Composing Memories
Take Photos You Love
Have you ever taken photos on holidays or at a family event and not liked any of them?
Were you told as a child that you aren't creative?
Transform your photography skills – rediscover your creative side and you can take photos that you, and others, will love!
Picture yourself feeling comfortable every time you take a photo, knowing how to frame it up so that it looks great.
Imagine how good you’ll feel when you are able to capture special moments with family and friends – preserving those precious moments – whether at a celebration at home or when you are on holidays.
Composing Memories will change the way you think about taking photos!
With Composing Memories, you'll discover how to take photos that WOW!
Do you want to take photos that take you back to a time and place that fills your heart with joy?
Do you want others to see what made you want to take the photo in the first place?
Join us for our introductory four-week online program — Composing Memories 1 — to build your skills and develop your confidence to Take Photos you Love.
Starting late January 2017, our online program will open for enrolment. Or maybe you'd like to join us for one of our seasonally-inspired boutique 5- to 7-day in-person retreats in Italy, to come and practice your skills in one of the most beautiful countries in the world.
Each small group retreat will be based in a hand-picked venue, where we'll soak up the local life – including festivals tourists seldom hear about, let alone visit. Throughout the 'off-season' we'll enjoy the quieter streets with room to see the spectacular views, both expansive and up close.
Over the next 18 months, destinations include historic Florence, ancient Lucca, the spectacular val d’Orcia, and the hilltop cities of Arezzo and Cortona in Tuscany. We'll also visit the sun-drenched Ligurian coast, the beautiful lakes of Como and Maggiore in Lombardy, and even wander the mystical streets of Venice and her nearby islands. Check in at GlobalWanderings.ca for more information. Not sure you want to spend a week in one place in Italy ... don't worry, more destinations are being planned for 2017 and beyond.
Karuna Sukha – Composing Memories student
After spending the last couple of years working and studying, I was looking for a creative, fun hobby. This is when I signed up for the online photography course with Sandy and I have no regrets. Sandy provides you with the tools to start taking great pictures and once you begin practicing she’s there to support and guide you so that your pictures and perspectives change for the better.
The best way to sum up the course is with the conversation I recently had with my boyfriend – he asked, ‘Now that you’re almost done with the course, have you learnt anything?’
My response was, ‘Well, have you seen my recent photos?’
To which he replied, ‘Ok, point taken. You do have some really cool pictures!’
How does Composing Memories online course work?
Each week we'll look at two techniques and how to use them to gain control of your photos.
Then you’ll have a few days to practice the techniques and build your skills and confidence with a special activity for each.
Through the weeks we'll talk about
- how changing your Viewpoint can change the photo
- using Patterns, Textures, Colour and Light
- the Rule of Thirds, and how to use it
- bring the viewer into the photo through Leading Lines
- Foreground and Background - and why they matter
- a really Close Crop or Minimalism
- how to Balance these techniques, and then how to Play!
Once you've completed the activities each week, you’ll post your photos into our secret Facebook group where we can talk together about what you saw, and how it captured your imagination.
The group is about supporting each other – building a community of photographers as we increase our skills and confidence together.
At the end of this course, you’ll feel more confident in taking photos that you and your family will love.
Gillian Worrrall – Designer
I have worked with Sandy from many years and always come away from any encounter with a smile on my face and a brain brimming with new ideas and a desire to explore these ideas further.
Sandy is a thoughtful teacher and her enthusiasm for the project at hand is infectious.
We’ll work through the Composing Memories School, where you can watch the videos again, and go over the Activity Worksheets.
We’ll chat in our Facebook Group, to help each other, and encourage great work. It's our private group, to help support one another as we practice taking photos that we love!
No one is alone is this journey. Together we'll practice taking photos you will fall in love with!
Together, we’ll indulge your senses, using each in turn to trigger different skills and remember the techniques of good photos.
Imagine capturing the moment just before it rains – the cooling sweet-smelling summer air, before the storm breaks.
Or the visual impact of fading autumn colours, or bright spring blooms…
Imagine taking photos that you want to step into, if only for a moment, to relive the pleasure of an experience.
Lara-Kym Lever - Speechwriter
I have known Sandy since early 2008, and was a member of her team through 2009. As a manager, I found Sandy to have a keen focus on supporting, encouraging and mentoring her staff to develop their skills.
More broadly, Sandy provided me with reassurance and guidance as I navigated the early stages of my career, and continues to be a supportive force in my life as she has moved from manager to mentor and friend.
...at the end of the online course?
In our last
week, we’ll talk about bringing all the techniques together, to decide which you’ll
use and then how to bend, or even break them. After all, photography is a
creative way to see the world – who says your spin is wrong… We’ll just make
your spin look great!
Our Facebook group will still be active, and a great way to show off what you have learned and how you are improving. We will be there to cheer you on or offer ideas if you have questions. This is a community of people who want to encourage each other - welcome to the crew! You'll also be invited to join the GlobalWanderings community on Facebook, and in person.
GlobalWanderings Boutique Photography Retreats
Once you've completed the course, we won't just leave you 'hanging'... Maybe you'd like to join us for one of our seasonally-inspired boutique 5- to 7-day in-person retreats in Italy, to come and practice your skills in one of the most beautiful countries in the world.
Each small group retreat will be based in a handpicked venue, where we'll soak up the local life – including festivals tourists seldom hear about, let alone visit. Throughout the ‘off-season’ we will enjoy quieter streets with room to see the spectacular views, both expansive and up close.
Over the next couple of years, destinations include historic Florence, ancient Lucca, the spectacular val d’Orcia, and the hilltop cities of Arezzo and Cortona in Tuscany. We'll also visit the sun-drenched Ligurian coast, the beautiful lakes of Como and Maggiore in Lombardy, and even wander the mystical streets of Venice and her nearby islands. Check in at GlobalWanderings.ca for more information. Not sure you want to spend a week in one place in Italy ... don't worry, more destinations are being planned for 2017 and beyond. In spring 2018, we'll visit two wonderful places on an 8-night tour to the Danish island of Bornholm, and to the Swedish region of Smäland. Both are home to wonderful artisans – from creative artists to culinary artists...
The aim of the retreats is to tempt all of your senses and give you the chance to capture it all in photographs!
Your Instructor
Sandy Swanton is a freelance travel writer/photographer and blogger. Since training in Visual Communications, specializing in Graphic Design in Sydney, Sandy has spent more than 25 years developing a strong portfolio career in visual and written communications in eastern Australia and western Canada, working successfully across the private, non-profit and government sectors.
Twenty years ago Sandy established and taught a diploma program in Graphic Design at a private design school in Canada, garnering the support of other local designers, keen to see the industry grow. Sandy has also taught English online to business people all around the world – from beginner to executive coaching.
After the design school, Sandy moved into non-profit and government communications, winning international awards for her part in successful teams delivering top results in Canada and Australia.
Now living in Italy and pursuing her triple passions of travel, finding the unusual perspective to photograph, and painting pictures with words. Sandy is also working as a consultant with several local destinations to tell their stories, and consulting with other retreat organizers to help them organize the best retreats in Italy.
Stepping out of the corporate world into the next chapters of her life, her first blog of her first years in Italy, GlobalWanderings.ca is now home to her new photocomposition program of online training, Composing Memories, and international boutique retreats. Join Sandy and learn how to Take Photos You Love!
Frequently Asked Questions
This Online Course IS right for you if:
– you love taking photos
– you want to take photos that you, your family and friends will treasure
– you've felt disheartened in the past with the photos you've taken
– you've struggled with how to take better photos
– you're discouraged, maybe even afraid, your school art teachers may have been right about you "not being creative"
– you want to build your skills and confidence in a supportive and encouraging environment
– you want to Take Photos You Love, starting now!
This Online Course is NOT right for you if:
– you are hoping this course is a "magic pill" to solve all your problems
– you are not willing to join in our conversations to understand the skills we'll talk about, or do the homework to practice the techniques
– you are scared to try something new
If you want to join a growing community of support and learn new skills, join us for our next course. Sign up today!
Okay, I'm IN! I want to learn how to Take Photos I Love!