The Photographic Workshop

Group Size is 10-15 photographers , plus partners. We generally have a mix of professionals and enthusiasts of different levels and we love the diversity.

With multiple instructors, we can break up into small groups to focus on individual needs from basic to professional.

Drake Busath will lead discussions on two topics, personal fine-art concepts and portraiture. Informal on-screen critique of your previous day's work. We recommend bringing a laptop to edit your work during the week. You'll get tips for Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop as well as filters and workflow helps.

Randy Collier will teach Photoshop and Lightroom skills, with basics sessions for intermediate photographers and advanced sessions for the most proficient professionals.

Luigi Barbano, Italian commercial photographer will lead discussions (in english) on HDR photography and stitching panoramas as well as other fun Photoshop techniques like Still Frame Movies.

Luigi's self-described job is to help us all relax and become "a little more Italian".

We'll break up into basic / advanced workshop groups as needed so that everyone can progress at their own speed. Classroom time is limited to 2-3 hours per day, with the remainder of the day photographing in the field.

Partners Welcome

Partners generally join in for all travel and meals. During the morning workshop time (2 hours), they can explore the surrounding town or the amenities of the hotel. This is meant to be a wonderful vacation for couples, not a boot-camp seminar.

Workshop Goals

We believe in doing less "work" with your camera and more play. You should enjoy every second of it. We want to help photographers break free from ordinary, overly-serious images, and instead create self-expressive images that say more about the artist and less about the place. We try to take you to the best places at the right times, and offer the inspiration and technical skills to make your lifetime-best images.

Content

On-screen review and critique the previous day's photography. A little scary, but fun. Short lectures fill out the class time, which is limited to 2 hours a day because of our desire to be out in the fields and the villages.

Technical discussions will include:

• Fast and accurate methods for proper exposure in a wide variety of situations.
• De-mystifying the features on your digital SLR camera
• Dynamic techniques for subject blur, camera motion and selective focus compositions. (Drake believes focus is a bit over-rated).
• Lighting for both cityscape and portraiture
• Design issues: composition, balance, scale and dimension.
• Content or the absence of it, and how to create images that have a powerful effect on viewers.

Separate instruction will be scheduled for beginners, allowing serious amateurs and professionals to advance at their own speed. Instructors will available during our travel for one-on-one help with camera mechanics and aesthetic discussions.