Cathal McNaughton shows three AP readers how taking their documentary eye into the wide-open spaces of London's Hyde Park can reveal a vibrant and fascinating environment. Oliver Atwell joins them

Summer is almost here. That precious two days of sunshine that the UK is allotted will soon see hundreds of people swarming to the beaches and parks to bask in the glorious rays of light - and what a perfect opportunity to get out into the fresh air with your camera. Our previous Masterclasses with Cathal McNaughton have found us tackling the bustling and cramped streets of places such as Cardiff, Brighton and Brixton, but on this occasion our readers will be trying something a little different.
London's Hyde Park covers around 350 acres of land and is home to wildlife favourites such as birds, squirrels, ducks and swans. Yet perhaps the most interesting form of wildlife that we'll encounter today is the people. The area is full of opportunities to spot the oddities and humour that people can bring to an area.

‘We're going to face a bit of a challenge today,' says Cathal. ‘Hyde Park is a vast area and there are a lot of opportunities for great images. However, as the park is so large our readers are really going to have to get out there and explore. This is an area that you could easily spend a couple of days walking around. Trying to capture the flavour and character of the park is going to be difficult, but if we all keep our eyes peeled and our minds open, we'll come back with some excellent shots.'
The important thing, according to Cathal, is to go into the environment with an open mind. Approaching an area such as Hyde Park with any preconceived ideas of what you'll see will inevitably lead to disappointment. As one of today's attendees helpfully points out, it's unlikely that the French documentary photographer Robert Doisneau went out looking for a sausage dog on wheels.
‘It's fine to have some level of structure,' says Cathal, ‘but the important thing is to make sure that your ideas are adaptable and loose. We saw in the last documentary Masterclass in Brixton, south London (AP 10 March), how we should always be on the look-out for four things: an establishing shot, a portrait, a detail and an action shot. That's about as far as a structure needs to go. If you can come away with those four things at the end of the day, you've done your job.'

Your AP Master...

Cathal McNaughton
In his career as a press photographer, Cathal has covered conflicts in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan. Providing images to The Press Association and Reuters news agency, he has been named UK Press Photographer of the Year and received numerous awards, including the 2011 Amateur Photographer Power of Photography Award. Cathal is also a regular contributor to AP's Photo insight series, He is based in Ireland. Visit www.cathalmcnaughton.com.

The AP Readers...

Mark Cutler
Mark is relatively new to photography and is exploring various genres. He uses a Pentax K-x. ‘Today has been fantastic,' he says. ‘I'm going to take so much away from this. It's really opened my eyes to the world of street photography and documentary.'


Craig Reilly
Craig been taking photographs since around 2008 and has a great passion for documentary imagery. He shoots using a Canon EOS 40D. ‘Cathal is incredibly generous with his knowledge,' he says. ‘I'm going to really think about the things that we learned today and use them to take my photography to the next level.'


Martin Snelling
Martin is a keen amateur photographer who likes to shoot both digital and film. He used an Olympus Pen E-PL1. ‘I've learned a lot from today's Masterclass,' he says. ‘Cathal's really helped to get me out of some bad habits and showed me how to improve my photography.'

Every month we invite three to five AP readers to join one of our four experts on a free assignment over the course of a day. The experts are Tom Mackie (landscapes), Cathal McNaughton (documentary and photo essays), Annabel Williams (location portraiture) and Andy Rouse (wildlife).* If you would like to take part, visit www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/masterclass for details of how to apply. Please remember to state which Masterclass you would like to attend and make sure you include your name, address, email address, daytime telephone number, some words about your work and three or four of your images.

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