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Learn to Photograph Like a Pro

Yes! You too can create stunning images

Are you foxed by all those controls on your camera?

Still using it on auto?

If you own a DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera
and you are still using it on the ‘Auto’ setting you are missing out.
There is so much more that you can do with your camera.

Take this this straightforward, non-technical course in English and you will begin to use all those creative controls on your camera. You will begin to photograph like a Pro.

 

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Alistair Scott’s Through The Lens photography course is suitable for beginner-intermediate photographers and covers both the technical and aesthetic aspects of photography in equal balance.

What the course covers:

Getting to grips with your camera
How your camera takes a photograph. The basics – aperture, shutter speed and correct exposure. Getting sharp images – focus and depth of field.
Moving beyond automatic
Your camera’s controls. How they work and when to use the different options
More sophistication
Lens types, their uses and effects. Controlling the sensitivity of the sensor with ISO settings. Image quality settings. Exposure compensation
Light
Light sources – flash and available light – how to control them and use them to best effect. Special lighting situations – low light, backlight, sun and shade, fill-in flash
The elements of visual composition
Ways of turning mediocre photographs into good ones and good ones into great. Viewpoint, lines, angles, Rule of Thirds
Introductions …
… to family, portrait, landscape, sports and action photography
Troubleshooting
What can go wrong with your photos. And what to do about it
Camera care
Looking after your camera and equipment
Photo accessories
The essential … the ho-hum … and the useless

This will be a ‘hands-on’ practical course and you should bring your camera to each session.

You will be using it!.

In addition, to help you improve your photography, a photo-assignment will be set each week. These assignments are optional, but they will make you think about the techniques you have learned each week, and will help you put these techniques into practice. You will be able to submit your work before the next session the group will discuss everyone’s photos in that following session.

What particpants say:

Inspiring. I now cannot stop evaluating every situation to see if it would make a good photograph.”
Rebecca Wass

Thoroughly enjoyed the course and realised there is so much more I can do with my camera.”
Deborah Ritterband

 

Reserve your place now!

Yes! Reserve me a place!

 

Or, for full printed details and an application form, download the flyer here

 

There will also be the opportunity for course participants to take part in guided photo-walks (weather permitting), at reduced cost, at weekends. This will be a chance to apply your classroom learning in a natural situation.

 


 

 

Start your page with a compelling headline — it’s your most important element. Add a strong secondary header to amplify your point and give that headline an additional push. Optional: Use a compelling image here to create immediate trust and rapport. Scroll down to the section below on images for more ideas. Then start your sales letter by launching immediately into a mesmerizing premise, right after the secondary headline. Remember: the job of the headline is to get the reader to read the next line. The job of the second header is to get your reader to read the first line of your premise.

Every word of your sales letter, for the first half-page or so, is designed purely to get the reader to keep reading. Everything else is secondary.

Once the reader’s attention of fully engaged, you can start selling — not before. The premise lets your reader know she’s in the right place. She immediately grasps that this letter is about a problem that bothers her or that somehow makes her life better in a way that she cares about. The same product could be marketed with dozens, or even hundreds, of different premises. Some will be wildly successful, and some will be duds. If your premise doesn’t make a connection with your buyer, none of the rest of this will work. If you don’t have a strong premise yet, or if you want to strengthen the ideas you already have, take a look at the Landing Page Assistant tutorial on creating an irresistible premise.

Identify the connection between you and the buyer

Unless your reader knows you extremely well (for example you’ve already created a strong connection with a blog, email newsletter, strong social media presence, or you’re already a celebrity in your field), you’ll want to take some time here to make the connection between you and your reader. Show the reader that “she’s a lot like you.” In a brief but compelling way, let her know that you’ve struggled with her problems, you’ve shared her frustrations, and you’ve found a solution that made your life much better. (Later you’ll describe that solution — your offer — in more detail. Just hint at it for now.) This is an excellent place to put a photo of yourself. (Two other good spots are right at the top right of the sales letter, and at the very end with your P.S.) If you want to know more about this, take a look at the Landing Page Assistant tutorial on Identify the Buyer Connection.

What I’ve got for you

Here’s where you describe what you’re going to deliver with your offer. Remember too that you need to focus on benefits, not just features. Do include features that are relevant to your buyer, but be sure they’re always paired with benefits. Use fascinating bullet points — they’re more scannable. You may want to boldface certain elements to make the content even more scannable. Here’s an example:

  • Each week you’ll get at least one MP3 audio lesson and a Next Action worksheet. The audio gives you a core concept or “how to” that you’ll need to create your marketing plan, and the worksheet gets you out of theory and into doing something.
  • There will also be a complete transcript, if audio’s not your favorite way to learn. These are also great for review, since you can skim them quickly to find the point you want.
  • When the topic calls for it, I’ll tap some friends on the shoulder and get great guest interviews for you, so you can get a really well-rounded view of the subject we’re covering. We’ll transcribe these as well.
  • We’ll have regular Q&A calls so we can dig into the issues facing your project and clarify anything that might not be completely clear to you.
  • And you’ll have access to a tight-knit online community of fellow members, to brainstorm solutions, trade advice and experience, find potential partners, and get personalized advice from me. No matter what’s got you stuck, the community and I are here to get you rolling again.

A weak offer will kill your sales, so make sure you’re offering something people really want. If you’re not sure you have a great offer, take a look at the Landing Page Assistant tutorial on How to Put Together an Offer They Can’t Resist. Optional: Put an “Add to Cart” button here.

Testimonial

This is a good spot for an initial testimonial.

Pull out a particularly juicy benefit

Select one benefit you think will nudge the reader off the fence and into becoming a buyer. Describe that benefit here.

Testimonial

This is a good spot for a testimonial. Make it one that tells a story about the juicy benefit you just highlighted.

More detailed description of the offer

This section is optional; it depends on how complex your offer is. If your product is relatively expensive and your reader needs quite a bit of detailed information before she can make the decision to buy, this is where you put it. Remember to keep it scannable! Use subheads, short paragraphs, and fascinating bullet points to describe your offer in detail.

PART ONE OF THE OFFER

Description

  • Fascinating Bullet
  • Fascinating Bullet
  • Fascinating Bullet

PART TWO OF THE OFFER

Description

  • Fascinating Bullet
  • Fascinating Bullet
  • Fascinating Bullet

PART THREE OF THE OFFER

Description

  • Fascinating Bullet
  • Fascinating Bullet
  • Fascinating Bullet

Don’t be worried if this section is long. (It could go much longer than three parts!) The more fascinations you load in, the more compelling it is to your buyers. Optional: Put an “Add to Cart” button here.

Testimonial

This is a good spot for a testimonial. As always, try to tie it into the section that went immediately before.

Objections

Objections are all the reasons your prospect might not buy. She might feel the price is too high. (In which case you need to build the value of what you’ve got.) She might be concerned that the product won’t work the way you’ve said it will. She might be afraid she will feel foolish for buying the product, and may feel she needs “justification” for her family or friends. Each objection should have its own subheader and its own section. After you’ve addressed each objection, you may want to include a testimonial that speaks to that objection.

Testimonial

This is a good spot for a testimonial. Make this a testimonial that addresses the objection you’ve just talked about. You can include testimonials that address each objection if you like.

Call to action

Now you’re ready to ask the reader to do something. This is your call to action (often abbreviated by copywriters as your “CTA.” Your CTA needs to be extremely specific and extremely clear. It should be so specific and clear, in fact, that you almost feel it’s “too obvious.” Trust us, your prospect won’t find it so. It’s hard to believe that prospects will buy more of your product or service if you actually use language like “Click here” or “Dial 1-800-BUY-ME-NOW” but they will. Your CTA section is where you get to price — what you need from your buyer in order to deliver the benefits you’ve promised above. Start by briefly restating your offer. Restate your key benefits as bullet points. Then give the price. Contrast the price with the greater value of what you’re offering. Explain any pricing plans you may have. For more expensive products, the option to break the purchase into multiple payments can significantly improve your results. Put an “Add to Cart” button here.

Risk reversal

Right now, the right buyer will want to click your Add to Cart button. But she may have some lingering doubts. She’s worried about taking a risk with your product — and it’s your job to reverse that risk, to take any risk on yourself. The usual way to do this is with a money-back guarantee. There are some products or services (often those that involve an investment of time on your part) that you can’t offer a guarantee with. In that case, get creative here about what you can do to lessen the risk on the part of your customer. A “money back guarantee” graphic works well here. (You can find some great ones in the graphic library.)

Testimonial

This is a good spot for a testimonial. Make this testimonial one that reassures the reader and reduces her feeling of risk.

P.S.

The P.S. is the third most-read element of your sales letter, after the headline and image captions. So this is where you should restate your most important sales elements. That often means restating the most important benefit, restating the call to action, and restating the risk reversal. Be as brief as you can, but make sure it’s clear.

Additional points

Here are some additional things to keep in mind as you create your letter.

If the headline isn’t right, the letter won’t work

You’ve probably heard this advice before. If your headline doesn’t pull the reader’s attention in, then the reader (or viewer) never gets the chance to read the rest of your great sales copy. That’s why many successful copywriters spend as much as half of their time brainstorming headlines. Write 25-50 headlines. If you can, rest your mind for a day and then write 25 more headlines. One or two will jump out at you. Those are the ones you should split test. The right headline can double or triple the response to your sales letter. And the wrong letter can kill your project before you begin. There’s a great webinar with Jeff Sexton and Brian Clark in the member content area about how to create better headlines.

Make it scannable

As you work through your sales letter (whether it’s long or short), you must keep your copy scannable. That means that the reader can quickly skim the content and answer the question, “Is this something I’m interested in?” The right prospect will then go back and read more carefully before making that final buying decision. When your sales letter is complete, check the dual readership path. Does a skimming reader pick up your most important points?

A word about images

Images aren’t “decoration” for your copy — they convey critical information. Some important images for sales letters include:

  • A photo of you that lets the reader see that you’re a real human being. Test different types of photo. More casual “snapshot” images often work better than posed studio shots, but don’t make it so casual that you look sloppy.
  • “Money back guarantee” images and images that reverse risk.
  • Images as bullet points, which can pull attention to the most important elements in your copy.
  • Attention-focusing images (like “handwritten” stars or arrows) can be very effective to pull attention to key points of your copy.
  • A product image. (Unlike your individual photo, this needs to be professional-quality. Lousy product images will depress sales.) If your product is purely digital, a “virtual box cover” image is often effective.

Whenever practical, include captions on your images. Captions are some of the most-read elements of a sales page. The caption should state an important benefit of what you’re offering. You don’t need to include all of these images, just the ones that are relevant for your buyer and product.

A word about testimonials

Some people think testimonials are “overdone” or that readers don’t trust them anymore. But that’s not supported by the evidence. Social proof is still one of the most important drivers of human behavior. As long as people look to others to validate their choices, we’ll want to include testimonials in our sales material. Set testimonials off with special formatting so the reader can both find them easily and skip over them to your next sales point.

You are not your customer

Always remember that, while you may have a lot in common with your customer, the sales letter is for them, not for you! Just because you don’t believe testimonials, don’t care about money-back-guarantees, or think strong headlines are a “gimmick,” that has nothing to do with what your buyer needs to make that decision to choose your product over another option. When in doubt, split test two versions: The one you think is best, and the “tried and true copywriting advice” version. The only right answer is the one that the market responds to.