Online Classes
You can take online classes taught by me at ppsop.com
Here is the current list of the classes I offer:
STUDIO AND FLASH LIGHTING MADE EASY
Course Outline:
I know the first thing you think about when you see studio lighting Is YIKES! There is a certain mystery around flash and studio lighting in general.
Well get ready to kick the doors off the house, we are gonna change all that.
With over 25 years of experience in the fashion and beauty industry and now in the fine art portraiture and luxury wedding market, I know what it takes to light just about anything.
Guess what? It really isn’t that difficult.
I will walk you through all types of lighting, including flash, both on camera and studio strobe, fluorescent, hot lights, and even ring light.
You know what the best part is, it’s a video course!!!! That’s right I said video. I know that if you are like me, you are a visual person. What better way to teach you than visually! Nothing to read ( unless you want to read my cliff notes) just me teaching you, one on one my easy techniques of lighting.
You will learn how I built my whole career on using one light. How to use that one light and simple things like a 4×8 sheet of foamcore to make it seem like you have a room full of lights.
If you want high energy in your classes, then you need to take this one. I am somewhat hyper (that’s what everyone tells me) and it works well with a video class. I will get you so excited to shoot, that you will want to run out as soon as the class is done and get your assignment done! Seriously, this is gonna be a great time.
So let’s take the yikes out of studio and flash lighting and let me show you just how easy it is!
Wedding Class 1 – Pre Wedding and Engagement Session
Planning, shooting, and details.
The pre-wedding can be a fast and confusing time at the wedding. You need to be prepared. What lens should you have on one of your cameras at all times? What do you do when you need to shoot the bride getting ready and the groom getting ready?
In this two week class, we will answer all those questions and more!
The pre-wedding time is all about the details. You can really enhance the final wedding album with the shots from the pre-wedding.
Details of the bride getting ready, details of the groom, details of the flowers, we will cover it all!
We will also cover the planning end of getting ready for the shoot too. Knowing what to bring and what to be prepared for.
This class will also cover the engagement session. You can get to know your clients during this important session along with making a little extra money selling an extra engagement album. Where, how, and why to shoot the engagement session will be covered in this class.
Wedding Class 2 – The ceremony and formals
Get ready for this, because you are going to be busy. The ceremony is the busiest time for any wedding photographer, and you need to be ready for everything.
There are 4 shots that you absolutely have to get, do you know what they are?
After this two week course you will!
In wedding two, we will cover the shooting the ceremony in length. Where to be during certain times of the ceremony, so you can be assured of the best shot. What shots to make sure you get, and who you should be shooting. The ceremony is the most critical part of the whole wedding, and if you don’t nail it, you are going to have issue later. How to use available lighting to your advantage, and pre plan your exposures so there isn’t any guessing during the ceremony.
We will also cover how to pose and light the formals. We all hate and dread doing them, but the couple and the parents still want them. Learn how to push yourself to create something other than the standard formal. You will also learn how to use fill flash to your advantage.
We will take you through formals step by step, so at the end of two weeks you will have the confidence to not even cringe when you hear the word “formal”!
Wedding Class 3 – The Couple and the Reception
Shooting the couple is the most important part of any wedding. Most photographers just skim over shooting the couple and do it quick.
I am here to teach you how and why shooting the couple is THE most important part of making more money on the final album and art prints.
There are a few simple rules to follow when it comes to shooting the wedding couple together. Do you shoot them before the wedding? What if they say they don’t want to see each other before the wedding? How do you create those intimate moments that will make you a hero? These are the things we will cover as well as how to pose the couple together and separately, to make your images pop.
The reception is the part of the wedding where you need to be ready for anything and everything. The hardest part of shooting a wedding reception is trying to make the venue look good, when most venues don’t.
I will take you through the steps that I take to make sure you get the shots that you HAVE to get.
This two week class is jammed full of information, so be ready to work.
Wedding Class 4 – How to use your flash at a wedding
Speedlights can be a very scary subject. I’m here to get rid of the scary when it comes to using your flash at a wedding.
Question often asked are:
How do I get a nice image using on camera flash?
How can use my flash correctly to fill in daylight for formals?
How in the world do you use multiple flashes at a wedding?
All these and more will be answered in this two week class. Flash really isn’t that difficult, once you wrap your mind around how they work and how they can get fooled.
We will cover how to bounce light to create flat, short, and long lighting.
How to create wonderful backlit images using your flash off camera.
How to get amazing spotlight effects using one speedlight.
What diffusers work and which ones don’t.
How to control the background of the image to create those amazing shot with the really dark sky.
When you are done with this two week class, you will be comfortable pulling out your speedlights and creating stunning images without the stress.
Wedding Class 5 – Post processing and Wedding Album Design
Ok you have shot the wedding, now what? On a normal wedding we shoot about 5000 images, and those need to be edited down to 500. What are the steps involved?
In this two week course, I will walk you through the steps to speed up your workflow and help you make more money.
Albums are the main source of income with a wedding business. Did you know that? Designing an amazing album can help you make more money, and in the end isn’t that what you are trying to do.
Clean and simple albums are easy to design, once you know the basics of design. You can create a “look” for you studio with your albums in both the design, and style you choose. Let me take you through how to design albums fast and easy!
In Wedding Class 5 we will cover.
Culling your images fast
Lightroom basics for wedding photography
Basic retouching to give you images that finished look with a few simple steps.
How to set up and design a wedding album
Wedding Class 6 – The Business of Wedding Photography
Ok, you know how to shoot a wedding, but do you know how to price a wedding to make money?
How are you promoting your wedding business?
Are you selling your packages with an album in them? Are you sure you should?
These are the type of questions I get asked all the time. The business end of wedding photography is always the last thing a photographer thinks of when they get into it. In reality, it should be one of the first.
In this two week course we will go through the whole business of wedding photography. Don’t worry, IT WILL NOT BE BORING!
The last thing you want is some boring class on business. Just the word itself sound boring doesn’t it.
We will cover how to market yourself, and help define your client and your business.
Who to market to and how to reach them.
How to shoot for the album so you will have larger up sell dollars at the end.
How to price yourself according to standard business practices, and using real world examples to show you how.
There is no reason that a business class has to be boring, and I promise you we will go through the information in a light hearted way. Easy to understand, and follow too!
Let’s all start making more money, and giving your clients exactly what they want!
THE BUSINESS OF SHOOTING HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS
Do you love to photograph people? Then why not get paid for doing what you love! The business of photographing High School Seniors continues to grow with enormous income potential. Whether you are a talented amateur wanting to break into the senior market or are already shooting seniors, this 4-week course will open your eyes to ALL there is to know about photographing the edgy and fashionable senior portrait of today.
Today’s High School Seniors are more sophisticated and tech savvy than ever. Keeping up with the most current trends is half the battle. They are very much into fashion and are heavily influenced by the styles worn as well as expressed by the most current stars of television and music. With more than 20 years of experience in the fashion photography industry, Kevin will share his extensive knowledge http://www.leftturnseniors.com/ and experience along with ALL the tricks that go into lighting and composing today’s High School Senior. The use of studio lighting as well as outdoor natural light will be covered, including the use of ring flash and hot-lights. In addition, Kevin will show you how to market yourself in unconventional ways by exploiting all of the on-line tools that are available, as well as the tried and true conventional marketing methods. It is NOT at all unreasonable to expect to find yourself booking PAID photo shoots with High School Seniors within a few weeks of completing this course!
Topics that will be covered:
- What lenses to use for outdoor portraits with the fashion feel.
- Using wide-angle shots to give you seniors the cool appeal.
- Using flash to add glamour to their outdoor portraits.
- Poses that work/Poses that don’t.
- The use of color to increase sales.
- How to use b/w to increase your sales.
- ‘Grunging’ your photo’s to give them fashion flair that today’s senior’s love.
