When we learn to confidently shoot in manual mode, there’s no question it’s a game changer. It’s a totally liberating feeling to master your camera! It gives us the power to create technically sound photos every time… no more unintended motion blur, or over and under exposed photos.

But ultimately, we want more than just technically sound. At some point we all start to crave a deeper understanding of the intricacies of light and how to use it to take more artistic photos. Not to mention the skills and confidence to shoot in any light conditions. We want to explore more complex compositional theories so we can create more powerful, layered imagery. We want more than nice. We want amazing!!

And that’s where our Advanced Photography Course enters the picture (pun intended!). When your images are nice, but you’re ready for AMAZING, there’s no secret to it. All you need are these four things:

1. Some expert instruction;
2. A decent camera with manual mode capability (entry level digital camera is fine!);
3. A willingness to be led outside of your comfort zone;
4. Being open to feedback.

That’s it. You ARE capable. Your ability to grow your photography skills is inside of you, all you need to do is show up, and we’ll do the rest!

And with that, I’m excited to introduce you to Suyong Pak, one of our gorgeous Advanced Grads who’s dying to share with you how she achieved her goal to shoot in any kind of light, and to get more confident and faster with her skills so that she could keep photographing her daughters who were getting a bit bored with it all (and we’ve all been there!)…

Meet Suyong!

I was born and grew up in Tokyo, Japan, and I moved to the US in my early 20s where I now live in Chicago with my husband and two girls, ages 10 and 4. I have an uninteresting 9-5 job where I sit in front of the computer most of the day, and so for me photography is my creative outlet!

Ready for the next steps

After the Enthusiast Course, I had the foundational skills to take good pictures consistently…

But I wanted the WOW factor that I see daily in my Facebook feed, in photos taken by CLG Advanced Grads.

I also felt pretty confident shooting outdoors on cloudy days or in open shade. But when I shot in full sun and indoors, my photos almost never turned out the way I wanted them to. So I really wanted to learn about different kinds of light, and advance my tech skills to get more confident shooting in more challenging light situations.

 

Deep diving into light

I was consistently inspired by and drawn to photos that were either shot in golden hour backlight, or indoors in really dramatic directional light. So my biggest goal when I joined the Advanced Course was to learn about that kind of light, how to shoot in it to get really beautiful, dreamy golden light photos of my girls, or dramatic, directional light portraits.

 

I also wanted to be able to take pictures without frustrating my kids by taking so much time to take the one image I was after!

My favourite lesson was the advanced lighting lessons as I learned to shoot in backlight, low light, hard light and dramatic light.

With advanced skills comes confidence

One of my biggest takeaways from the course was the confidence I gained!!

I used to ask some of my friends to let me practice on them, but I would tell them “I can’t promise amazing pictures, but they will be better than your phone photos”. But now I feel more confident that I can give them great photos!

Also, I have the skills now to get the shots I want much faster!

So a surprising bonus is that my older daughter has become so much more cooperative and even offers to be my subject because she gets some cool photos as a result, without having to be in front of the camera for a long time.

The Click Love Grow difference

I really love the CLG community, both instructors and all the fellow students are so kind and supportive!

The instructors have created such a supportive environment where no question is stupid, and mistakes are normalized and treated as learning opportunities.

Even now almost a year since I started the Advanced Course, I even feel more amazed at how awesome the course is! I keep having these aaha! moments where another part of the course sinks in even further, and I grow more and more!

Before & After

Check out Suyong’s before and after set… her before shot is cute, in focus, it’s even framed well… but it’s missing the wow factor she craved.

 

Thank you Suyong for taking the time to share your CLG experience and gorgeous photos! If you want to see more of Suyong’s work you can find her over here.

Watch my live chat with Suyong!

 

If you’re shooting in manual mode, on our Advanced Photography Course you will develop your creative artistry, refine your skills to shoot with confidence in any scenario, and find your unique style.  Our next course is starting on 27th September… join now to lock in access to our fantastic early bird sale and 3 BONUS trainings!