This workshop is designed for photographers of all skill levels, from beginners to advanced studio photographers and all levels in between. Anyone who wishes to improve their studio lighting, interaction with models, creative direction, and overall professional workflow will benefit from the sessions and information being presented at this workshop. No matter which level you consider yourself to be at currently, this workshop serves as a level-up for all who attend. Our workshop facilitators are specifically focused on providing you with a top-notch shooting experience and are prepared to help you over any hurdles you may encounter.

First and foremost, bring your desire to learn and your willingness to try new techniques. Beyond that, a camera and lenses are critical tools to bring along. We recommend a digital SLR or even a mirrorless camera (with interchangeable lenses) for ease of use. However, we are comfortable with all camera types, including film-based models if you prefer. Our philosophy is to teach posing and exposure techniques; we leave you to manage the mechanics of the camera of your choice. We will even assist in the ideal settings for your camera, assuming that you have the camera manual available to us at the time of the workshop.

A quick word about lens selection(s). While any lens can be used, we recommend sticking to lenses in the normal to telephoto focal length range. For a full-frame camera, that means a lens 50mm or longer (roughly 35mm or longer for a crop-sensor lens on an APS-C camera body). This is not to say you shouldn’t bring a wider-angle lens (24mm-35mm full frame), but you will likely want longer focal-length lenses for that “studio” look in your images.

You absolutely DO NOT need studio shooting and/or studio lighting experience. No matter your experience level, our workshop facilitators will guide you to the settings you need to achieve professional results. Our studio lighting setups are designed for ease of use, and as long as your camera has an active hot shoe, we can set you up for studio success.

If you do not have any experience with your camera triggering an off-camera flash system, we can, 99.9% of the time, guide you to make your system work. Please ensure you have your camera manual with you so we can fully understand your system.

In short, very easily!

Yes! The entire focus of this workshop is on working with models, cohesive scene design, and capturing compelling images. We have configured the studio area into four (4) “shooting bays.” This allows us to take our already small participant group and break it into four (4) groups of three (3) photographers each. This ensures maximum working time with each model, and our rotation plan ensures you will work with each model more than once throughout the workshop.

Yes! All of our models have been personally vetted by both Tim and Emmy, and we have collectively worked with them in the past (as you can see in our gallery images on this website). Each of our models is selected on the basis of being reliable, self-posing, and engaged in our creative process. They are confident in both their modeling experience and their ability to work with photographers at all levels.

We allow a maximum of twelve (12) photographers at our workshop events. Our studio space is divided into four (4) “shooting bays,” allowing us to group our participants into groups of three (3) photographers each. By design, we encourage the group members to assist one another in adjusting lighting, applying light modifiers, and, in general, fostering the sharing of feedback and ideas. Our workshop facilitators will rotate through the groups during each shooting session to ensure any questions are answered and the shooting pace is maintained. We want you to capture as many high-quality images as possible.

Our workshops are held in our state-of-the-art 6,000-square-foot studio space. Our studio is equipped with a variety of top-of-the-line strobe and constant lighting systems. We have some of the most advanced light modifiers available in the industry, as well as over thirty (30) backdrops distributed across four (4) “shooting bays.” All lighting is controlled remotely and can be managed from digital radio-based triggers that you will use on your cameras. We offer oem specific triggers for Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fuji, additionally we have a variety of manual triggers that working on just about any manual hot shoe system. Each “shooting bay” and backdrop configuration has a pre-configured lighting setup that has been optimized to match the vision we have for that specific scene.

Absolutely! Not only are our models among the best in the industry, but our workshop is also focused on teaching you how to identify and communicate the results you want in your final images. We spend time fostering a collaborative environment between our photographers and our models. Therefore, everyone is focused on and interested in turning out professional-grade results. Workshop facilitators Tim and Emmy will also rotate through each of the “shooting bays” repeatedly to continually provide assistance with posing, lighting, and exposure considerations. Simply, we’re not happy until you are happy!

Yes! We conduct high-level post-production editing sessions on both the opening night and Saturday night. These sessions cover professional-level image editing, including workflow recommendations, color correction, and retouching fundamentals, to ensure you achieve the best possible results in your final images.

Absolutely! With two (2) notable exceptions, all images that you capture during the workshop are available for use in your portfolio and for use in your social media accounts. The two (2) exceptions that we must point out are:

1. You may not use any images that you have captured in any commercial application. Meaning that you may not use any image that you have captured at the workshop in a production print run, either individually or embedded in a publication. This includes, but is not limited to, any multiple-image application of an image to any media type for resale. If you wish to use any image in such a manner, please contact us so that we can work out licensing arrangements between the applicable parties.
2. A model may elect to exclude images from a particular scene/costume session for modesty reasons. We feel that all of our image visions represent classy portrayals of the models in question, but we ultimately must defer to the models’ preferences when they feel we have “pushed the envelope” beyond their public comfort zone. It is unlikely that this will happen very often at any of our workshops, and we will disclose the exception before the photographer shoots any images of that scene.

At the close of each workshop, models and photographers will exchange model release forms, so that each photographer will have the appropriate release from each mode.

Let’s face it, we were all new and felt intimidated at one point in our lives. This workshop is designed to be supportive and educational in a fun and engaging way. Where else would you get to work with stunning models in a world-class studio and walk away with great images at the end of the day! Our workshop facilitators are here to break down each concept step by step, provide simple explanations of seemingly complex problems, and help you feel confident and comfortable throughout the experience. We promise you that at the end of the workshop, you will be excited about all you have learned and be pumped about shooting more studio work in the future!

Honestly, a lot! When we designed these photography workshops, we set out to make them “high-end” from start to finish. We have zero interest in creating another group “shoot” event, where you learn very little and stand around waiting for your “turn on the trigger.” Our goal was and is to engage our models, photographers, and creative juices in such a way that you walk away with a whole new knowledge set and portfolio-grade images.

You’ll leave with:

• A deeper understanding of studio lighting and exposure theory
• Portfolio-ready images
  
• A deeper understanding of studio lighting
  
• Confidence working with models
  
• Knowledge of creative set styling
• A professional editing workflow

Our workshops are two (2) days in length, running from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. each day. When our workshop falls over a weekend (which many do…), we typically have an opening session on Friday evening. Our typical workshop day includes approximately three (3) hours of shooting time in the morning and three (3) hours of shooting time in the afternoon. Interspersed between these blocks of shooting time are mini-seminars to discuss technical and creative topics pertinent to the workshop and studio photography.

Yes! Please refer to our /About/Policies page. You can get there by following this link.

Simply register through the booking link on this page. Spots are limited and fill quickly.