Shoot N Learn #3 Recap

What a great time we had last night! I think we had 16 people here, which was awesome! We had a very productive evening discussing off camera lighting.

My inspiration for wanting to touch on this subject comes from none other than Zack Arias founder of OneLightWorkshop. Zack is an incredible human being that happens to be an incredible (and giving) photographer. I took his workshop in Atlanta last year and it blew me away. The best investment I have made in my career, as far as fundamental/practical knowledge. If you have not taken his workshop, DO IT. You will not be sorry. Incidentally, he also has released a DVD of his workshop! I am eagerly awaiting my copy. Thank you for the inspiration Zack!

So last night, I had the opportunity to share a few tidbits just to get people thinking differently and not fearing their flash so much. It was so much fun setting up the shots and seeing people say 'Ahh, that is sweet!'. I am hoping that everyone shares some images that they grabbed of Kristen, Beth and me.

Thank you to all that came out to have fun and learn! Hope to see you at the next one!
Here are a few of my own shots. (All shot using Nikon D3, Nikon SB-800 off camera, Pocket Wizards, 60" or 45" umbrella adjustments made in Lightroom Only and then sharpened for web)

Shoot and Learn #3 - Off Camera Lighting

**Update - THIS SHOOT N LEARN IS FULL - Please check back for the next one**We are having our 3rd Shoot and Learn Next Tuesday August 12, 2008 @ 6:00 PM here at our studio. The topic of discussion will be:

"Off Camera Lighting" - You have more options!

I will do a mini-presentation covering the concepts followed by us moving to the alleyway for some shooting. All you need to bring is your beautiful self and a camera! I will have the light setup and Pocket Wizards for you all to share. Please email me and let me know if you will be attending with "Shoot N Learn" in the subject line.

I am really looking forward to this one and hope to see you all here!

Here is an example of Available Light vs. On Camera Flash vs. Off Camera Flash. Thanks to Beth for modeling ;-)

Fast Track Photographer - Dane Sanders

My friend Dane Sanders is a photographer/entrepreneur based out of Orange County, CA. He is a wonderful soul, husband and father of 4. Recently he released his first book entitled "Fast Track Photographer" that is aimed towards the budding photographer eager to take the leap into the profession of wedding photography. I can recommend this book to Pros as well. I have only gotten through Chapter 3 so far and can tell you that it is LOADED with nuggets that make you think (yes actually use your brain) about where you are and where you want to go. Dane talks about discovering who YOU are as a photographer. It is so easy to get caught up in the commodity we sell (prints, books, files) instead of the experience and being the best YOU possible.

Dane also has the Fast Track Photographer Founder Membership that comes with all kinds of perks. I am a member and have been blessed with many friendships through this experience. If you are looking to get the ball rolling I suggest jumping on board to jump start your success.

I can't say enough good things about Dane Sanders and what he stands for. He started Simple Photo Minute, which morfed into CutFrameTV.com. CFTV is an online video community, much like YouTube, but specifically for photographers. Individuals share tips, stories, fun clips, etc.. Check it out!

I love what I do and cannot imagine doing anything else. The relationships that I have made and continue to make are absolutely incredible. I have never been in an industry quite like it. We are all in it together, so lets continue to make it a wonderful place to be!

PS - We can only accomodate 3 more people for Next Weeks Shoot N Learn, so please let me know if you want to come ASAP. :-)

Shoot N Learn

**Quick Update**
I was unable to schedule a Shoot N Learn for July, however we will be back in August Full Force! I am sending out an email to all on the list as well. I will put the new date and topic on here ASAP. Thanks all and I can't wait for the next one! We have some great ones lined up for the next few months.

David

Shoot n Learn #2 Recap

Tuesday evening, I had the honor of hosting Heather Lahtinen. Heather is a sweet soul. Period. She is a wonderful photographer and teacher. Man can she teach or what??? I know the attendees can vouch for that!

We had a great time going over the basics of a Lightroom workflow. One attendee shouted "You are changing my life!" :-) It was awesome to see the lightbulbs going off. Heather showed us some of the new features in Lightroom 2.0 Beta. For me, I am thinking that Photoshop is going to be a thing of the past. Only to be used for Very detailed retouching (that does not happen too often). LR 2.0 is going to be THE BEST software for a photographer. Amen.

We are working on Shoot n Learn #3 and it looks like we are going to hone in on using Off Camera Lighting with One (1) Light. I attended a great workshop last fall called the OneLight Workshop and it blew me away. Zack Arias is extremely talented with lighting techniques. I am putting together a VERY condensed version that will give you a head start when using off camera lighting. Stay tuned for details. Here are a few snaps from Tuesday. We need to start videoing! Any videographers out there want to volunteer??? LOL

Shoot and Learn was a blast!

We are behind on blogging some fantastic shoots. I promise they will all get here eventually. This past week has been a whirlwind of excitement. New Studio, LifExpo and our first Shoot N Learn workshop. I am about to run out and shoot the engagement session of Jill and Joe so I have to make this quick.

I thought I may get 2 or 3 folks out for the workshop, but we had 10! I was blown away. The people that came were awesome. I made some new friends and cannot wait to do it again. We are brainstorming on what we can do each time to make it super useful. We are putting together a survey to send out to see what you all think. Thanks to everyone that came out and look forward to seeing you again!

Here are a few of my snaps from the night. We did Available Light Portraits. Fun!!

My beautiful Wife, Bridget, was our model. Bray Bray made an appearance too.

(these are from my flickr page, sorry for the small size)