GHJ STUDIO | Grete Hjorth-Johansen

WORKSHOP: Blue Winter
2026-02-15 14:00 - 17:00 (Europe/London) | Essex
It’s cold, dark and misty in the forest in winter. Our timelessly stylish model Mona (in the photo above) is also a fully trained actress. She is ready to pose for us, and we will create photos that look like they are straight out of a Scandi Noir drama. Or maybe a murder-mystery, or a psychological thriller.

Join us for an exciting GHJ EXPLORE portrait workshop in Epping Forest. We have found the bleakest, spookiest area of the forest where the trees look almost like alien beings, and the only creatures we encounter are the deer.

We are going blue this time, and we will show you how. Natual colours in a photo are sometimes just a bit too rooted in normality and don’t allow for our imagination to do any work. We will be working in daylight as it fades to dusk, but aim for a blueish night time feel. We’ll even add a kiss of lighting here and there. It’s great fun stretching the creative possibilities of the camera itself, rather than adding fancy effects while editing.

WHO IS IT FOR:Anyone who would love to get a more cinematic and dramatic feel to their portraiture and want to learn a bit more about how to use your cameras’s White Balance (WB) settings to create dramatic, moody looks. It is best to know how to use your camera in M (manual) mode and understand exposure – the relationship between shutter speed, aperture and ISO, but we can manage without too. The main thing is having curiosity to want to experiment and learn a little along the way.

WHAT TO BRING:Camera, ideally prime lenses as they create softer bokeh (blurry bits behind the model), but a kit lens will also work fine. Lens range between 35-140mm.If you own a flash/speedlight then please bring it! Coloured filters are also good, but we can provide them. We have some extra speelights for Canon, Nikon and Sony. Feel free to bring your own soft filters like Pro Mist or Cinebloom etc, but we also have them on hand for you to try.

WHERE:Epping Forest, Jack’s Hill area. The precise location will be revaled once you have booked.

TICKETS:£95. Only 6 spaces for this one so hurry up and book! No refunds offered but you can attend another similarly priced event instead at a later date.

CONTACT / RSVP:Grete on 07885899908 grete@ghjstudio.com to register and book.Ian on ‭07775 933371‬

FUTURE EVENTS:Sign up to my NEWSLETTER to get notified about future GHJ EXPLORE workshops, photo walks and photo trips around the UK and abroad.

WORKSHOP: Dream Forest
2025-10-25 14:00 - 17:00 | Essex
Is she a dream? Is she real? Join us for an exciting GHJ EXPLORE portrait workshop in Epping Forest capturing the golden tones of the season. We will be working with a gorgeous red-haired model to create otherworldly, hazy portraits while playing with diffusion filters and gobos to create a more softened look. It’s autumn and our model looks like a creation of the forest itself. The photo above is from a recent shoot by Grete, and we will be aiming for the same look.

WHO IS IT FOR:Anyone who would love to get a more cinematic and dramatic feel to their portraiture and want to learn a bit more about how to make good lighting choices. It is best to know how to use your camera in M (manual) mode and understand exposure – the relationship between shutterspeed, aperture and ISO. If you are unsure of this, then sign up for one of our exposure workshop first!

WHAT TO BRING:Camera, ideally prime lenses as they create softer bokeh (blurry bits behind the model), but a kit lens will also work fine. Lens range between 50-200mm.Feel free to bring your own soft filters like Pro Mist or Cinebloom etc, but we also have them on hand for you to try.

WHERE:Epping Forest, Loughton Brook area. The precise location will be revaled once you have booked.

TICKETS:£120. Only 6 spaces for this one so hurry up and book! No refunds offered but you can attend another similarly priced event instead at a later date.

CONTACT / RSVP:Grete on 07885899908 grete@ghjstudio.com to register and book.Ian on ‭07775 933371‬

FUTURE EVENTS:Sign up to my NEWSLETTER to get notified about future GHJ EXPLORE workshops, photo walks and photo trips around the UK and abroad.

WORKSHOP: Low Light - High Drama
2025-07-26 15:00 - 18:00 | Essex
Join us for an exciting GHJ EXPLORE lighting workshop in the City of London. We will be exploring how to create atmospheric portraits in low, continuous light. We have secured a very old pub full that’s full of character for this shoot, and we are keping participant numbers low so that you will get a lot of help and guidance. Our models are both male and female and bring with them a feel of both old and new stylewise. We will of course have time for a drink or two afterwards.

WHO IS IT FOR:Anyone who would love to get a more cinematic and dramatic feel to their portraiture and want to learn a bit more about how to make good lighting choices.

WHAT TO BRING:Camera, ideally prime lenses as they handle low light a lot better, but kit lens will also work fine. Lens range between 24-100mm.Lights and some filters will be provided but feel free to bring your own continuous lights (not flash but those that stay on), or any soft filters like Pro Mist, Cinebloom. We are in a small space so nothing massive!

WHERE:Near Bank Station, London. The precise location will be revaled once you have booked.

TICKETS:£70 as an introductory offer (normally £100). Only 4 spaces for this one so hurry up and book! No refunds offered but you can attend another similarly priced event instead at a later date.

CONTACT / RSVP:Grete on 07885899908 grete@ghjstudio.comIan on ‭07775 933371‬

FUTURE EVENTS:Sign up to my NEWSLETTER to get notified about future GHJ EXPLORE workshops, photo walks and photo trips around the UK and abroad.

EXHIBITION VISIT: Photo London at Somerset House
2025-05-17 11:30 - 13:30 | Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 1LA, United Kingdom
Join your fellow art photography enthusiasts for a visit to this amazing art fair at Somerset House. Photo London is our city’s answer to Paris Photo – the huge international art fair dedicated to art photography. Its London counterpart is smaller (but growing steadily), and it is a vital part of pushing the idea of photography as collectible art, especially to the rather conservative UK art market.
ART PHOTOGRAPHY:
Photo London is a great place to see prints from our historical photo heroes up close. Usually there are galleries trading in the big names that never go out of fashion – Cartier Bresson, Ansel Adams, David Bailey, Sarah Moon etc. The big tent in the courtyard is usually where we find the best contemporary photography, with huge prints in elaborate frames that sell for silly money. Smaller galleries can be found along the many corridors and basements, and they give you an indication of where the emerging photopgraphers are heading.
TICKETS:
Entry is £32.00 via this link:
https://my.somersethouse.org.uk/8536/8546
You must buy your ticket before arrival, otherwise it eats into our time together.
The exhibition is open 14 – 18 May, so you can go another day if you prefer – but I hope you will join us so that we can share our thoughts.

CONTACT / RSVP:
Grete on 07885899908 grete@ghjstudio.com

Photo credit © Billy Allen

EXHIBITION VISIT: The Face Magazine - Culture Shift
2025-05-10 11:39 - 13:30 | The National Portrait Gallery, St. Martin's Pl, London, London, WC2H 0HE
Join your fellow art photography enthusiasts for a visit to this amazing exhibition at The National Portrait Gallery. The Face was a very trendy music and lifestyle magazine in the 1990’s and always featured edgy photography of the current bands and cool cats of the day.
ART PHOTOGRAPHY:
The Face was famous for its edgy style of photography, a lot of it based on ‘cross processing’. This is where positive film meant for slide projectors was developed with the chemicals meant for negative film, resulting in strong contrast and intense colours. I was an expert at this back in the day, and I plan to create a darkroom event to teach you how in the coming months.
TICKETS:
Entry is £23 via this link:
https://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/exhibitions/2025/face-magazine/
You must buy your ticket before arrival, otherwise it eats into our time together.
The exhibition is open until 18 May, so you can go another day if you prefer – but I hope you will join us so that we can share our thoughts.
CONTACT / RSVP:
Grete on 07885899908 grete@ghjstudio.com
Photo credit © Elaine Constantine

EXHIBITION VISIT: Sony World Photography Awards
2025-05-03 11:30 - 13:30 | Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 1LA, United Kingdom
Join your fellow art photography enthusiasts for a visit to this amazing exhibition at Somerset House. In my opinion it’s the best annual exhibition in London for seeing a huge variety of work from around the world—there really is something for everyone and the work is always thought provoking as well as beautiful. Entry into the competition itself is free and defiitely worth a go – I know people who have been winners.
ART PHOTOGRAPHY:
I’ve selected the cover photo as a great exapmple of artistic architectural photography. It’s one of the winners this year and of a public toilet. It’s not the typical building one associates with beauty, which just proves that any structure can be a great subject matter. After all, art photography is all about form, light and shadow, which is what we will be exploring together from now on.
TICKETS:
Entry is £17.50 via this link:
https://my.somersethouse.org.uk/8551/8568
You must buy your ticket before arrival, otherwise it eats into our time together.
The exhibition is open until 5 May, so you can go another day if you prefer – but I hope you will join us so that we can share our thoughts.
CONTACT / RSVP:
Grete on 07885899908 grete@ghjstudio.com

Photo credit © The Tokyo Toilet Project by Ulana Switucha
