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, to be identified as the photographer of this work.

I have been taking photographs for about 30 years as an enthusiastic amateur. I was self-taught and have read many photography books over the years. However, I wanted to take my photography to the next level and thought that some time with a professional would be helpful. I spent an afternoon photographing landscapes with Simon on the south coast, where he examined my technique and then gave me a number of very helpful pointers around composition, focus, getting the correct manual exposure, the use of filters, and the use of the histogram. These are all topics that I thought I knew about, but I nevertheless learnt a great deal. I would recommend you to anyone who is looking for further instruction on their photography.

James Martin, Via E-mail September 2009

I am very grateful for your time and all your advice and tips on landscape photography. I learnt a great deal whilst on location with you at Birling gap, which has given me a better understanding of the subject and will maximize my chances of bringing home some respectable shots from my forthcoming trip around Iceland.
I look forward to meeting again upon my return to further discuss post processing techniques.

Stephen Judge, Via E-mail August 2009

I came upon Simons web site whilst looking for Landscape photography courses. The courses I had found and researched on the Internet did not specialise in this field and where not local, so was delighted to learn of Simons tuition days, and he was based in West Sussex.

Following my first day out, I can highly recommend Simon to anyone wishing to develop their photography skills, most especially in the form of landscape.

Simon has a wealth of knowledge in this field and his portfolio and web site are a testament to this! I

went to Simon with very little photography knowledge, rarely shooting out of Auto. I came away quite amazed at how much I learnt in such a short space of time, and soon came to realise how much I did not.

Simon really knows his stuff and is an excellent one to one teacher. I found his approach and his explanations easy to absorb enabling me to pick things up quickly and easily.

He has an endless list of stunning locations across various counties, Clearly something built up after his many years of Photographing, exploring and extensively researching Sussex.

He's found the very best locations, with pain staking noting and referencing the exact time of day or year to shoot there.

My lessons involved shooting coastal shots on a stormy day with the sun setting against white Chalk cliffs. Early morning sun rise of a medieval castle reflecting itself perfectly on to a River, and lastly a muddy farmers field in the pitch dark capturing the stars with long exposures! I liked the fact that he could tailor my lessons to suit my needs which happened to be a coming trip To Nepal and the Himalayas'. I decided to take lesson's with Simon as I found that being out by myself taking photographs I wasn't really getting any better and progression was annoyingly slow! Partly because I had no one there looking over my shoulder telling me if I was doing things right or wrong.

No matter how many books you read nothing can beat one to one tuition rather than the laborious job of having to work things out for yourself with trial and error. I learnt more in one day with Simon that I learnt in the last 6 months reading books!!

I returned from Nepal delighted with my results but above all else, with photographs I was proud to say I took!! and this was all down to Simons tutoring.

I believe this to be a fairly new venture for him, therefore I have written this testimonial as a delighted customer. I have no hesitation in recommending Simon and I cant wait to get out again with him soon to take my photography up another level. Simon I can't thank you enough and I wish you every success with your tutoring.

Jamie Thomas, Via E-mail December 2009.

Having been interested in Photography for many years, I decided to get some professional tuition and advice and could not have found a better teacher than Simon. With his expert guidance and never failing patience, I have been able to see a great improvement in my shots, in a short period of time. No matter how many questions I`ve asked or how often I have needed to go over the same technical points, Simon has always found ways to make everything clear for me. A day out with this photographer is also fun and interesting, his knowledge of the beautiful South Downs National Park in Sussex has helped me to discover spots I have come back to time and time again.

So far I have had two photographic sessions with Simon and when time allows, will no doubt do more at a new and stunning landscape location.

If you want professional tuition that’s also enjoyable and stimulating, than I can highly recommend Simon.

Marie, Via E-mail April 2010

I have been interested in photography for many years, both film and digital. A demanding career limited my time, but early retirement enabled me to indulge myself with an wonderful Canon 7D SLR and some excellent lenses. Having then studied several good books and increased my knowledge and understanding it was time to seek some professional tuition to help me pull it altogether.

I live in Essex but travel to Sussex frequently and have a very keen interest in anything to do with the countryside. So, it made sense to find a Landscape Photography Course based in Sussex, easier said than done! I found Simon’s site whilst searching the Internet, and what a find. I spent a day with Simon in June on the Sussex Downs and a very worthwhile day it was too. At my request we began at a very basic level, to enable me to check my understanding, but we soon progressed to the composition of images, the best use of light and ended with some wonderful sunset shots.

The time went all too quickly, but I left Simon feeling far more confident and knowledgeable with a far greater understanding of how to get the best from the camera. All my photography is now in manual mode, which is progress in itself. I am already looking forward to a further session with Simon, and would recommend him to anybody who is keenly interested in landscape photography and looking to hone or develop their skills both in photography and handling a digital SLR.

David Hall, July 2010

Simon has a wealth of photographic knowledge, that anyone wanting to improve their photography has to take advantage of. The one to one tuition was an excellent way of developing a number of areas where I needed to make improvements. The locations we went to were some of the best in the South East and the pub for lunch wasn't bad either! By the end of the day I had taken some great photos. I would recommend Simon`s tuition to anyone wanting to take better photos.

Ben Glover, July 2010

I have had a Canon G9 for nearly 2 years and my interest is landscape photography. Having spotted Simon’s web site and his spectacular pictures I grasped the opportunity for a tutoring evening session from him at Bosham.

I had said to Simon I wanted to learn more about composition and that I did. Simon lead me through composition using for one example the meander of the stream channel as a lead in to the picture, boats for the middle ground and a background of the waterside properties. Simon had spotted from the photos I had sent that I was careless in my composition in that I did not take sufficient care of the edge of my photos, I had objects half sticking into the picture – distractions. I was taught to set up and use my tripod (get a spirit level), use the timer delay to minimise camera motion, use of filters was demonstrated and for panoramas of the waterside properties remember to use manual focus. As consequence I went home and learnt how to stitch in Photoshop Essentials the next morning. Simon demonstrated his patience with me explaining why it was better to shoot in RAW than JPEG even though for printing you converted back to 8 bit levels.

So I learnt much in my evening with Simon as I have listed. Perhaps as important to me was the confidence Simon gave me to get out there and take photographs.

I would certainly recommend both Simon as a tutor and his evening course at Bosham.

Peter, August 2010