A couple of months back I got myself a shiny new toy. A Nikon D5600 (not a motorbike most regrettably). As ecstatic as I was to finally make the leap of faith from point and shoot, across the rickety bridge (that's one for the photography nerds) to SLR land, it wasn't exactly a graceful landing. It was a classic case of what my Mum likes to call 'all the gear and no idea'. Still, enthused as ever I decided with a little practice I would be well on my way to photography fame. Then I made a huge error. Massive. Unsalvageable to be perfectly frank. I'm calling it the Edinburgh disaster. I took my new camera on an important holiday with my friends. The type of holiday where you hike for hours up a mountain (yes it WAS a mountain Ellie) to experience the most breathtaking views of the place. The type of holiday where you pose for group shots in stunning scenery, with the people that mean everything to you, and delight in the knowledge that you will have such wonderful pictures to remember this moment for centuries to come. Well not these ones. A toddler with a blackberry covered in nut butter would have done a better job. I would give you a little taster of just how badly these photos came out but even I have that much artistic integrity. 

The point is: Don't start practising on a complex new piece of kit during a major event. Do everyone a favour and use your IPhone.

Edinburgh disaster painfully in mind, I decided to do a 1 day course at Nikon Studios in London to get body confident (sorry, couldn’t resist) before attempting to photograph my next major life event. I will be honest I was sceptical. The man that sold me my Nikon was perfectly nice and visibly dedicated to providing excellent customer service, but it was a lot to take in all at once while suffering that special sort of achy feet you only get in John Lewis. Long story short I was concerned the course would be an unceremonious, overly technical brain dump from 30 year expert to me. That couldn’t have been further from the truth.

I will be honest, its not the edgiest of joints, and yes 70 per cent of the class was called Graeme and there to shoot wildlife. However, it really does what it says on the tin. Ricci our teacher had a really punchy PowerPoint which we worked through methodically, between little interactive learning exercises. He didn’t just tell me how my camera worked, he actually SHOWED me. We did shutter speed experiments where we all moved around the room whilst the shutter speed was on 30" and saw how we all but disappeared in the final product. These demonstrative exercises mean that I will never ever forget what shutter speed does because I haven’t just learned it, I have seen it with my own eyes. 

The other exercise we did was learning how to track moving objects and freeze the subject in frame whilst the background blurs out to preserve that dynamic elements of motion. Considering I hadn't so much as taken a recognisable picture of my practically statue-like friends in Edinburgh, getting an almost crisp picture of moving things felt like a very big milestone. 

So there you have it. 10 out of 10 for Ricci and 10 out of 10 for Nikon. Alas, this is not the end. For me, almost in focus pictures of unsuspecting motorists is just the beginning. I have big dreams, and for this I am heading to Central Saint Martins School of Art.