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Peak District Workshops, for all abilities.

Classic Landscape Photography | Drone photography & video | Timelapse photography | Photography & Video Processing

Private Tuition: £240
A five-hour (approximate) session of tailored landscape photography tuition in the Peak District, designed around your interests, experience level, and the conditions on the day.
Whether you're a complete beginner or more experienced, I adapt each session to suit your goals — from camera settings and composition to working with light and weather.
Additional time (if needed) is charged at £40 per hour.
Extra participants (friends, partners, etc.): £50 per person (maximum of 3 people total).

I'm happy to be flexible with timing, start points, and the pace of the day — this is your time, and it’s important that it fits you.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have & future bookings. Thank you.




Tailored tuition workshops with a local award-winning professional photographer in the beautiful Peak District National Park.

No matter what your photographic experience, my workshops are aimed at any level of photographer who wants to learn and develop their landscape photography.

Whether you are a beginner and want to learn how to use your camera or would like to learn more advanced techniques in getting the most out of your landscape photography, my workshops are tailored to suit your needs.

I can show you how to get the most out of your camera equipment, everything from what camera settings are best for the type of image you want to take, how to use filtration correctly (graduated/neutral density filters and polarizers), to when not to use them at all.
I can cover the full workflow of finding the best location for the weather and light direction, finding composition in the landscape, correct techniques from setting up to shoot to producing sharp balanced exposures without lens flare even when shooting directly into sunlight.
We can cover long exposures for motion in the sky, trees and flowing water, beautiful wide-angle landscapes to telephoto landscape photography with techniques to avoid camera shake.

I can also show you how to process your images correctly using Adobe software, from basic adjustments to watermarking your pictures ready for social media to a full day of tuition learning how to set up Adobe RAW software to process your images correctly, getting the most out of your RAW files and avoiding technical flaws such as fringing, unnatural colour separation, excessive digital noise and saturation to produce a commercial level image, I can also show you more advanced techniques like masking, layers, focus stacking and image blending.



Additional Information

Included
Transport is provided from an arranged meeting point and between locations we travel to in the Peak District. We typically stop for at least an hour for lunch (if required) at a cafe or public house where we can review images and I can give you a short lesson with Adobe RAW. I can also let you use my KASE filter kit, depending on the adaptor ring size that fits your lens. I can also provide you with a tripod if needed, but please let me know in advance.

Excluded
Travel to and from the agreed meeting point, lunch and accommodation. Personal insurance.

What to Bring
The weather plays a big part in landscape photography, so please bring suitable outdoor clothing and footwear for walking off-road. A rucksack is recommended, and of course, bring your camera (and if applicable, separate lenses), spare batteries and memory cards, a tripod of reasonable quality and a remote release if you have one. Also, please bring a head torch if you have one, I do have a spare, but best to be prepared.



Some recent reviews from people who have been on my bespoke workshops,


"I booked a full day with John for a session in the Peak District but after an exchange of e-mails John suggested that I might get the most out of "day" by splitting it into two half days. As I am of advanced years this was ideal and it gives an insight into how thoughtful John is.
My request was to locate parts of the Peak District that were both photographically interesting but of easy access. A difficult brief!! Many Tutors would been deterred by it, but not John.
He has amazing, extensive, knowledge of the Peak area plus a remarkable grasp on likely weather conditions. Together they meant that the sessions were hugely productive and far exceeded my expectations.
Subsequent to this activity, he then ensured that I received notification of the locations visited so that I could access them for myself.
I cannot express, too highly, my appreciation and thanks.
If you want a friendly, able and knowledgeable tutor - book John."
By: Allister


"I had a 1:1 targeted workshop with John during which I learnt a couple of fundamental approaches to composition that do not appear in any of the books I've read or have been demonstrated on any of the other courses I have attended.
I now see differently and am able to capture images that I am happy to show. I'd recommend a similar workshop to anyone who is frustrated that their images just don't have that "wow!" despite following "all the rules"
By: Jason


"I just completed a one day 1:1 workshop with John in the Peak District, and it was fantastic. The locations we visited were superb, John having tailored these to the prevailing weather conditions and times of the day. John very successfully matched the workshop tutorials to my needs and I have undoubtedly taken big steps forward in my own photography, which feels fantastic. I particularly enjoyed - and benefitted from - a focus on the composition of my images, which has immediately lifted their quality. John is also really easy to get on with and his enthusiasm for photography is infectious. I would highly recommend a workshop with him. All the best John, and cheers again!"
By: James


"I Went on one of Johns workshops a few weeks ago after I bought a new camera I learnt so much in one day and finally feel at ease with the camera. Highly recommended"
By: Stevie





For all enquiries and to arrange a date for a workshop with me please Contact me here
Thank you.



Some images from around the Peak District I have taken, several of these shots have been taken on my own workshops.

The Yorkshire Dales is home to some of the most spectacular limestone landscapes anywhere in the world. Natural surface exposures of limestone provide conditions for some very characteristic communities of plants, mosses, and lichens that are a perfect foreground to the Yorkshire Dales's hugely varied landscape and numerous dramatic features and beautiful views.

My one-on-one photography workshops will be focused on composition, foreground details, and capturing the depth of landscapes, including their subjects.

For those interested in photographing steam trains passing through this beautiful setting, services typically run from summer to autumn on selected Tuesdays and Thursdays. This can be arranged around the available timetables.

These one-day workshops are ongoing; please get in touch if you are interested.
Contact me here, thank you.

This September, I’ll be leading a five-day photography workshop in Northern Norway, in collaboration with Weather Holidays — a trip designed to capture the stunning beauty of autumn landscapes and the northern lights in one of the most scenic corners of Europe.

We’ll be based in a comfortable, well-equipped house surrounded by dramatic terrain and dark skies — the perfect base for both daytime shooting and night-time aurora chasing. When conditions require, we may also travel across the border into Finland to find clearer skies and better opportunities.

This workshop is ideal for beginners and enthusiasts alike. Whether you're just starting out or looking to build confidence with your camera, you'll get practical, step-by-step guidance on shooting technique, composition, low-light settings, and post-processing — all in a relaxed, supportive environment.

Group sizes are kept small, giving us the flexibility to make the most of changing conditions and to ensure everyone gets plenty of individual support.

If you're interested in joining me, Please get in touch

A selection of pictures below I took on our January 2025 workshop tour.



The accommodation is stunning, on the side of a Fjord and is perfect for night photography.

New stock gallery with all images from the film set stunt is now available to view.
HERE.


Mission: Impossible 7 locomotive crash scene in Derbyshire. The replica steam train is driven off the cliff for the final crash scene in Tom Crusie's latest blockbuster film. The locomotive flies through the air in spectacular style before crashing into the quarry below. The train was built specifically for the film & resembles a BR Britannia and has been named Le General Rive-Reine which relates to the 1964 war film 'The Train'.

A very difficult shot to obtain, with tight security, cliffs and foliage, this shot almost didn't happen. Months of planning and an 8-hour wait, I finally got the shots with a clear view.

All 28 images can be viewed Here.



Published in The Sunday Times, The Sunday Telegraph and The Sun (22/08/21).

An aurora show like no other, the biggest solar storm for more than 20 years on the 10th/11th of May 2024.


We traveled up to Northumberland for the dark sky and clearer weather in hopes of capturing the aurora. We weren't disappointed; it ended up being a Kp9 with a rating of G5, an extreme solar storm. I decided to see if the aurora could be seen over Lindisfarne Castle on Holy Island. We arrived early, but even with the light still visible in the sky from dusk, you could see the aurora right over our heads, stretching from east to west—quite remarkable. I ended up shooting southwest with Lindisfarne Castle in the frame, which is unheard of in the UK.

The shot below is looking South West with a stunning Coronal Mass Ejection over Lindisfarne Castle.

Available as a framed print here...

The Image was published as a center page spread in The Guardian National newspaper on the 13th of May 2024.

Storm chasing time-lapse and the North American total eclipse all in one short film.
We captured the total eclipse at Norfork Lake in North Arkansas. We also chased storms for 10 days across 8 states: Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa.

You can watch the short film on my YouTube channel below.
Click here for my YouTube Channel...



Framed prints available here

Watch complex weather patterns explode over Tornado Alley in my fifth extreme weather time-lapse film. Filmed exclusively on the Great Plains of America in May 2023.
We traveled over 4500 miles on a massive road trip across 5 States (CO, KS, TX, OK, NM).
Over 27500 images were shot for this film.
You can see the film on my YouTube channel by clicking on the link below.

Supercells 4k

Landscape photography at its best with sunrises over inversions, blankets of fog creeping up the hills of the Peak District, and swirling around scenic valleys. This time-lapse film took 6 months to film between Spring & Autumn in 2022 exclusively in the stunning High Peak of Derbyshire.

Watch the film here: https://youtu.be/qNf5T-y7Y3E




If you would like to learn how to shoot time-lapse and/or landscape photography, and get the best out of your camera and learn how to be in the right place at the right time for the best light. Then why not join us on one of our up-and-coming workshops...


🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Winter in Glencoe, Scotland, with 5-star accommodation.
Dates Available:
27th- 30th January 2023 &
31st January -3rd February 2023.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 The Isle of Harris.
Dates Available:
4th - 11th March 2023.

More details here: https://www.wild-landscapes-tours.co.uk/

Watch complex weather patterns explode over Tornado Alley in my second extreme weather time-lapse film. Filmed exclusively on the Great Plains of America in 2022. In this film, there are at least 2 tornadoes, funnel clouds, Mammatus clouds, Asperitas clouds, Cumulonimbus clouds, lightning, Supercells, and one small haboob.
We traveled over 4500 miles across 9 states in the space of just 10 days.
Over 30000 images were used in this film.

The film premieres at 8 pm GMT. 12th August 2022.

See the film on YouTube here.

An extreme weather time-lapse film. Watch powerful thunderstorms grow and explode into action across the Great Plains of America. Filmed in Tornado Alley over a 7 year period whilst storm chasing.
Taken from sequences of images that were only shot to try and capture lightning and were never shot for time-lapse, but I have recently taken up time-lapse. Going through 7 years of storm chasing images to make this film has taken months.

Premier is at 7 pm on the 7th of May 2022.

See the film on YouTube here.

For the second year in a row, I am delighted to announce that I have been awarded in the prestigious SIPA 2021 with a Highly Commended / Honourable Mention in the Beauty of Nature category.

The Siena International Photo Awards is one of the largest international photo contests with the highest international participation ever. 2021 edition has received nearly 48000 entries from amateur and professional photographers from 156 countries worldwide.

I was due to collect my award in Italy at the "Teatro dei Rinnovati” theatre, during Siena Awards Festival in October, but again it has been cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic.

My image along with the rest of the winning images will be displayed in the SIENA exhibition in Italy

You can view all the winning images from the Beauty of Nature category here




My image 'The Enid Supercell' is available to buy on Canvas or as a framed print
Here...

An article I wrote for Kase Filters UK is now live on their website.

kasefilters.com/chasing-the-weather-by-john-finney


An interesting read that gives you a good insight into what chasing is really like. the article describes the big differences between chasing the dangerous tornadoes at the peak of the season and storm chasing on the high plains typically in June with the more photogenic storms mostly further north, which is what we cover on our annual storm chasing photography tour.

More details on our photography tour here... 10-day-storm-chasing-photography-tour.

I am delighted to announce that my image 'Weather Vacuum' has been awarded in the prestigious SIPA 2020 with a Highly Commended / Honourable Mention in the Beauty of Nature category.


The Siena International Photo Awards is one of the largest international photo contests with the highest international participation ever. 2020 edition has received nearly 48000 entries from amateur and professional photographers from 156 countries worldwide.


I was due to collect my award in Italy at the "Teatro dei Rinnovati” theatre, during Siena Awards Festival this October, but it has been cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic. Siena Awards 2020 Video


My image along with the rest of the winning images will be displayed in the SIENA exhibition in Italy




You can view all the winning images from the Beauty of Nature category here

You can view all the winning images from all the categories in the competition here






My image 'Weather Vacuum' is available to buy on Canvas or as a framed print here...

I have featured 3rd in the ten winning entries for the latest John Muir Trust Living Landscape Prize – one of the categories in the prestigious Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year (SLPOTY) competition.

The Trust team selected their favourites from the final shortlisted images in the Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year (SLPOTY) competition.

John Muir Trust News: 10 breathtaking Scottish landscape images for 2020



My image 'The Herdsman of Etive' is also available as a fine art canvas or Framed print at this link here...

I am pleased to announce I have been Awarded in the International Landscape Photographer of the Year 2018/19. Top 101. I am Also the top placed British photographer in the competition.

The Enid Supercell.
We had intercepted a Tornado warned storm near Waynoka before we headed south towards Enid. This remarkable supercell was heading towards Enid, Oklahoma when we caught up with it. This storm gave some amazing structure with lightning bolts coming straight out of this rotating mesocyclone.




Click Here to see Print Options & Prices for this Picture.

I recently got an email from Michael Topham at Amateur Photographer magazine with the news that my image 'Blizzard in the High Peak' had been chosen as one of the magazine's images of the year. Quite a compliment considering they deal with thousands of the very best images from around the world.




You can see the image larger here by clicking on the image so you can read the article.



The image 'Blizzard in the High Peak' is also for sale here as a framed print or canvas, thanks.

The Royal Meteorological Society hosted an extreme weather conference exploring the severe weather events and climates around the world. They invited some of the Netweather storm chasing team to take the stage and do a talk on storm chasing. Paul and John joined forces and they both did a talk on storm chasing. Paul runs all the storm chase tours for Netweather in the Spring/summer time when the storms in the USA are at there most ferocious, Pauls talk was about his expertise in the meteorological side of extreme weather and also all the ins and outs of storm chasing. John is the photography guide on the photography tour which is usually the 5th tour of the season, John did his talk on weather photography, the difficulties of photography in such conditions, the equipment he uses and why, and also about the techniques he uses and why.


Here are a few snippets from the powerpoint they used to give you an idea of how the talks went. First is pauls talk then johns.










The vehicles they use to storm chase.






















John did his talk after Paul









Some of the images from Johns slideshow while he explained how he managed to take and process the images.



























You can read more about the conference here

I am really pleased to say I won the Landscape Photographer of the Year 2018, Classic View category, this is the largest adult category in the competition and regarded as the main category.
I have been entering this national competition for the past 7 years with some success, this will be my 7th time in the awards book including the special 10th-anniversary book.
Congratulations to all that got in the book!



Click Here to see Print Options & Prices for this Picture

We have just returned from our first trip of the year to tornado alley and it did not disappoint. We travelled 4,600 miles across 6 States, we saw dozens of supercells and 8 tornadoes.

(if there is no link to purchase, please get in touch and I will send you a link, thanks!).



Sister Tornadoes

May 28th, Washington County, Colorado chase day, with the stunning sister tornadoes!
Click Here to see Print Options & Prices for this Picture.



Venango Arcus cloud

Taken in Nebraska on the state line to Colorado.
This Arcus cloud seemed to change between a Roll cloud and a Shelf cloud, I have never seen anything like it and it was very difficult to get the lightning into the panoramic, as the cloud rolled in quite quickly.
Click Here to see Print Options & Prices for this Picture.



Dusty Supercell storm

This severe thunderstorm kicked out thousands of lightning bolts and kicked up a lot of dust with it high winds, taken near Vernon in Texas.
Click Here to see Print Options & Prices for this Picture.



Supercell light

This LP Supercell had stunning Structure with Mammatus clouds and close proximity lightning. Taken near Mangum in Western Oklahoma with a brilliant orange sky caused by the sunset and the dust kicked up by the storms.
Click Here to see Print Options & Prices for this Picture.



Severe Thunderstorm in Nebraska

This severe warned thunderstorm looked like it was going to drop a tornado for about two hours, with its amazing hail core and inflow clouds, this was one stunning storm to watch as you can see from the people in the shot.
Click Here to see Print Options & Prices for this Picture.



Lake McConaughy lightning

A stunning storm chase from Colorado into Nebraska (23rd May), With some breathtaking storms. Main storms we chased where between Chappell and Ogallalla in Nebraska with some stunning lightning to finish the day off on a beach next to Lake McConaughy.
Click Here to see Print Options & Prices for this Picture.

The Royal Photographic Society Weather Photographer of the Year 2017.

My Minnesota shelf cloud image has been shortlisted for the final. Big congratulations to the winners!
Click here to see the list of shortlisted entries and winners


Minnesota shelf cloud

Available to buy here as canvases, framed prints and acrylics.