Previous Student Comments

We are delighted by the responses we receive from our ex students. Throughout our courses we monitor closely how our students feel about the standard of our teaching and how they are developing as a photographer. From beginning to end we endeavor to make students feel welcome and assist with any concerns or queries they have with the aspects of photography they learn, from getting the most from their camera to explaining lighting and posing techniques in further detail.

There are simply no other courses in Wedding and Portrait photography that enable so many students to start a successful business from home or a studio within months of joining a course.

“The course has been a thoroughly enjoyable introduction to photography as a business opportunity. The staff were friendly, welcoming and helpful and I found my self really looking forward to the weekend sessions. I would recommend this course to anyone who is thinking of pursuing photography as a business or just as a hobby.”
Owen Giles, Portrait Photography Course, August 2012

 

 

“The course has given me the confidence to set up a portrait shoot and the skills to execute one to a good standard. I was surprised at how quickly I picked up the skills and this is obviously a reflection of the high quality of teaching. The staff have been very helpful and friendly as are very willing to give you advice even when our questions are probably very basic.”
Alex Parker, Portrait Photography Course, August 2012

 

 

“Informative, friendly atmosphere and this wedding course had a really good group cohesion. Both Andrew and Grahame worked hard to fulfill the remit of the course right up to the last minute. Any rare moments of waiting was filled by question and answer sessions. Until ready to progress with the next element to be covered Grahame even gave up some of his lunch time to ensure everyone was happy. This course had a way of making you see the unforeseen problems encountered, and gave ways to avoid or remedy many situations. The business acumen you will accumulate on this course will undoubtedly steer you away from many pitfalls a new business would encounter. This course is an absolute must for anyone wanting to seriously make a living from Wedding Photography.”
Sam Herron, Wedding Photography Course, August 2012

 

“The course has been great. I always went back to work on a Monday and hated being there due to the buzz created on the course, I wanted to drop everything and just do photography!”
Hayley Cronin, Portrait Photography Course, August 2012

 

 

 

“Great overall course that focuses strongly on the business and commercial aspects of a photography business. The course has a good approach that breaks the process down into manageable sections and teaches you how to take professional shots that have been a pleasure to share.”
Richard Ellis, Wedding Photography Course, August 2012

 

 

“It was a very good course, I have learnt a lot about studio lighting, posing, and technical camera information. The tutors are all very professional and at the top of their game. The marketing advice for starting up a business was invaluable, and very well presented. I feel confident enough to take the next step and start my own business. I would recommend the course to anyone looking to do portrait photography.”
Linda Meacher, Portrait Photography Course, June 2012

 

 

“To have available the depth of not only photographic skills and excellence but the marketing experience and success at your fingertips, is a unique and exciting opportunity. The wide range of backgrounds not only with the tutors, but the fellow students, has given me a high degree of confidence and confirmed my choice to change my life, even at my age!”
Paul Sumner, Portrait Photography Course, June 2012

 

 

“This course, as well as the wedding course, has been an amazing experience both from the strictly technical (camera and photo techniques) and business point of view. I feel I learned a lot and I am extremely satisfied with the value for money invested in the courses.”
Alex Manciani, Portrait Photography Course, June 2012

 

 

“I found the course useful to learn about lighting, posing and all areas of marketing for wedding photography. The tutors helped as much as they could in every way.”
Lucy Johnstone, Wedding Photography Course, June 2012

 

 

 

“I have thoroughly enjoyed the whole course, I have learned so much and improved my photography and feel much more prepared and confident to tackle a wedding. I was on track with the shots taken at previous weddings however with what I have learnt my future weddings will be so much better. I have come away from each session buzzing with excitement and energy. It is a good course that I would definitely recommend. Thank you – I have learnt so much!”
Denise Brown, Wedding Photography Course, June 2012

 

 

“I would strongly recommend that anyone who is interested in a Photography business enrol on a Barrett & Coe photography course. I learnt a lot about marketing, which I did not previously on other courses I attended.”
Eveline Buenno – Portrait Photography Course, April 2012

 

 

 

“Excellent Course!! Should have done this years ago if I had known. Now very inspired and very informed. Awesome work Andrew!!!”
Clem Heriman – Portrait Photography Course, February 2012

 

 

 

 

“The course, service and experience has been second to none throughout. Thoroughly enjoying courses and amazed at how quickly it has enabled me to progress”
Mark Adams – Wedding Photography Course, February 2012

 

 

 

“Information packed two days covering many of the topics in a practicle hands on way. Lots of homework now to develop the skills. Many thanks for informative and fun course start”
Bernie Ramsay – Wedding Photography Course, February 2012

 

 

 

“Thoroughly enjoyable. It pushed and challenged us from day one but at no point did I feel it was unachievable. I felt we were in the hands of experts and as I’m taking on a Franchise, have no doubt that I’ll get the support I need.”
Maggie Clothier – Portrait Photography Course, January 2012

 

 

 

“Great to have a mix of technique and commercial side of running a business in one course. I feel I’ve learnt a lot about how to make a profitable business from Photography.”
Ros Stephens – Portrait Photography Course, January 2012

 

 

 

“The course provided me a very comprehensive introduction to portrait photography which was inspirational. The balance between practical and business advice was just right and has left me feeling very confident about my future options.”
Hazel Faint – Portrait Photography Course, December 2011

 

 

 

“Whether or not you intend to make money out of photography, if you are taking photos of people you’ll love this course! Thanks very much.”
Simon Brice – Portrait Photography Course, December 2011

 

 

 

“It was very enjoyable and I learnt so much. I’m looking forward to attending the Portrait course.”
Alex Manciani – Wedding Photography Course, December 2011

 

 

 

 

“The course was excellent. I now have the knowledge to be comfortable shooting a wedding.”
Paul Brooks – Wedding Photography Course, December 2011

 

 

 

 

“Having never used a camera before the day I arrived to start my course, I feel having completed my exam, excited at the potential in photography before me. I felt on the day of taking my exam that everything started to click together and I can really start to enjoy taking pictures. The most important bit for me was on the practical side – taking the practice photos. Plus critique of homework was invaluable.”
Amanda Bates – Wedding Photography Course, December 2011

 

“A great course, I’ve learnt so much about photography, my camera and setting up a business. I’m really pleased with my results. My advice to future candidates would be keep practising the homework shots.”
Kim Wright – Portrait Photography Course, December 2011

 

 

“I will be taking the next step in becoming a professional photographer and joining the Barrett & Coe franchise. They have provided the support and advice complete with confidence building training to help fully support the set up and successful running of a fully running studio. The two words of advice I can give if you’re looking for a career in wedding or portrait photography is DO IT.”
Gregg Smith – Portrait Photography Course, December 2011

 

 

“Enjoyable, informative, inspirational.”
Toni Banerjea – Portrait Photography course, December 2011

 

 

 

“Course far exceeded expectations. I arrived as someone with a very good understanding of the technology (camera’s etc.) but knew so little about performing a professional shoot.”
Gerard Dawson, Portrait Photography course, October 2011

 

 

“After just two days the course has imparted a great deal of knowledge. The method is simple (relatively) and is obviously tried and tested. The pace of the course is fast and the practical sessions invaluable. Thank you for all the expert tips.”
Mike Haberfield, Portrait Photography course, October 2011

 

 

 

“Informative, challenging and exciting – can’t believe that in only two days I have been able to generate excellent portrait images.”
Bernie Ramsay, Portrait Photography course, October 2011

 

 

 

 

“Amazed, astounded in fact!. The amount of information I have learnt and how much my images have improved since the beginning. I have loved every minute of it (including the real time exam tension!) and feel completely confident taking the next steps to launch into my photography career. The course has given me such a broad spectrum of the type of portrait images I can take and importantly how to apply sales and marketing techniques to really make it a profitable business.
I have found every seminar inspiring, giving me lots of enthusiasm and confidence. Andrew’s winning formula really works and to meet a top ten UK photographer was also a highlight. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the course to friends, its been worth every penny, a big thank you to the B&C team.”
Susan Box, Portrait Photography course, July 2011

“I found the whole course excellent, a well balanced combination of practical photography skills with essential business knowledge.”
Clare Morgan Hare, Portrait Photography course, July 2011

 

 

 

“The course is over and I would like to thank all B&C team for a fantastic time. You made me feel welcome and I really learnt a lot. Special thanks to Andrew who convinced me to join the course.
I am planning a move to Australia and looking to establish a photography business so I will keep in touch. Who knows what the future holds? Should B&C wish to expand in the future our paths might cross again!”
Agata Sladek, Portrait Photography and wedding Photography course, July 2011

 

“I used to work in Marketing for a software development company, designing websites, literature and organising exhibitions. Having always loved photography I wanted to turn professional but found the prospect daunting. I came across Barrett & Coe which seemed to offer the perfect balance of guided support within a franchise framework and having my own business.
I completed both the Portrait and Wedding courses, and am now working from my own studio a few miles from my home. The training was excellent and provided me with all the tools needed to produce professional and creative images. I have ongoing support through the Barrett & Coe mentoring program providing advanced training and marketing advice. I love my job and can’t imagine doing anything else!”
Heather Neudecker, Portrait and Wedding Photography couse, January 2010
(Heather opened a studio in Hadleigh, Suffolk in February 2011)

“A great introduction to studio portraiture. I now feel confident that I have a base from which to build my skills in lighting, posing and getting expression from my clients”
Sue Burton, Portrait Photography course, June 2011

 

 

This weekend was another seminar in the Barrett & Coe portrait photography course, and an enjoyable day it was too. We covered several subjects, some of which I found to be useful revision, such as environmental photography and Hollywood makeover, some of the stuff was entirely new to me such as pet photography and scoring photographs for contests.
I found learning about the scoring really useful, basically each photograph is scored based on five different criteria, and each criterion is scored separately and independently. To ensure that we got the drift of this, we each had to score several photographs, at the same time as one of the tutors, who is an experienced judge. There were prizes for the three students who scored closest to the judge. I have to admit that apart from the first and last photograph, my own views were wildly different from the judge, but for once when they tooted up my scores, I was close enough to win a prize, a ten quid voucher for use at a professional photography lab, my first photography prize, hopefully not the last. The session I enjoyed the most was the hollywood makeover session. This is promoted as an extra to the normal portrait or event photography session. It is done quickly and is supposed to lead to extra sales. The set up was straightforward enough, and we practiced on a couple of models, and I was quite happy with the results.
Taken from the blog of student Luke Fisher – Portrait Photography course April 2011
Blog address: http://fatphotographer.wordpress.com

“I found the course to be fully supportive in both the business management side of things and the practical tuition of taking photos. All of the members of Barrett & Coe are extremely friendly and helpful.”
Gregg Smith, Wedding photography course, June 2011

 

 

“I couldn’t have done my first wedding without this course. Understanding the timings of a wedding was useful, and being told to have confidence and not to undersell yourself was really beneficial”
Victoria Cook, Wedding photography course, June 2011

 

 

 

“Forget what you already know, be open minded and prepared to learn!”
Andrew Ginger, Wedding photography course, June 2011

 

 

 

“A great stepping stone to learning photography with a business in mind”
Robert Jackson, Wedding photography course, June 2011

 

 

 

“Please find attached as promised the questionnaires completed by the couple from my first wedding. Needless to say I was delighted with the scores. The father of one of the brides (it was a civil partnership) was so impressed with me, that he’s flying me over to Norway this weekend to do some work for him! Thanks again to you all.”
Jeff’s customer said…
“You basically planned our wedding for us and went above and beyond what was promised”
Jeff Sham, Wedding photography course, January 2011

 

“The course really de-mystifies the wedding to a level that means I can confidently talk to prospective clients. I’m now impatiently eager to do my first wedding rather than being quite apprehensive.
Ian Wilson, Wedding photography course, April 2011

 

 

 

“I am amazed at some of the shots I am producing as I started here without ever touching a camera, I only bought my camera two days before the start of the course.”
Natalie Bilston, Portrait Photography course, April 2011

 

 

“I have found the course a lot of fun. The first day I arrived was daunting, I arrived home saying I would not go back, lots of keen photographers with a lot more knowledge than me. Boy, am I glad I went back! I have loved it. I met a tremendous bunch of people, all very different. With each session my confidence grew until I was confident enough to ask friends and family to model for me. As the course progressed so the exam day loomed. When it finally arrived I was so absorbed by what I was doing any nerves I had went unnoticed!”
Debbie Le-Core, Portrait Photography Course, April 2011