The Big Cat Photography workshop is a great opportunity to take photos of the Amur leopards and tigers, African lions, cheetahs and other animals along the way while learning about camera settings and other technical photographic aspects plus how knowing more about the animal species and their behaviour can help you to get great images.

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Professional wildlife photographer, Barbara Meyer will be available throughout the event to offer advice and to help participants with the settings on their cameras. Based on Barbara’s connection to wildlife conservation, our customers will also benefit from learning more about the big cats and their situation in the wild.

As on all our photography experiences, the Big Cat Photography workshop participants will have the option to have a 30-minutes online photography tuition session prior to the photography workshop; having access to tuition, tailored to their individual needs.

The Big Cat Photography workshops will start at 9:30am and will finish at 4:30pm (4:00pm during the winter months).

The maximum number of participants on our Big Cat Photography workshops is limited to 4 photographers per event (minimum of two). The small group size will benefit our customers in respect of getting good positions around the enclosures and having easily access to one-to-one support when needed.

2024 Dates

8th November 2024
29th November 2024

2025 Dates

17th January 2025
7th February 2025
14th March 2025
25th April 2025
16th May 2025
13th June 2025
4th July 2025
18th July 2025
5th September 2025
26th September 2025
17th October 2025
7th November 2025
5th December 2025

The Wildlife Photography for Teenagers workshop is a photography experience for children, aged 12-15 years. This photography workshop offers the children and their guardian to learn different aspects of photography; starting with technical features like exposure and focus settings as well as composition of images plus how to approach taking photos of wildlife in captivity and in natural habitat areas.

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In particular children, who have taken up GCSE-Photography, thinking about choosing a photography career or who have a keen interest in photography, will benefit from the Online Photography Tuition session, which is offered before the workshop as part of the package. The tuition session is individually tailored to each child’s experience level and needs. We can go over technical aspects of photography as well as photography projects, the children might work on and would like to add to with the photos, they intend to take as part of the Wildlife Photography for Teenagers workshop. Please just let us know what you would like to learn and get out of the photography workshop.

On the actual photography workshop day, professional wildlife photographer Barbara Meyer will help the children with setting up their cameras and teach them how to approach wildlife photography. Advice on any photographic aspects and how to capture the animal action will be available to the children (and their guardians) throughout the photography workshop.

The Wildlife Photography for Teenagers workshop will start at 9:30am and will finish at 2:30pm. As with all our photography workshops we limit the number of participants; in this case to 3 children and one guardian each. The small group size benefits our teenaged customers and their guardians as they will have more easily access to good positions around the enclosures and to one-to-one support when required.

2024 Dates

10th November 2024

2025 Dates

25th January 2025
26th April 2025
19th July 2025
20th September 2025

The Zoo Photography for Junior Explorers workshop is a photography experience for our youngest customers (aged 6-11 years). This photography workshop offers the children and their guardians to explore photography by taking images of different wildlife species around a certain areas of the zoo. The main focus of the Zoo Photography for Junior Explorers workshop is for the children to learn how to approach taking photos by observing the animals, recognising photo opportunities and looking for the best angles.

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We will focus on different sections of the zoo on each of the Zoo Photography for Children workshop, and each workshop will have a theme. This means the individual Zoo Photography workshops will focus on certain species (plus other animals in the area of the zoo). Through this approach, we want to draw the focus more on the subject and that knowing aspects about the animals may help to get better and more interesting images of the different wildlife species.

On this photography workshop any type of camera from a digital SLR to a compact camera or even a mobile phone could be used. Though saying this, cameras with a longer zoom range will be of benefit. Furthermore, if a digital SLR camera or a bridge camera is available, the children and their guardians will also be able to learn more about technical photography aspects like exposure, focus and other functional settings on the cameras.

As with all our photography experiences, our junior participants will have the option to have a 30-minutes online session prior to the photography workshop at the zoo. This allows us to tailor the tuition to each child’s individual needs.

On the actual photography workshop day, wildlife photographer Barbara Meyer will help the children with setting up their cameras and teach them how to approach wildlife photography. Advice on any photographic aspects and how to capture the animal action will be available to the children (and their guardians) throughout the photography workshop.

2025 Dates

27th September 2025

The African Photography Safari workshop is ideal for people, who plan to go on safari and would like to make sure, they will be able to capture the wildlife effectively when they will see the different animal species while being out in Africa or on any other wildlife holiday. On the African Photography Safari workshop participants will be able to explore and photograph lions, fennec foxes, elephants, rhinos, giraffes, hyenas, baboons, chimpanzees and many other wildlife species.

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Professional photographer, Barbara Meyer offers a 30-minutes online photography tuition session for each participant on a one-to-one basis before the actual photography workshop plus support on camera settings and any other photography aspects throughout the photography workshop itself. Barbara will also share knowledge about the animals and how to approach photographing them at the zoo as well as in their natural habitat.

Based on Barbara’s personal safari experiences, our customers will also benefit from learning more about what to expect and what to look out for from a photographic perspective when being on safari or generally taking photos of animals in the wild.

The African Photography Safari workshops will start at 9:30am and will finish at 4:30pm.

The maximum number of participants on our African Photography Safari workshops is limited to 4 photographers per event (minimum of 2 people). The small group size will benefit our customers in respect of getting good positions around the enclosures and having easily access to one-to-one support when needed.

2025 Dates

24th April 2025
20th June 2025
11th July 2025
12 September 2025

Over the last few years, we have seen that there is an increasing interest in photographing primates as many of our customers come to prepare for their trips to see these wonderful animals in their natural habitat. On our Primates Photography workshop, participants can observe and photograph the wide variety of primates at Colchester Zoo, including apes, monkeys, macaques and lemurs.

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Knowing that depending on seasons, the behaviour of primates might vary (some species prefer to stay indoors when it is cold), we offer this photography workshop type only from May until September. Over these months, our customers will be able to capture many of the primate species in their outdoor enclosures when there is usually lots of action. Participants on our Primates Photography workshops can learn how to get photos, through observing the behaviour and anticipating potential photo opportunities. Throughout the photography workshop, participants will have access to advice on any photography aspects and help with the settings on their camera.

Additionally, our customers have the option to have a 30-minutes online photography tuition session before the photography workshop. Through this, participants will get one-to-one tuition on a level, they require The session could cover anything from an introduction to the exposure and focus settings to refreshing previously gained knowledge and more.

The Primates Photography workshops will start at 9:30am and will finish at 4:30pm.The maximum number of participants on our Primates Photography workshops is limited to 4 photographers per event (minimum of 2 people). The small group size will benefit our customers in respect of getting good positions around the enclosures and having easy access to one to-one support when needed.

2025 Dates

9th May 2025
4th September 2025

Experiences & Gifts