Interested in how everything works?
Here are our most commonly answered questions, you can also contact us for more information.
How do I join up?
Online bookings can be made at anytime from a few places on the site, all of the different courses, clubs and upcoming events can be found together on the Book page. Alternatively please just drop us an email, either directly to chrisfromwhiteoakstudios@gmail.com or by filling in our online form and we will get in touch to confirm the rest!
Who are these courses for?
These courses are suitable for anyone looking to further their photography. Most of the clients are keen amateurs who enjoy a hobby that engages mind and body while giving a sense of pride in the work they produce.
Many of the learners have transferred from Chris’ in person lessons over to online learning and as such there are a lot of friendly Geordies and Northumbrians in our groups. If a warm north-east welcome isn't enough to tempt you their wonderful images of the beautiful castles and coastline should. We look forward to broadening the White Oak Studios horizons, and seeing images from other magnificent locations as our client base continues to grow.
What are the benefits of these courses?
Aside from the photography and editing skills you will be taught, the benefits of this type of lifelong learning are far-reaching. After completing our beginners photography course many of the learners talk of a new way of looking at the world, a sense of noticing and taking pleasure in the details around you- seeing beautiful things to appreciate and photograph.
Working as part of a group of like-minded learners encourages friendship, inspiration and a sense of belonging. Many of our learners enjoy the community they have become part of and stay with us indefinitely by joining one of our informal clubs where they’re able to put into practice the skills they have learned.
It’s easy to see first hand how learner confidence grows in a variety of ways over the weeks the classes spend together from becoming more proficient with IT to becoming more comfortable while speaking in the group. Soon our learners are better able to review their own work, becoming more independent creative practitioners and tackling increasingly difficult tasks. Our long term learners have had incredible success developing their own styles and building skills to rival many professionals.
What if I miss a lesson/call?
These adult learning classes are designed for you, they are supportive and flexible. You have the opportunity to share your work in our online class at any time to give and receive feedback to your peers. The work is given out in advance of the call in order for learners to schedule their own time to do the exercises. If other commitments mean you can't attend that week’s video call but you need help you can email Chris, your tutor, privately. The beauty of online learning is the flexibility to join the call from any location with an internet connection, we have learners phoning during breaks from work, out and about using their mobile or away from home in a friends house or holiday cottage. The calls are scheduled in 6 week blocks giving a regular one or two week break.
What if I get stuck?
Email Chris! She is on hand to help with all of your queries. Our online classrooms are also a great resource for support, if you are stuck someone else probably is too. A huge benefit of learning as part of a group is the ability to share knowledge.
I don't know how to learn online, how does it work?
We have an online class set up and ready to welcome interested learners free of charge for just this type of situation, a place that without any obligation you can see the system that we use and work out if it is right for you.
For many of our learners our course is the first they have done online so full guides are provided to take you through step-by-step how to get set up on our system, and you can always contact us if you get stuck. Everything you will need is kept together in the same website so you soon become familiar with it.
The lesson for each week is made available to you in a pdf (similar to an e-book), this contains diagrams, instructions and video demonstrations. Throughout the week you can contact the tutor or keep in touch with your peers asking questions and sharing photos to our online stream (only visible to your classmates and teacher), ideally each learner will put here the photos they produced that week. At the same time each week you will join a video call where the tutor will lead a discussion of that weeks work, clarifying any questions and offering advice and feedback on your homework; she will also introduce the next set of exercises. After the call it is time to begin the next pdf of work ready to discuss next week.
What do I need to join the course?
To learn online you will (of course) need an internet connection to download the homework and upload your photos, a stable, reasonable speed connection is best for taking part in the weekly video call. Your computer will also need a microphone and WebCam but these are normally inbuilt in recent computers, laptops or tablets. I strongly recommend that you download and use the internet browser Google Chrome for accessing our online class. This is free to purchase and quite easy to install, instruction can be provided.
To get the most out of our beginners photography class you will benefit from a camera that can adjust the aperture, shutter speed and ISO. The course covers a broad range of topics intending to be suitable for most cameras and beginner photographers- many of the exercises require no specific technical settings and rely instead on composition and a good eye. Please do bear in mind that including a such wide range of exercises in the course content will mean that not every exercise is suitable for every learner/camera.
Our editing courses have been produced in three different versions, if you use either Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements or Affinity Photo our exercises and guides will be suitable for you. Our resources have been recorded using the 2020 or 2021 versions of the software so please allow for any differences, which are normally easy to overcome, if your software is older.
Who will my tutor be?
Chris. White Oak Studios is run by Christine Woodcock, who has 2 photography and 1 teaching degrees (so she knows how it feels to be a learner) and quite a few years teaching under her belt. In time White Oak will grow and Chris is looking forward to welcoming other enthusiastic, inspiring and knowledgeable tutors into the fold. The rapport between student and teacher is the bedrock of this community, setting the tone for other friendly and helpful interactions in the groups. You will always know who will be leading your sessions and will be able to build that trusting relationship essential to growth.
When do classes start? Can I start straight away?
In order to get the full benefit of group learning, peer support and a creative community classes only begin once a few learners are ready to work through at the same time. The class numbers vary between 4 and 8 learners, all of whom need enrolled for the same course level and to be free at the same weekly time for the call. Enrolment can be done online for the next scheduled start date. Alternatively pop you name on our waiting list and let us know when you are free and we will match you with like minded folks, in the meantime you can join our online waiting room, a class where you can begin getting to know the system and each other.
Online bookings can be made at anytime from a few places on the site, all of the different courses, clubs and upcoming events can be found together on the Book page. Alternatively please just drop us an email, either directly to chrisfromwhiteoakstudios@gmail.com or by filling in our online form and we will get in touch to confirm the rest!
Who are these courses for?
These courses are suitable for anyone looking to further their photography. Most of the clients are keen amateurs who enjoy a hobby that engages mind and body while giving a sense of pride in the work they produce.
Many of the learners have transferred from Chris’ in person lessons over to online learning and as such there are a lot of friendly Geordies and Northumbrians in our groups. If a warm north-east welcome isn't enough to tempt you their wonderful images of the beautiful castles and coastline should. We look forward to broadening the White Oak Studios horizons, and seeing images from other magnificent locations as our client base continues to grow.
What are the benefits of these courses?
Aside from the photography and editing skills you will be taught, the benefits of this type of lifelong learning are far-reaching. After completing our beginners photography course many of the learners talk of a new way of looking at the world, a sense of noticing and taking pleasure in the details around you- seeing beautiful things to appreciate and photograph.
Working as part of a group of like-minded learners encourages friendship, inspiration and a sense of belonging. Many of our learners enjoy the community they have become part of and stay with us indefinitely by joining one of our informal clubs where they’re able to put into practice the skills they have learned.
It’s easy to see first hand how learner confidence grows in a variety of ways over the weeks the classes spend together from becoming more proficient with IT to becoming more comfortable while speaking in the group. Soon our learners are better able to review their own work, becoming more independent creative practitioners and tackling increasingly difficult tasks. Our long term learners have had incredible success developing their own styles and building skills to rival many professionals.
What if I miss a lesson/call?
These adult learning classes are designed for you, they are supportive and flexible. You have the opportunity to share your work in our online class at any time to give and receive feedback to your peers. The work is given out in advance of the call in order for learners to schedule their own time to do the exercises. If other commitments mean you can't attend that week’s video call but you need help you can email Chris, your tutor, privately. The beauty of online learning is the flexibility to join the call from any location with an internet connection, we have learners phoning during breaks from work, out and about using their mobile or away from home in a friends house or holiday cottage. The calls are scheduled in 6 week blocks giving a regular one or two week break.
What if I get stuck?
Email Chris! She is on hand to help with all of your queries. Our online classrooms are also a great resource for support, if you are stuck someone else probably is too. A huge benefit of learning as part of a group is the ability to share knowledge.
I don't know how to learn online, how does it work?
We have an online class set up and ready to welcome interested learners free of charge for just this type of situation, a place that without any obligation you can see the system that we use and work out if it is right for you.
For many of our learners our course is the first they have done online so full guides are provided to take you through step-by-step how to get set up on our system, and you can always contact us if you get stuck. Everything you will need is kept together in the same website so you soon become familiar with it.
The lesson for each week is made available to you in a pdf (similar to an e-book), this contains diagrams, instructions and video demonstrations. Throughout the week you can contact the tutor or keep in touch with your peers asking questions and sharing photos to our online stream (only visible to your classmates and teacher), ideally each learner will put here the photos they produced that week. At the same time each week you will join a video call where the tutor will lead a discussion of that weeks work, clarifying any questions and offering advice and feedback on your homework; she will also introduce the next set of exercises. After the call it is time to begin the next pdf of work ready to discuss next week.
What do I need to join the course?
To learn online you will (of course) need an internet connection to download the homework and upload your photos, a stable, reasonable speed connection is best for taking part in the weekly video call. Your computer will also need a microphone and WebCam but these are normally inbuilt in recent computers, laptops or tablets. I strongly recommend that you download and use the internet browser Google Chrome for accessing our online class. This is free to purchase and quite easy to install, instruction can be provided.
To get the most out of our beginners photography class you will benefit from a camera that can adjust the aperture, shutter speed and ISO. The course covers a broad range of topics intending to be suitable for most cameras and beginner photographers- many of the exercises require no specific technical settings and rely instead on composition and a good eye. Please do bear in mind that including a such wide range of exercises in the course content will mean that not every exercise is suitable for every learner/camera.
Our editing courses have been produced in three different versions, if you use either Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements or Affinity Photo our exercises and guides will be suitable for you. Our resources have been recorded using the 2020 or 2021 versions of the software so please allow for any differences, which are normally easy to overcome, if your software is older.
Who will my tutor be?
Chris. White Oak Studios is run by Christine Woodcock, who has 2 photography and 1 teaching degrees (so she knows how it feels to be a learner) and quite a few years teaching under her belt. In time White Oak will grow and Chris is looking forward to welcoming other enthusiastic, inspiring and knowledgeable tutors into the fold. The rapport between student and teacher is the bedrock of this community, setting the tone for other friendly and helpful interactions in the groups. You will always know who will be leading your sessions and will be able to build that trusting relationship essential to growth.
When do classes start? Can I start straight away?
In order to get the full benefit of group learning, peer support and a creative community classes only begin once a few learners are ready to work through at the same time. The class numbers vary between 4 and 8 learners, all of whom need enrolled for the same course level and to be free at the same weekly time for the call. Enrolment can be done online for the next scheduled start date. Alternatively pop you name on our waiting list and let us know when you are free and we will match you with like minded folks, in the meantime you can join our online waiting room, a class where you can begin getting to know the system and each other.