NEW! secondary class at DBSJP begins 17 April 2025

Calling all young photographers 📷

We are back at @arcadiabritishschool and @dubaibritishjp for Term 3 of The Photo Club!

Here’s a run down of this terms classes including a NEW Secondary class at @dubaibritishjp 💙

Reach out to us for more info and to register!

Team Photo Club > Natalie, Lianne, Mifrah and Kim ✨

(Please note these classes are part of the Arcadia and DBSJP after school programs so are only open for students from those schools).

Honestly although this was nerve wracking it was such a great honour to be asked to present to the @arcadiaschool Year 1’s and 2’s!

Linking my job as a photographer to their Global Explorers curriculum, I covered all about the importance of family photos and even gave them some top tips for iPad photography for them to remember the next time they take photos of their family members 📷

Thank you @arcadiaschool for this wonderful opportunity!

Natalie @natalierobinson_lifeincolour

And here’s our end of term student showcase at @dubaibritishjp 🙌🏻

Such amazing work from this group of students - some of whom are founding “start of term” photographers and some who joined JUST LAST WEEK 🌟

Thank you for putting your trust in us @dubaibritishjp as we build our Photo Club community!

Reminder that all classes begin again in the week of 22nd April: until then we will be sharing behind the scenes moments from these past two terms as it’s been epic so far 🫶🏼

POV: you’re teaching your photography students how to blur and freeze movement using colourful pinwheels 🙌🏻

Classes at @arcadiaschool and @dubaibritishjp are in full swing but we have space for your child if they are interested - just get in touch via DM.

Natalie + Lianne 📸

BTS of our new Primary class today at @dubaibritishjp 📷

We have a small class of students so far but hoping to grow over the term! Yes that means we still have space left 😆

Join us! For @dubaibritishjp primary students, every Thursday from 2.40-3.30pm 🫶🏼

Here’s your sign 💫💫

Our classes start this week! Here’s a snapshot of our taster lesson last week at @dubaibritishjp 📷

Take your pick from:

💫 Our ALL STUDENT class, Tuesdays 5.30pm at Arcadia School, JVT

💫 Our Arcadia students only class, Tuesdays 4.15pm

💫 Our @dubaibritishjp primary students only class, Thursdays 2.40pm

We will be open for registrations until the very last minute as we don’t want anyone to miss out 🫶🏼🫶🏼

Send us a message if you would like more info.

Natalie & Lianne aka team @thephotoclubuae 📷

The set up vs the end result!

A flashback to the week we challenged the @arcadiaschool students with stop motion photography 👏🏻

Technically an animation technique, this involves photographing and then moving objects within the frame one at a time, giving the illusion of movement when the frames are played back together 📷📷

Showcased here: the work of Elena 👏🏻👏🏻

How to capture constellations in the classroom ✨✨

This was one of our most memorable lessons from Term 1! We used the @arcadiaschool black box drama studio and turned it into a night sky using star projectors 🤩

This was a challenging session with the students shooting on super high ISO but they created some amazing work!

We are planning to repeat this class during Term 2 and can’t wait ✨✨✨

When someone wonders what can be created by students in a classroom with a camera… show them this 💥

Presenting our Class of Term One student exhibition!

These were our favourite pieces created by our students over the last term @arcadiaschool 📷

We are so proud of all of our Photo Club kids and can’t wait to see what they create in Term 2!

Interested in joining? We are open for new registrations - see the links in our bio or reach out for more info 📷

Natalie & Lianne 📷

We are excited to announce the introduction of Family Photo walks with @thephotoclubuae 📷📷

Join Natalie in the half term break for the first of our family photo walks to the Spice Souk. Two dates currently available!

Natalie has been photo walking and photographing this area since 2016 and is excited to be taking some of our junior photographers (and their parents) to explore this area with their cameras 📷

Pop a comment below if you’re interested and we will DM you with more information!

Natalie & Lianne 📷

Happy weekend! We’re popping in to let you know that it’s never too late for your child to start their photography journey!

YES they can join us at any point - our classes are themed by activities which means they will just cover things in a different order BUT they will pick it up as they go along 🤩

Send us a message if you’re keen to know more!

Natalie & Lianne 📷

Introducing your Photo Club instructors for this term’s classes…. Natalie and Lianne 🫶🏼

As you’ll read this is our second business together- we also run @wildchild.me as well as our own photography businesses over at @natalierobinson_lifeincolour and @dinkyheartphotography 🤩🤩

We can’t wait to work with and encourage your children to find their natural photography talent - they all have it - it’s just about discovering it 👌🏻

Our classes begin on 5th September and we would love them to join us. Send us a message if you would like more information 👇🏼

Natalie & Lianne 📷📷

The kids are back to school tomorrow for many parents in the UAE 🙌🏻

And just in time - Natalie wrote her best back to school photo tips exclusively for the @boxfetti blog - here’s a snippet 🫶🏼

Drop us a comment if you would love to read the full article! 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

What we “see” versus what they “see” are two very different things 🙌🏻

Behind the scenes at one of our lessons where the students were learning and practicing about shutter speed and being able to freeze motion. We use balloons as they move slowly - making it easier for students to follow their movement and capture the right moment. These are their actual photos 🙌🏻

A reminder that our early bird discount ends on Monday 🤩 drop us a message below if you would like more info.

Natalie & Lianne

We’re getting our cameras cleaned and ready for the new term 🙌🏻

*not all “ours”. We have a number of our own @canonme and @nikonmea cameras that students can borrow in class, BUT we do encourage them to bring their family camera if they have one. It’s much better for them to learn on a camera that they have access to during the week and the bonus is that they can then pass their knowledge on to you 🙌🏻

Also: a reminder that there are 4 days left on our early bird 10% off special!!!

🤫 top secret photo tips on how to get better back-to-school photos of your kids…. Now exclusively on the @boxfetti blog!

You’ve got approximately 117 hours until Monday morning when it’s back to school (yes we did look up the exact timing 😆)

We are SURE you need some top photo tips right?! We got you 🙋🏻‍♀️

The link is where links go - now yalla go, read and charge up that camera battery 📷

A quick BTS from one of our classes where the subject was “faceless portraits” - without a doubt one of the students favourite lessons!

Once we had planted some seeds of ideas their creative minds were ready to go ✨✨

We thought we would share a few more “behind the scenes” moments on here so you can see what a Photo Club class looks like in practice 🙌🏻🙌🏻

Natalie & Lianne 📷

The best testimonial ever 🙌🏻

We think it’s the best that Federico thinks we are a club that makes miracles happen 🌟🌟

Swipe to see some of his work that he produced in our last term of classes (which was a short 5 weeks!) we can’t wait to see what he creates with us this term 🙌🏻

It’s our class of Term 3 2023 @arcadiaschool 🤩

Featuring students from years 3-7 who have created some masterpieces over the last 5 weeks! We are so impressed with their attention to detail, ability to seek out light and capture the moment!

Will definitely be sharing some of their work over the coming weeks. Cover image features images by our students Anderson (main image) and Kayla (supporting images).

Well done class of 3/2023 we have loved teaching you photography!!

Woop we love getting feedback like this!!!!

Our energetic contagious energy is a reflection of the awesome kids that we get to teach 🤩🤩🤩

Celebrating our first successful photography class! Yesterday we had 15 year 3-7’s join us along with two year 10 helpers @arcadiaschool and they loved it!

Our starting point was P mode and learning all about exposure. There’s so much to cover with photography, 5 weeks just isn’t going to be enough - we are trying to cover as much ground as possible!

Can’t wait for next week’s lesson all about shutter speed and movement 🙌🏻

Head to our FAQ section on our website for all of the important answers to your questions!

Have a question that we didn’t think of?! Reach out and let us know!

…. Be creative in your own unique way 🙌🏻

“Being creative” does not always mean drawing and painting, what we normally think of when we think of being “good” at art.

In fact some of the best photographers at the ones who are NOT good at drawing and painting because they have other untapped creative skills that just need that little push to find their way to the surface 📸📸

In our classes, everyone is an artist no matter their photography experience or skills - we look for and find the potential in all our students 🤩

Not just for girls OR boys 🙌🏻🙌🏻

Learning photography and appreciating visual imagery is such a wonderful lifelong skill for all children and teens!

Come and join us as we build your child’s skills and confidence behind the camera - our ASA programme starts at @arcadiaschool on May 23rd for 6 weeks.

Natalie & Lianne 📸

Ooh la la one of our favourite places to visit! Have you been to #alqudralakes yet?
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If not....you're in for a treat. This whole area is so peaceful and photogenic, it's a definite 'take your proper camera' spot. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Our next desert photowalk on the afternoon of Monday 9th March will take us to this exact lake - if you fancy joining us then send us a message!
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Natalie + Lianne xx

What's in my camera bag: Natalie @natalierobinson_lifeincolour ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Whenever I rock up to a shoot my clients must wonder what on earth I have in my massive rucksack especially when I just pull out my camera + a 35mm lens and never open the bag again!
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I've tried about 4 camera bags over the years and my current @benrousa Beyond is my absolute favourite, yes its geeky. But it is functional, fits everything and protects it all brilliantly. Stocked at @grandstoresdigital ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Well, here's the insides of my bag currently, and why!
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- Nikon d750 + Sigma 35mm art lens. My workhorse, my go-to, I love this combination and this focal length so much, I can't move on!
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- Nikon d610, my backup camera in case something should fail / stop working on my d750. EVERY professional photographer should have a back up camera with them. Touch wood I have never 'needed' the backup, but it would just be the worse thing to have something happen to my main body and NOT have a back up with me.
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- 20mm Nikon lens. For beautiful wide shots, I just this indoors when space is limited or for wide landscape shots when shooting somewhere where the scene is important, like at the Bastakiya. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- 60mm Nikon macro lens. For details of babies! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- 24-70mm Nikon lens. My back up lens in case something should happen to my 35mm. This is a beautiful lens but as with all lenses, primes are more consistently sharp so my preference is to shoot with that first. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- Lensbaby 45mm Sol. For arty shots, I am currently trying to master this with my personal images and when I feel ready will use for client shoots too. It's a transitional process!
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- Memory cards and batteries x 2 of each and some lens cleaning wipes. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Any questions - let me know.
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Natalie xx

Final call!! For tomorrow’s Creative Spark workshop. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Beautiful venue booked ✅
Pre-course work done ✅ (but for last
Minute additions we have a work-around!)
Presentation and notes all ready ✅
Feeling super excited and motivated ✅
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If you have suddenly found yourself with no plans tomorrow and would love to join - PM us now!
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(The Creative Spark is an Intermediate level workshop designed to build on our beginners course. We cover everything from shooting in manual to overcoming your blocks to
Creativity; we look at 6 ways to strengthen your images; Lightroom
And photoshop editing. And LOADS of snippets of info and goodness just from spending the day with us 😆).
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Natalie & Lianne x
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Tomorrow - FINAL CALL for our desert photowalk!
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3.45pm - 6.15pm, 250 dhs. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Come and join us as we explore the tranquility of the desert and the beautiful Al Qudra lake area. On a Wednesday afternoon it's super quiet there - last time we saw so many flamingos and black swans. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
This should be on your pre-summer to do list, if it's not already!
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Send us your number via PM and we will add you to our what's app group.
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Natalie + Lianne x

'The Creative Spark'....a little more info if you need it!.....
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Natalie completed our 'moodboard' exercise about a year ago and in doing so, helped to identify some of her clear visual elements that she uses frequently as well as the visual elements that she is drawn to. (Not sure what we are on about - take a look back at our last post).
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The reason that we start the course in this way is so that we can help to quietly identify the gap for you and for your development as a photographer. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Once you have the ‘where are you now’ and the ‘where do you want to be’ clearly outlined, we can then start bridging a gap to pull the two together. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Makes sense? Yesssss you know it does.
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If you would like more info about our next Creative Spark course on Friday 7th February, please get in touch!
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Natalie + Lianne xx

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@thephotoclubuae

Photography classes for children + teens

We're on a mission to light a creative spark in all of our students!

Our classes are the perfect way to learn and develop essential photography skills in a fun, individual and practical way.

This term begins from April 2025 at either Arcadia School or DBSJP.

Choose the best option that suits you from...

DBS JP students

Join our DBSJP primary OR secondary students Photo Club class, both running on Thursday afternoons straight after school.

DBSJP Register here

Arcadia School students

Join our Arcadia School after school photography club on Tuesdays from 4pm- 5pm at Arcadia Secondary School.

arcadia Register here

All students

Tell me more about The Photo Club!

more about

the photo club

We are Natalie Robinson and Lianne Dawes, photographers, educators and mamas to Ruby, Max, Isla, Ede and Jenson.

We launched The Photo Club waaaaay back in 2017 when our focus was on workshops for parents with cameras. Specialising in teaching beginner photography to parents, we ran workshops on mobile phone photography, Adobe Lightroom for editing, advanced creative workshops, family photography workshops and ran frequent photowalks.

In 2020 we began working alongside Gulf Photo Plus, one of the region's largest photography training companies. Now in 2023, we shift focus within the education sphere by focussing on photography after school clubs, holiday camps and workshops.

This is our second business together; we run our children's commercial photography company, 'Wild Child' and independently have been freelance family and children's photographers since 2011.

We would love to connect with you - please explore our site and feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

natalie + lianne

oh, hey there!

what a photo club class looks like

An introduction to the week's topic.
A little bit of theory and critique.
What do we know already?
What do we like about different artists?What do we want to include in our own photos? What would we love to capture?

A whole lot of practice!
Learning different aspects of your cameras in line with the weekly topic and theme. Hands on experience and guidance from Natalie and Lianne to push your creative spirit. Learning the ropes with all kinds of cameras!

Printing our images and time spent reviewing what 'works' in your images and what you could try differently next time.
Selecting images that go into your final photography portfolio and into our end of term photography show!

one.

two.

three.

the benefits of learning photography

creativity

Photography boosts creativity and your child's creative spirit! It is a way to be creative without needing to be 'good' at the more classic art subjects like drawing and painting. We help children nurture their creativity in a new way!

Photography is all about light and shadow, composition and perspective, colour and texture. It's about your child seeing something and capturing it with their own unique perspective according to their own preferences.

curiosity

There is no 'right' or 'wrong' with photography...isn't that a curious thing! The skill of 'seeing' something and then being able to turn that into something physical is so unique.

Photography helps to develop your child's curious side...'what if I capture it like this?', 'what happens if I do x...how does that affect the outcome that I see? 'How does everyone else 'see' the same thing that I 'see'?'

conciousness

We all know the benefits of being more mindful. Within the fast paced, non-stop world that our children live in...isn't it time we encouraged them to slow down?

Photography is one way of doing this and through our programme we encourage children to 'see'. Change angles, try a different perspective, consider their camera settings, look at the light and so on. There are an infinite number of ways for one thing to be photographed and we are here to help your child explore them.

connecting

And finally, the wonderful aspect of connecting.

Photography helps your children to connect to their own creative minds, their technical and analytical side and to photography as an art form. To have an appreciation for a different form of art and to connect with their peers in a safe space where all views and perspectives are welcomed!

It's a great way to meet new friends as through our course we will be working on small photography projects together.

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