About Us

SSDG tutorial night

The South Shields Digital Group meets at St Bede’s R C Church, 10 Westoe Rd, South Shields NE33 4LZ fortnightly from September to May on a Wednesday evening 7-9pm. The syllabus is designed to meet the members’ needs and caters for complete beginners to advanced Photoshop users.
Our main tutors have over 20 years Photoshop and photography teaching experience, but we encourage our members to pass on little bits of photography knowledge which they have picked up.
We have over 30 members regularly attending the meetings and the £2 entrance fee even covers tea/coffee and biscuits!
During the summer months we organise ‘walk-a-bouts’ to local places of interest to practice photography and to pass on our knowledge.

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Craig McNair

I have been teaching Photoshop and photography in South Shields for the past 14 or so years and over that time I have seen our teaching group progress to the point it is at now – catering for everyone (complete beginner to advanced workers) that still wants to learn and pass on their knowledge. Digital photography has changed massively in that time and it can be tricky keeping up with it – but we try!

More images at – Flickr and IDEventPhotography


Jasper Connor

I have been a photographer for over 40 years but the big ‘game changer’ happened about 10 years ago when I purchased my first digital camera. Wishing to explore the limits of this new technology led me to Photoshop, I taught myself how to use it and have never looked back since. My real passion lies in the more creative side of Photoshop, that of creating composite images from several other photos. Generally this is what I teach in the first tutorial of the night at the South Shields Digital Group.
Don’t get me wrong, I still take ‘normal’ photos, but usually refer to them as the ‘boring stuff’.
Reality is only confined by your imagination…

or, in those immortal words of Buzz Lightyear – To infinity and beyond!”

Check out my images at –  Jasper’s website and Flickr


Phil Haswell

I was born South Shields and as a keen and active photographer and sportsman I wanted to embrace both and developed a passion for sports photography. Over time, this has expanded to include studio work, wildlife, landscape and most recently astro photography. I have been involved with creative editing since the early 90’s using Serif PagePlus and moved on to Photoshop software at the end of the 90’s. My philosophy has, & always will be “to have fun” when out and about with my camera, and then to have even more fun creating/ developing the images produced. I enjoy having the opportunity to pass on my hard learnt skills with others who share my enthusiasm for photography in all its forms.

Visit my Flickr page: Flickr


Alec Jones

I first started taking photography seriously in 2009. I started snapping photographs of our wonderful surroundings and soon realised I was not capturing what I wanted. I started to look at photography manipulation packages, initially Aviary and Gimp, and taught myself how to improve these “snaps”. This made me realise that I needed better images in order to create better pictures, which led me to the first of many Canon cameras.

The encouragement and support of the Group spurred me on to push boundaries in photography and to explore portraiture, landscape, wildlife and, my other passion, Astro Photography.
I am now happy to share my learning experiences with any and all who share the passion.

“Photography is a Journey, not a Destination.”

Alec’s website www.alecjonesservices.co.uk


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