Over the past three years, more than 400 people have attended Chris Weston’s uniquely informative, inspiring and entertaining Mastering Digital SLR Photography seminars, experiencing what has been described as “the best ever one-day session devoted to photography”.

Covering an extensive range of expert skills, advice and technique tips, Chris shares his many years’ experience on how to shoot like a pro, get the most from your DSLR camera, and take photographs you will be proud of time and again.

Catering for all knowledge levels and unsurpassed in its ability to make you a better photographer, this seminar will prove to be, to quote a previous Nikon Owner delegate: “the most beneficial day you’ll spend not taking pictures.”


Highlights

• Optimise your camera’s menu settings
• Learn better use of white balance and ISO
• Exposed: the truth about JPEG vs. RAW
• Discover the secret to accurate exposures
• Dispelled: the digital exposure myth
• Get the most from your camera’s light meter
• Understand digital histograms
• Master stops, f/numbers & shutter speeds
• Improve AF and focus performance
• Learn best-practice for camera handling
• The art of omission: the secret to successful composition
• Revealed: the techniques and settings behind successful photographs

About Chris Weston

Chris Weston is one of the UK’s most knowledgeable digital photographers and a recognised expert tutor, known for his ability to reach all levels of photographer from novice to advanced user. He has been a Nikon user since the age of 10 and is a distinguished contributor to Nikon Owner magazine. He writes regularly for the photographic press, including Practical Photography and Outdoor Photography, and has authored 30 books.


Attendee feedback

“That must have been one of the best one day sessions on anything that I have attended recently, and certainly the best one devoted to photography. I learned a huge amount and the day could not have been better tailored for me. I also found the structure, format and execution of your workshop to be thoroughly exciting and entertaining; not one sleepy moment in eight hours!” - Michael

“I just wanted to say thank you for a brilliant and information-packed workshop on Saturday. Your passion for the subject and explanation of over-exposure were excellent. Phil and I were full of excitement on our return journey home and couldn’t wait to get our cameras out on Sunday and go through learning from the workshop.” - Julie & Phil

“I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed your seminar on Saturday. I really wasn’t sure beforehand how good it would be, especially with such a large number of people and in a lecture theatre. I needn’t have been concerned - it was excellent. I now feel that I actually understand how my camera works, which means that I have a far better chance of getting it right when I take a picture. I don’t think more than five minutes went by without me learning some useful new thing.” - Anna

“Many thanks for yet another satisfying Seminar. My grandson is just 14 but already interested in photography, and he was quite amazed at how much information we got through in the time we were there. Keep up the good work, it gets better each time I go.” - Brian




Free book

The first 35 bookings will also receive a free copy of Chris Weston’s classic book Wildlife through a Nikon Lens* or Heather Angel’s accompanying title Macro through a Nikon Lens*. (*Subject to availability)


If you are not already a subscriber to Nikon Owner, and would like to enrol on this course at the special price, you can apply for the standard, silver, or gold subscription to Nikon Owner below, by sending me, Gillian Greenwood, an email with your full name, daytime mobile and landline. Alternatively, please call between 12.00 p.m. and 5.30 p.m. Monday to Friday on 020 7828 8971 (or 020 7828 4925 if that line is busy) to speak to me or any of my colleagues.


Gold subscription - launch price £349 (normal price £450)

• 5-year subscription to Nikon Owner
• 5-year warranty on all new Nikon products from Grays of Westminster
• Gold Priority waiting list for all new Nikon releases (top of the waiting list)
• A half-hour tutorial on the phone or face to face, by appointment
• Special offers to Gold subscribers throughout the period of subscription
• A signed copy of Grays of Westminster - In the Company of Legends, or if you have one already, a Nikon Magic Lantern Guide of your choice
• A Grays of Westminster umbrella
• Nikon Owner magazine, a superb, glossy full-colour 60-page quarterly magazine that is 100% Nikon. Each issue delivers benchmark technical reviews of the very latest Nikon equipment, thought-provoking interviews and articles with world-class images.
• Private user-name and password to subscribers-only website which includes forum, message board, technical equipment reviews, events page and use of a photo gallery
• Gold subscription card
• Simon Stafford’s Technical Helpline
• 18-month warranty on second-hand Nikon from Grays of Westminster
• 10% off Think-Tank bags purchased at Grays of Westminster
• Special trips and events
• Substantial discounts on training sessions organised by Grays of Westminster, including Mike Maloney’s House of Lords Photographic Workshop, Heather Angel’s Wildlife & Natural History Workshops, Simon Stafford’s Definitive Flash, Portraiture and Macro Training Sessions, Michael Eleftheriades’ panoramic and colour-calibration seminars and Chris Weston’s Photographic Courses
• 10% off any training courses run by Nikon UK

Silver Subscription - launch price: £129 (normal price: £179)

• 2-year Subscription to Nikon Owner
• 3-year warranty on all new Nikon products from Grays of Westminster
• A half-hour tutorial on the phone or face to face, by appointment
• Nikon Owner quarterly magazine, a superb, glossy full-colour 60-page quarterly
• magazine as above
• Private user-name and password to subscribers-only website
• Simon Stafford’s Technical Helpline
• 18-month warranty on second-hand Nikon from Grays of Westminster
• 10% off Think-Tank bags purchased at Grays of Westminster
• Special trips and events
• Discounts on training sessions
• 10% off any training courses run by Nikon UK

Standard Annual Subscription - special price: £59

• 1-year Subscription to the Nikon Owner
• 3-year warranty on all new Nikon products from Grays of Westminster
• Nikon Owner quarterly magazine, a superb, glossy full-colour 60-page quarterly
• magazine as above
• Private user-name and password to subscribers-only website
• Simon Stafford’s Technical Helpline
• 18-month warranty on second-hand Nikon from Grays of Westminster
• 10% off Think-Tank bags purchased at Grays of Westminster
• Special trips and events
• Discounts on events and training sessions
• 10% off any training courses run by Nikon UK

To apply for any of the subscriptions above at the special launch prices, or for more information, please send an email with your full name, daytime mobile and landline, or call between 12.00 p.m. and 5.30 p.m. Monday to Friday on 020 7828 4925 (for International calls telephone + 44 (0)20 7828 4925) to speak to me or any of my colleagues.

With very best wishes

Gillian

Gillian Greenwood

In the countryside the air is hoary, bitingly cold, a sheet of frozen metal. The snows envelop the land with an austere opaqueness, cloaking an earth already hardened by ice. In the woods the trees are bare, the branches brittle and spear-like, the trunks chiselled like masonry into stiff, stone forms. A solitary leaf falls to the ground, a momentary fragment of burnished colour against the white covering of snow, a forgotten token from autumn. There is a rustle in the undergrowth as the last creature moves with haste into its prepared winter burrow, and then all is still. Every part of the countryside is covered with a thick coating, and the smaller inhabitants of the woods and fields, oblivious of the change above them, continue their long sleep.

The forests of the Northern Hemisphere are for the moment silent and motionless.


In the park the chilled fingers of an icy wind blast through thick scarves and sheepskin boots alike. A fretwork of snow covers the ground and the bushes like muslin, dusting the pathways with a myriad of tiny glittering stones. Puddles and ponds are thick with ice and children in red wellingtons and knitted hats crunch through the snow with laughter and pleasure, letting out a mist of breath as they exhale. Balls of white powder fly hazardously through the air and a dog running alongside barks with delight, showering a passerby as it shakes its fur eagerly. One of the children cries out and points upwards. A single flake of snow is falling slowly to earth, floating, feather-like, in slow motion. More follow, blurred downward brush-strokes of white and silver, then a synchronised dance of flakes racing to the ground. Faces turn upwards in anticipation as the snow falls faster and thicker, clinging to strands of hair, bleaching pathways, curling around lamp-posts, lingering upon roofs.

In the city, families walk closely together, coats buttoned tightly, footsteps choreographed. They cut through the streets, festive lights illuminating the shops with an ambient glow, opulent windows full of forms swathed in velvet, brocade, and bejewelled silks, glossy parcels ribboned and wrapped, colourfully displayed beside them. Christmas trees with flickering bulbs stand like sentinels at the doorways. A choir of small carol-singers in their neat school uniforms are lined up at the entrance, their voices youthful, their collection tins shaken enthusiastically. Everywhere there is anticipation, expectancy, excitement.

Christmas is only hours away and 2011 is just around the corner. Like Janus, the Roman god of doorways and beginnings, we are betwixt and between as the first decade of the new millennium plays its passing chords.

2010 began with Grays of Westminster making history with the first-ever photographic event inside the House of Lords, led by Britain’s most decorated press photographer, Mike Maloney OBE. This was followed in the summer by the world-famous natural history workshop with Heather Angel and Nikon UK, and the year ended with the unforgettable Christmas evening at the Institute of Directors with Jim Brandenburg, one of the greatest nature photographers of all time, introduced by Neil Lucas, the distinguished producer of David Attenborough’s legendary BBC wildlife series. In 2010 we also organized many more photographic seminars than ever before with best-selling author and technical editor of Nikon Owner, Simon Stafford, as well as panoramic expert Mike Eleftheriades.

There has been much to celebrate in 2010, and in closing we would like to raise a glass to each of you who has helped to make all of this possible.

From the directors and staff of Grays of Westminster, may we wish you all a truly magical Christmas and a prosperous and peaceful New Year.

With very best wishes,

Gillian

Gillian Greenwood
Director
0207 828 4925

Image © Jim Brandenburg
Text © Gillian Greenwood 2010

Nikon UK is pleased to announce a new firmware update for the Nikon COOLPIX P7000 which is now available to download via the Nikon web site. Please click on the links below for more information about the improvements and instructions on how to download version 1.1.

COOLPIX P7000 Firmware update 1.1 - Windows
http://nikoneurope-en.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/48110/c/648/r_id/150284

COOLPIX P7000 Firmware update 1.1 - Mac
http://nikoneurope-en.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/48111/c/648/r_id/150284

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any queries.

Following his sold-out evening talk on Friday, 10th December at the Grays of Westminster and Nikon Owner magazine Christmas dinner at the Institute of Directors (IoD) on Pall Mall, Jim Brandenburg, one of the world's greatest nature photographers, visited Grays of Westminster on Saturday, 11th December to collect his new Nikon D3S, 20mm f/2.8D AF and AF-S 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G VR ED lenses. He is pictured here to the right of Gray Levett, founder of Grays of Westminster, which he described as “the greatest camera store in the world”.

Jim Brandenburg travelled the globe as a photographer with National Geographic Magazine for several decades. His extensive body of work has been published throughout the world and his photographs have won a multitude of national and international awards. He was the recipient of the 'Wildlife Photographer of the Year' award by the Natural History Museum, London and BBC Wildlife Magazine, and was twice named 'Magazine Photographer of the Year' by the National Press Photographer's Association (NPPA) for his National Geographic work. He was also presented with the 'World Achievement Award' from the United Nations in recognition of his use of nature photography to raise public awareness for the environment. In addition to publishing several books on wolves, a few years ago he set himself the unique photographic assignment of shooting only one picture per day for an entire autumn season. His book and DVD Chased by the Light followed, as well as the sequel Looking for the Summer.

Jim Brandenburg's presentation at the Grays of Westminster and Nikon Owner magazine Christmas Dinner explored the full circle of his career with highlights starting with his early days and subsequent years with National Geographic Magazine where he worked on assignments all over the world for the magazine, book division and television. He showed the audience a selection of his outstanding work which included breathtaking images of wild arctic and grey wolves.

Jim Brandenburg was part of the production team for the 'Plants' section of the BBC LIFE documentary series with David Attenborough. Jim Brandenburg and BBC Wildlife Producer Neil Lucas spent months filming Minnesota's north woods at Ravenwood, Jim Brandenburg's home near Ely and the prairies of Southwest Minnesota.

His philanthropic work entails saving the remnant native prairies in the land where his ancestors settled after immigrating from Europe and Scandinavia.

Without a doubt, no wildlife or sports photographer can be without a telephoto lens. Whether it be the highly acclaimed AF-S 200-400mm f/4 VR II or the far-reaching AF-S 500mm f/4G VR coupled with a 1.7X teleconverter to give you an astounding 850mm, these lenses are certainly on most photographer's wish lists. The sample images speak for themselves.

We have recently had a substantial price decrease on many telephoto lenses and are pleased to be able to offer them to you at the following prices, including VAT:

AF-S 200-400mm f/4G VR II IF-ED = £4,999.00

AF-S 200mm f/2G VR II IF-ED = £4,499.00

AF-S 300mm f/2.8G VR II IF-ED = £3,999.00

AF-S 400mm f/2.8G VR IF-ED = £6,549.00

AF-S 500mm f/4G VR IF-ED = £5,795.00


And if you are looking at getting a telephoto lens for Christmas but can't quite stretch to the above, might we suggest that the beautifully sharp AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II coupled with a 1.7X teleconverter makes for a fantastically versatile present for yourself or someone else. The 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II is currently £1625.00 including VAT and we can now offer the last of the TC 20E II 2X teleconverter (now discontinued and unobtainable new from Nikon) at the special price of £225.00 while stocks last.





If you have any questions or wish to place an order for any of these lenses please contact us on +44 (0)207 828 4925, or email: tabitha.hardy@graysofwestminster.co.uk.

If you have dealt with Grays of Westminster and have found our service satisfactory, we would greatly appreciate your voting for us at the 'What Digital Camera Good Service Awards 2010'. You can use this link to go straight to their voting form:

https://whatdigitalcamera.ipcmediasecure.com/secure/equipment/goodserviceawards/voting/8059/what-digital-camera-good-service-awards.html

Closing date: 14 January 2011

Many thanks for your support!

The latest introductory SLR from Nikon, the D3100, is ideal for anyone who wants the best of all the latest Nikon features in a small and compact DSLR body. Complete with a 14.2 megapixel sensor and full-HD movie mode, it really is a perfect family gift which will allow anyone, photographer or not, to take fantastic family photos and movies.

To make this an even sweeter choice, the D3100 now comes with £40.00 cashback direct from Nikon if purchased before the 31st January 2011, and cashback is available on both body only and body + lens kits. Please note that the cashback offer is only available to UK and Republic of Ireland residents.

Prices excluding £40.00 cashback including VAT:

D3000 body only = £449.00
D3000 + 18-55mm VR = £499.00
D3000 + 18-55mm VR + 55-200mm VR = £719.00 (includes FREE Sandisk Ultra 4GB SDHC memory card)

All items are in stock and available for collection or delivery. If you wish to place an order please telephone +44 (0) 207 828 4925 or email tabitha.hardy@graysofwestminster.co.uk

As a word of advice to our customers, if you usually hold off any Christmas shopping until the last minute, it is worth thinking a little earlier ahead this year. There is currently a high demand for stock in several markets including electronics and cameras, with Nikon issuing a warning of low stock levels in the run-up to Christmas. We hope to meet all demands, but the earlier orders are placed the more likely you are to receive your goods in time for the 25th December.




Passionate about photography but need a little guidance?


The School of Photographic Imaging - in association with Nikon - is one of the largest and most vibrant photographic education communities around. Our courses are informative and fun, guiding you through everything you need to know to take and process images of the highest quality.

Please contact Charlene Baker on 0203 148 4326 or email spiadmin@ipcmedia.com and quote reference SPIGOW to claim your 15% discount and camera bag.