Portrait Workshop: February 27th & 28th, Chattanooga, Tennessee

January 16, 2010 | Filed Under Lecture/Workshop | 9 Comments 

I’ve only done private intensive tutoring in the past and this year I have been asked to open up a workshop for the general public.  Although it was already nearly fully booked before the announcement, I do have a small number of spots available for a 2 day shooting and post processing workshop on Saturday and Sunday, February 27th and 28th.  Total class size is limited to 12 and the cost is $475 for one day or $900 for both, 8 hours each day.

Shooting (Day 1):

The first day is shooting – learning to read and understand light, shoot with the environment in mind and how to understand what is happening in your compositions.  I won’t set up shots – but I will guide you to get the shots and make them your own.  This is more about learning through experience rather than watching someone else set up how they shoot. I want to help you develop your own personal skills and I can best do that if you are challenged and have questions.

Post processing (day 2)

This is very much an intensive, hands-on, and targeted course specifically to develop skills in post processing and workflow.  It is not about showing how to create images in my style; rather, the class is specifically designed to help the attendees gain the skills to fine tune and develop and enhance their own styles.   As such, students do need to have a  decent grasp of photography and the desire to shoot in RAW.  The class breakdown is as follows:

Raw workflow with Lightroom or ACR (class choice).  Includes in depth discussions on understanding the Develop tools and how they work – so you know what to do and why to do it.    This is to help photographers use the power of RAW processing to dramatically decrease time spent post processing and do most work in the raw editor rather than Photoshop.  White balance, sharpening, noise removal, synching, batch processing post processing, etc. are all covered.

Portrait retouching and creating fine art photography.  This includes skin fixes, liquifying, depth and color manipulation, cloning and patching, and the tools you need to create dramatic images to catch attention and showcase your personal artistic vision.  Photoshop CS4 will be used for this portion of the class and the power of this program for portrait photographers discussed in depth.

Last hour:  Candid and honest portfolio discussions with the group, including development plans for future improvement targeted to the portfolio owner.

To enroll in the workshop, please email andrea@ajatonjoki.com for more information. Note that due to the limited availability, the fee must be paid fully in advance in order to ensure a seat.