I’m very pleased that Nadia has decided to teach this workshop again here in the studio. The sessions last year got very enthusiastic responses. If you’re interested in beauty photography, fashion, portraiture or any photography of people, you won’t want to miss this. Here’s the info:
“Love of Beauty is Taste. Creation of Beauty is Art.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
This is a full-day, intermediate level workshop where you will work with agency models and professional talents from the fields of both commercial and fashion photography. There will be a demo during the morning and students will then be provided with an opportunity to shoot in the afternoon in small groups using different lighting setups within the studio. The idea is to learn how to interact with a model and direct her to achieve the desired image, while exploring the effects of different lighting.
Beauty photography is an approach used in all types of commercial and fashion photography. It’s also the style used most often for models’ portfolios. The key is to direct the model well. I will also be providing students with an opportunity to sit with me and discuss whatever they would like to that pertains to fashion and/or photography in general. I very much look forward to meeting you!
When: March 24, 2012 from 10am – 6pm
OR
April 21, 2012 from 10am – 6pm
Lots of you have been asking for this one, so Talia’s flying in from NY to hold a workshop on Saturday, May 7 in my studio.
This very popular presentation technique transforms your images into beautiful, rich works of art ready to be proudly displayed. The thick, high gloss resin finish makes prints look like they’ve been preserved under molten glass. Photos presented this way have an incredible richness and “pop” that really makes them stand out! It’s a very popular technique in galleries and shows, so you may have seen examples of it and wondered exactly how it was done.
Here’s your chance to learn this process, and transform your own print into a beautiful work of art! You’ll see each step demonstrated by Talia Shipman, and you’ll mount and finish your own print as well. This is a technique that you can easily set up and execute at home, so you will get a complete set of instructions and materials list so you can continue to create beautiful artworks on your own.
This is always a popular workshop, and we have limited spaces, so be sure to register soon!
Workshop Details:
Saturday, May 7 10:30- 4:00 Location: My studio in Liberty Village (downtown, near King & Dufferin)
Fee: $360 including an 11×14 print and all materials
Discounted fee for full time students: $270 Click Here for a detailed flier on the workshop
To reserve a spot ($50 deposit required) contact me here:
I recently had an interesting experience that illustrates why I’m always bugging my students to create a backup plan for their computers and their photography files, and be diligent about keeping up-to-date. I know this doesn’t sound like the most exciting subject, but believe me, without a backup plan I would have gotten rather excited.
Here’s what happened. While shooting some models for a jewelry client, with the camera tethered into Lightroom, I think I must’ve gotten a bit carried away and shot too fast for the camera’s buffer to manage. Lightroom got sort of locked up and I was facing the spinning beach ball. I tried to quit Lightroom and when that didn’t work I glibly shut down the computer altogether. That’s when things started to get worse. When I relaunched Lightroom and tried to shoot into it things locked up again and I had to crash the computer again. I tried again, and again with similar results. I did manage to get through that shoot and it seemed like things were okay. However, when I reviewed the files many of them were reported as damaged in Lightroom and they had some pretty strange looking patterns all over them. Then the whole hard drive started to behave strangely. When I restarted the computer, the hard drive wouldn’t mount anymore. I tried disk repair (a Mac utility for repairing hard drives) but no luck. The drive directory had a fatal error, probably due to my having crashed the computer a couple of times.
Of course this is the drive that contains all my photographs both personal and client work, so I was more than a little disturbed. After trying a few more repair tricks to no avail I decided to simply turn to my back up system. I completely reformatted the faulty drive (that was a scary moment), then I used my recently updated backup drive to restore all my photos and files! SilveKeeper made it very easy to do, I just had to plug in my backup drive, launch SilverKeeper and click restore. It took a couple of hours to copy over all the data but when it was done by drive was totally back in order with all my photos intact and recognized by Lightroom. Big sigh of relief!
Fortunately, all the shots from the days shoot were safely intact on the camera cards so all I had to do was import them into Lightroom and everything was good. Now that I’ve told you my little horror story, I thought I’d share my actual backup system so you can easily see how it works and how you can implement it for yourself (Here’s a PDF you can download):
The key to this system is having Off Line backups of your drives, that are not plugged in when you’re working. That way, if something gets corrupted, as happened to me, your Off Line backup gallops in to the rescue!
Okay, so I know this is a bit mundane as a subject, but it just saved me from a whole world of pain and anxiety! And now I hope it will save you from the same.
I just had an interesting experience dealing with one of the inevitable hassles of digital storage. My external hard drive (750gig) which holds all my photography was filling up! So off I went to a local computer store (Canada Computers on College Street) and bought a big spacious 2 TB drive (For a mere $109). I bought just the bare drive, as I was planning on putting it in the enclosure which houses my current drive.
So now my question was how to get all the photos and some various other stuff I stored on the drive onto my new drive. No big deal, except that I didn’t want to break all my connections in Lightroom and have to go through the process of getting Lightroom to find all my photos again. Since I have a few different catalogs (mostly for teaching purposes) on this one drive it would be a pain to have to reconnect all the Lightroom catalogs.
I thought about migrating all the photographs through the Lightroom interface, but this would involve doing each catalog separately and then copying over the remaining bits and pieces of data that I have on the drive. I didn’t like that idea!
So I decided to try a different approach. I placed the new drive in an enclosure that I happened to have lying around (this is where one of those drive docks would come in handy!). When I mounted and formatted the new drive I was careful to name it exactly the same name as my existing photo drive. To my surprise, both drives showed up on my desktop even though they both have the same name!
I then used a really handy little free program from Lacie (SilverKeeper) to create an exact copy of my very full hard drive on the new drive. The advantage of using a program like SilverKeeper to do this exercise is that it makes an exact copy of your drive, including any invisible files and directory information. The copying process took a while, so I ran it over night while I was sleeping.
In the morning I came down and unplugged both drives. Then I switched the new drive into the old enclosure. (This isn’t really totally necessary step, as I could have left it in the enclosure it was in. However I wanted to use the FireWire 800 enclosure that I had been using, since it provides faster read times than USB) after the switch I plugged in the new drive and launched Lightroom, with my fingers crossed. To my delight, Lightroom found its catalog and all the photos, no problem!
I was very pleased to save myself the hassle of having to relocate all those photos in all my different catalogs. I guess the secret to the trick is to have the new drive named exactly the same name as the old drive so that Lightroom gets tricked into believing that the location hasn’t really changed.
By the way, the ultimate solution to this issue is to purchase a Drobo. These are multi-bay hard drive enclosures that hold four, five, or eight drives. The cool thing about the Drobo is that it combines all the drives into one volume, and it does it in a way that you can actually switch out smaller drives for larger ones without losing any data. It also protects you in case of one drive failing. For those of you who shoot large quantities of photos and or video, the Drobo is a really good idea!
I just thought I’d share this solution with you, since it’s inevitable that one day you’re going to fill up your drive and have to migrate your data, and this method works well with Lightroom.
This very popular presentation technique transforms your images into beautiful, rich works of art ready to be proudly displayed. The thick, high gloss resin finish makes prints look like they’ve been preserved under molten glass. It’s a very popular technique in galleries and shows, so you may have seen examples of it and wondered exactly how it was done.
Here’s your chance to learn this process, and transform your own print into a beautiful work of art! You’ll see each step demonstrated by Talia Shipman, and you’ll mount and finish your own print as well. This is a technique that you can easily set up and execute at home, so you will get a complete set of instructions and materials list so you can continue to create beautiful artworks on your own.
If you’ve been wanting to learn this technique but haven’t had a chance yet, I do want to mention that Talia is moving to New York soon so this may be your last chance for a while. Also note that we’ve included a special discounted price for full time students [we understand your pain].
Natalia Zurawska’s very entertaining and informative workshop will take place on two new dates:
Friday, May 7 from 6:30 – 10:00
Friday, June 4 from 6:30 – 10:00
Everyone who’s attended this in the past has agreed that it’s a must for any photographer working with people. You’ll learn about how makeup works for photography, how to find and work with makeup artists, and a variety of products and techniques that you can use yourself when you don’t have a makeup artist. You’ll watch as Natalia transforms a model, and you’ll see before and after photos.
Adobe has now released a second Beta version of Lightroom 3, and it has some great new features! So now is the time to get going with this program, or step your use up to the next level. So, I’ve scheduled two new Lightroom workshops:
Introduction to Lightroom will cover all the basics of workflow and image development, from importing your shots, organizing and finding the best ones, developing your images and making prints, slideshows and web galleries, all from within Lightroom!
Advanced Lightroom will will explore the power features of this amazing program. From retouching your photographs, to special effects, working with multiple catalogues, tethered shooting etc. This is the perfect workshop to step up your game in Lightroom.
In both workshops we’ll be looking at the new features debuting in Lightroom 3. For complete details on what we’ll cover in both workshops, have a look HERE and HERE.
Workshop Dates: Intro to Lightroom Saturday, May 15
Advanced Lightroom Saturday, June 19
Fee for each workshop: $210 (incl GST) $100 deposit to register.
For further information, or to register, contact me here:
This workshop was a great hit last month! Everyone involved had a fun time, and some great photographs were made! So Struan has decided to run it again!
The (very full) day will start with a presentation and shooting demo by Struan, where he will explain how he shoots, works with models, and produces his unique and provocative nude studies. He’ll work with our models, showing a variety of lighting set-ups and shooting styles.
We’ll take a brief lunch break (served in the studio), then you’ll have a chance to apply what you’ve learned! We’ll break up into small groups to photograph the models on a variety of sets. Struan (and I) will be on hand to offer suggestions, help with lighting and answer questions. At the end of the day review your work and hold a brief critique. Here’s a PDF with the complete workshop details.
Workshop Date: Sunday, May 30 9:30 – 6:30 Location: My studio in Downtown Toronto
Workshop Fee: $350 (+gst) includes Lunch ($100 deposit to reserve a space)
There are limited spaces in this workshop, and it will be popular, so enroll soon! Contact me below to enroll:
This very exciting workshop will teach you one of the hottest looks in fine art photography right now. It consists of a method to mount photographic prints on artist’s boards, then enclose them in a poured resin finish. It looks as if the prints were coated in molten glass. It’s a great way to present and enhance your work! And best of all, it’s a technique you can do at home with some basic materials and know-how.
Talia Shipman will once again lead this workshop. She’s perfected this technique through years of trial and error, and you will benefit from her experience as she demonstrates the technique and guides you through creating your own finished artwork. You’ll provide us with an image, and we’ll make an 11×14 print which you will mount and resin coat during the workshop. You’ll love the results!
You’ll also receive a step-by-step guide with photographs and a materials list so that you can do this technique on your own at home. It’s a fun process and the results are quite stunning! If you’d like to see some samples I have them here in my studio, so give me a call or e-mail and drop by and see them. Here’s a PDF with more information about the workshop.
Workshop Date: Sunday, April 25 9:30 – 5:00
Location: My studio (downtown Toronto)
Workshop Fee: $360 incl. materials (& gst)
Advanced registration and $100 deposit is required, so contact me here:
This is a great workshop for anybody who photographs people! Whether your interest is in fashion, portraiture, weddings or corporate photography, you get lots of helpful information that will improve your work and save you hours of retouching.
Learn how to find and work with a make-up artist to enhance your photos of people (especially if they’re not supermodels!). Natalia Zurawska will share the secrets she’s learned through working with top photographers and directors, shooting supermodels, celebrities, and just plain folk (like you and your clients). You’ll learn exactly how the make-up artist does her magic, see before and after photos of a live demo shoot, and learn how to work with this key member of your creative team.
As well, you’ll learn some invaluable make-up tips and techniques that you can use yourself, for those times when you don’t have a make-up artist on hand. Assemble a simple kit of items you can use for quick touch ups and fixes that you can always have with you. For portraits, weddings or just casual shots of people, these tips can save you hours of retouching, and could save your shoot.
You’ll also get a complete set of notes, and a shopping list!
This is definitely a fun workshop (Natalia’s a delight), you’ll learn lots, and your clients (and friends) will thank you! We ran this workshop for the first time last fall, and it was a great success!
I’ve posted two detailed information sheets about this workshop here and here.
Workshop Date & Time:
Saturday, March 13 1:00 – 5:00
Location is my studio in Liberty Village
Workshop fee: $105 (incl GST)
Advanced registration is required, so you can contact me here:
