On Friday 23^rd March 2012 twenty of our students from years 11 and 12 attended a workshop in Braintree Sixth Form with Tina Korhonen.

Tina is a professional freelance portrait, music and editorial photographer whose work has been published in national magazines such as Kerrang!, NME and Rolling Stone. Over her career she has shot some of the biggest names in the music business, including Florence and the Machine, Kiss, Dave Grohl, My Chemical Romance and Amy Winehouse.

The first half of the workshop was devoted to Tina outlining the work of a professional photographer and detailing the variety of assignments and situations with which she has been faced over the years. She accompanied the discussion with many examples of her work, showing both the original files and also how they were transformed into final magazine covers. Tina also talked to the students about how she started in the business and what experience and qualifications she felt would be necessary to get your first big assignment today.

After a short break the second half had Tina doing a mini “photoshoot” using some of the students as models. She showed them what would be involved in a one light 5 minute shoot and then what changes she would make given more time and access to studio equipment. Some of the students were then given the opportunity to shoot their own set of photos under Tina’s expert guidance.

The whole event was a real education for our students wishing to pursue a potential career in the industry, especially as it demonstrated just how hard a job it can be at times. It’s rarely a stress free time in glamorous locations shooting beautiful people!

Our thanks go to Tina for taking the time out of her busy schedule to run such a successful workshop and to Hannah Warner and Lucy Pickering for agreeing to model at short notice.

For examples of Tina’s work, visit her website at www.tina-k.co.uk

Mr Rowe
Media Support Manager.