January 19*, 2014 - it's not about the camera (new date!)
February 9, 2014 - composition, understanding light
March 2, 2014 - technical critiquing, photo manipulation
March 30, 2014 - portraiture and controlled lighting
April 27, 2014 - the business end of things I
May 25, 2014 - the business end of things II
Workshops are $150 each. A discount of $25 per class applies when you sign up for 2 or more, or $50 per class if you take the complete series. Zip me a message about payment plan options :)
Sunday, January 19, 2014 - it's NOT about the camera
Start time: 10am
Finish time: 5pm
When someone says, "Your camera takes nice pictures!" if you're shooting in Auto, they are indeed correct - your camera is taking the picture. This workshop will take you an on in-depth exploration of exactly how your camera works, all the fancy accessories you can get and what they are for, and the REAL reason virtually any camera can take nice pictures: YOU. In addition to checking out pretty much every piece of camera and studio equipment in My Edmonton Studio, you will begin to develop a solid foundation in understanding the technology upon which every camera in existence is based: the Law of Reciprocity. We will learn the differences between wide angle, fish eye, macro, micro, telephoto, pancake, and specialty lenses like tilt shifters and lensbaby, discuss RAW v. JPEG, explain the difference between DPI/PPI v. pixels and digital resolution, learn about Depth of Field (DOF) and how it "makes stuff blurry in the background" and more. You will likely have a shopping list when this class is done, but save your pennies for now... because it's not about the camera. Find the Facebook event HERE.
Sunday, February 9, 2014 - composition, understanding light
Start time: 10am
Finish time: 5pm
This day is dedicated to the two most basic elements of photography: composition and light. The first portion will allow you to get a firm grasp on strong composition and understand how composition is used to clarify, create context, and intrigue viewers. We will explore how to make negative space active and learn why sometimes it's best to break the most common rules of composition to work to your advantage. Then, despite living in Alberta, where the weather can change in literally minutes, we will learn how light is 100% predictable. When you understand exactly how light works, you will be able to use this knowledge to create images using natural, available and controlled light. You will learn how to guesstimate your camera's settings in manual as well as look at situations when you may want to use aperture or time priority and what the trades offs are when using long or short shutter speeds, wide or deep apertures, and high or low ISO. WARNING: this class involves heavy use of sparklers and/or glow sticks. Find the Facebook event HERE.
This day is dedicated to the two most basic elements of photography: composition and light. The first portion will allow you to get a firm grasp on strong composition and understand how composition is used to clarify, create context, and intrigue viewers. We will explore how to make negative space active and learn why sometimes it's best to break the most common rules of composition to work to your advantage. Then, despite living in Alberta, where the weather can change in literally minutes, we will learn how light is 100% predictable. When you understand exactly how light works, you will be able to use this knowledge to create images using natural, available and controlled light. You will learn how to guesstimate your camera's settings in manual as well as look at situations when you may want to use aperture or time priority and what the trades offs are when using long or short shutter speeds, wide or deep apertures, and high or low ISO. WARNING: this class involves heavy use of sparklers and/or glow sticks. Find the Facebook event HERE.
Sunday, March 2, 2014 - technical critiquing, photo manipulation (in Adobe Photoshop)
Start time: 10am
Finish time: 5pm
Learning how to deconstruct images you are looking at will help you recognize things like lighting set-ups, identify lenses and focal lengths that your prefer, and recognizing the elements that attract you. This will ultimately assist you in developing your style through the lighting set-ups you choose, the lenses you invest in, the design elements and composition you employ, and finally the post-processing you apply when finishing your images. The Photoshop portion is a play-along demo; students will be given a set of 2 - 4 images to work with and we will walk through several techniques as a group that will hopefully help you get your feet wet and feel more comfortable with the PS environment. By the end of the demon you will have used most of the tools in your palette while playing with levels, curves, skin retouching (3 techniques), liquify, masking, layers, and more. Time permitting, we will also write a basic action for applying a watermark and apply it using a script. Find the Facebook event HERE.
Learning how to deconstruct images you are looking at will help you recognize things like lighting set-ups, identify lenses and focal lengths that your prefer, and recognizing the elements that attract you. This will ultimately assist you in developing your style through the lighting set-ups you choose, the lenses you invest in, the design elements and composition you employ, and finally the post-processing you apply when finishing your images. The Photoshop portion is a play-along demo; students will be given a set of 2 - 4 images to work with and we will walk through several techniques as a group that will hopefully help you get your feet wet and feel more comfortable with the PS environment. By the end of the demon you will have used most of the tools in your palette while playing with levels, curves, skin retouching (3 techniques), liquify, masking, layers, and more. Time permitting, we will also write a basic action for applying a watermark and apply it using a script. Find the Facebook event HERE.
Sunday, March 30, 2014 - portraiture and controlled lighting
Start time: 10am
Finish time: 5pm
Not gonna lie - posing is important, so we will learn lots of tips and tricks for posing individual men and women, infants/babies, children, groups, and families - but the MOST important part of your job as a photographer is to make your subjects feel as comfortable and relaxed in front of the camera so that their own personality can shine through (even when their personality type is awkward...) Throughout the day, we will be practising on each other as well as several models and while we are doing that we will be experimenting 3 different lighting set-ups - single off-camera flash, 2-piece continuous fluorescents, and 3-piece Alien Bee strobe kit - as well as 3 different types of sets - continuous paper, a creative set, and a "typical" living room. Find the Facebook event HERE.
Not gonna lie - posing is important, so we will learn lots of tips and tricks for posing individual men and women, infants/babies, children, groups, and families - but the MOST important part of your job as a photographer is to make your subjects feel as comfortable and relaxed in front of the camera so that their own personality can shine through (even when their personality type is awkward...) Throughout the day, we will be practising on each other as well as several models and while we are doing that we will be experimenting 3 different lighting set-ups - single off-camera flash, 2-piece continuous fluorescents, and 3-piece Alien Bee strobe kit - as well as 3 different types of sets - continuous paper, a creative set, and a "typical" living room. Find the Facebook event HERE.
Sunday, April 27, 2014 - the business end of things I
Start time: 10am
Finish time: 5pm
Do you need a business license? Should I register my company name? How do I open a bank account? Why do people trademark their images? How do I get a bank loan? What can I write off on my taxes? Do I have to collect GST? How much should I be charging for my services? This just barely scratches the surface of all the questions you are going to have about setting up shop, and in one long, whirlwindy kinda day we are going to dance our way through all the intricacies, and then maybecelebrate decompress with a glass of well-earned wine... find the Facebook event HERE.
Do you need a business license? Should I register my company name? How do I open a bank account? Why do people trademark their images? How do I get a bank loan? What can I write off on my taxes? Do I have to collect GST? How much should I be charging for my services? This just barely scratches the surface of all the questions you are going to have about setting up shop, and in one long, whirlwindy kinda day we are going to dance our way through all the intricacies, and then maybe
Sunday, May 25, 2014 - the business end of things II
Start time: 10am
Finish time: 5pm
Marketing plans, campaigns, promotions, schedules, business management software, social media, integration platforms, websites, SEO optimization, branding/rebranding, blogging, bonding, networking, referral programs, products, packaging, consultations, complaints, customer feedback, Facebook contests, rewards, client gifts, developing a corporate identity, logos... yeah, that kind of day. Bring coffee. Find the Facebook event HERE.
Marketing plans, campaigns, promotions, schedules, business management software, social media, integration platforms, websites, SEO optimization, branding/rebranding, blogging, bonding, networking, referral programs, products, packaging, consultations, complaints, customer feedback, Facebook contests, rewards, client gifts, developing a corporate identity, logos... yeah, that kind of day. Bring coffee. Find the Facebook event HERE.
