My training in photography started in 1987. I was 15 years old and at school. No cameras were involved. I had just walked into my first art history class with a wonderfully wizened tutor called William "Whippy" Winter. He didn't carry a whip around with him, (although there were rumours) but he did carry a small stick that he used to prod us with when he felt we were getting lazy, not paying attention or getting off topic. How times change! He'd be suspended these days for that kind of behaviour. I spent much of the next 7 years studying the great old masters of painting, sculpture and architecture. I started with my A level (that's "A" for advanced) and moved onto university where I completed my Masters in Art History in the summer of 1994. In those 7 years I had spent thousands of hours in classes, writing essays, reading catalogue raisonnes or tramping round the great galleries of Britain & Europe – from the National Gallery in London to the Uffizzi in Florence to the Kunsthistorisches in Vienna. When I left University I thought all this culture might prove to be next to useless to me in my upcoming career. I had to wait 14 years to realise how wrong I was! For, as it turned out, this study of the old masters turned out to be a brilliant training ground for me; the best way to gain an understanding of light, composition, perspective & colour. It is often the reason why I believe that the art of photography has come so naturally to me and why I have never felt the need to attend a photography course. When I am shooting in a church I think of Masaccio. When I am looking at a sunset I think of Turner. When I am contemplating someone's face for a portrait session I often come back to Rembrandt, and if I am trying to construct a landscape I'll get inspired by Claude. In short, if you want to understand how to compose great photos try to ensure you spend as much time looking at the Old masters of PAINTING as you do of PHOTOGRAPHY! I'll leave the last word to Ken Rockwell: "That's why you go to art school, and why most of the world's best photographers have arts degrees, like Cartier-Bresson, Jay Maisel, Ansel Adams, and the list goes on and on. The best class you can take to improve your photography is to take a local adult-ed or community college class in drawing, painting or composition." 

Tags: Ansel Adams, art history, Benjamin Arthur Photography, Cartier-Bresson, church shooting, Claude, colour, composition, Florence, Jay Maisel, ken rockwell, Kunsthistorisches, landscape shooting, light, Masaccio, National gallery London, old masters, painting, perspective, portraiture, prague photographer, prague photography, Rembrandt, shooting tips, sunset, tips, Turner, Tutorials, Uffizzi, Vienna