Classes

Wonder if blogging is worth it or not for your business? With #AllTheThings that you have to manage when it comes to digital marketing (social media, google ads, SEO, reviews, etc.) I understand how tacking on one more time-consuming task can seem daunting.

In this session, we will discuss the importance of blogging and how it can impact your business. In addition, we will also review 5 WINNING how-to tips for photographers that will change their blogging game and attract more clients.

You just booked your first corporate headshot shoot and you’re staring at a list of 50 names with only a few hours to photograph them all. No big deal, right?

In this lecture, attendees will learn:

• Lighting setups for professional results
• Tethered shooting setup
• Post-process workflow and editing
• File management and delivery
• Quick tips for a successful portrait day

It is common to see boudoir sessions that focus on posing and the flow of the sessions. However, we can easily double or triple our sellable images by adding a lighting strategy! This method can quickly create additional images that satisfy the requirement of not looking like all of the other shots from a session but are different enough that a client will feel the need to purchase them. This session will focus on utilizing one light and possibly mixing in available light to produce a much larger body of work to present to the client in the sales session. Without losing the client connection, I will show how to incorporate additional lighting and how to use it to quickly create alternatives that are as sellable as the primary shots. During the demonstration, you will see how to add in additional lighting, work creative angles to maximize the body of sellable work and work with the lighting to resolve common body issues and maximize the female form, all with the addition of one or two strobes. I will also discuss some sales tactics during the session, as having a product goal is often something we don’t think about before a shoot.

In this class I’ll demonstrate in a hands on environment how to shoot on the go when you aren’t in your home studio. I will break down how to access the best shooting opportunities with in the hotel suite that will allow photographers to create images with a look as if they shoot their all the time. Once we have discussed the pros and cons of the location I will demo posing and lighting set up to best utilize the space provided so that attendees can then capture their own images with the provided models.

Attendees will need their camera with at least a lens in the 24-105mm range. Ideally a 24-70, 24-105, 35, 50, 85

If you’ve ever struggled trying to pose someone for boudoir before, let me show you how to find the best poses for every body type. Simple adjustments will take your poses from boring to stunning and leave you with more images for your clients to fall in love with.

Watch as I guide a model into the 10 most sellable boudoir poses and how to tweak each pose to get over 30 unique images your client will love and purchase. No need for an elaborate studio setting.
Understand how to guide and direct so your client feels comfortable and empowered.

Personal branding sessions capture your client’s style and the essence of their personality! A branding session is the fastest way for your client’s business to stand out in today’s overstimulated market. A well-executed branding session will bring a consistent visual message to your client’s business and establish them as the go-to professional in their industry. Once they see the magic of their custom visual imagery, they will keep coming back for more!

This class will cover:
1. Why branding photography?
2. What is the difference between a headshot session and a branding session?
3. Elements that make a strong branding session.
4. How to customize your client’s experience.
5. How to find branding clients and market branding sessions in your local market.

Learn how a personal branding session differs from a headshot session in many ways. Headshots are incorporated into a personal branding shoot, but you don’t stop there. The goal is to infuse your client’s personality into their brand!

This class will cover:
1. Pre-session consultation
2. Choosing a custom location
3. Wardrobe coaching (layers and accessories are KEY to quick changes)
4. Storyboarding the session
5. Using flow posing and a shot list to create as much variety as possible
6. Maximizing props to help your clients with content creation
7. Lighting + posing for clients over 40

Want to learn about highly profitable, high-volume photography? This class is for you! Learn the vast difference between photographing preschools, sports leagues, and Cap and Gown sessions.

Outside of the obvious differences, we will talk about how different the bidding process is, the software needed and overall things you must keep in mind if you want to be profitable.

20-30 minute live demo. 90 minutes to shoot across three beauty setups. From creative makeup to the fun creative head piece. Let the juices flow and get some images of creative beauty with 3 setups to take home and inspire you!

We all want rich clients, clients with money to burn. However, in today’s economy, it’s becoming rarer and rarer that you’ll have clients walking into your business ready to drop serious dollars on printed photos. The secret is not finding imaginary clients with more money, it’s creating value within your current market. This course will discuss
-overcoming price objections from the get go
-building the value of print
-pricing your digitals for profit
-ways to utilize sales psychology for upgrades that thrill your client

Wedding photography can be a lucrative profession, but that description only extends to 1% of the photographers that start their business. What separates them from the other 99%? The 1% understand that to be successful, you have to provide a unique product and experience. They focus on business and try to implement new strategies each year. Most importantly, they out-work and out-maneuver their competitors.

The result? Working luxury events, traveling to exotic destinations, earning a multi 6-figure profit, and loving every minute of your career.

Is it easy to get here? Hell no, it takes grit, determination, more work ethic than your competitors…..but most importantly an infallible plan and the ability to adapt…..

In this course, I am going to show you the path to take to build a 7-figure wedding photography studio.

One of the best ways to learn is to be leveled with. I will not only show you the things that have brought me success over 12 years in business, but I will also show you the mistakes that almost caused my business to implode so you can cut your own path to success much quicker than I did.

In this class I am going to give you the marketing and infrastructure plan to find success no matter your market, from creativity, to implementation, to profit….

Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and digital robots are the future! Big business is spending billions on harnessing the power of AI technologies to increase efficiencies and maximize throughput. Why shouldn’t you? Join Jen as she takes you on her journey of how she created a “clone army” of AI technologies user her army as a post-production force multiplier. Jen will demonstrate how she is using “bots” to reduce her image delivery helping her manage more clients while also making happier clients. Using your own “terminators” you can spend less time sitting in front of your computer and spending more time doing what you love most, taking pictures and creating content. It’s time to treat yourself better and take back your “me” time by using AI technologies to support post-session image delivery.

Here’s what you will learn:
1. What AI technologies are on the market to help in your photography business
2. Where AI technologies are currently the most effective in your end-to-end workflow
3. How to leverage AI technology to deliver your sessions and imagery fast while establishing a good work/life balance
4. Tips and tricks to make AI technologies more effective and easier to use

Photography has come a long way over the last 10 years. Our clients are more demanding than ever, and want to look their best. Have you ever been stuck during a session not knowing what to do next? In this course I am going to show you the foundations for posing men, women, couples and groups. We will go over how to shape natural light around your subjects, and what makes a pose aesthetically pleasing to your clients. The result? Bigger sales, happier clients, less stress for you.

Attendees will need to bring their camera, and lenses. Lights not required.

Stop thinking that newborns are the worst to photograph. Learn how to use props and styling newborns that will sell albums AND win awards. For the photographer who wants to be a newborn photograph but isn’t sure where to start, this is it! Learn basic posing that is safe and beautiful that you can create in your studio, your home, or your clients home.

Cyberpunk? Yes! Gods and Goddesses with blazing halos and glowing celestial bodies? Of course! Lightsabers that GLOW and jump off the screen just like in the movies? Duh. Hell, we’ll even use REAL LASERS for some wickedly cool light painting. How neat is that?

You may know me as “the projector guy” but I am a mad scientist and this class has nothing to do with digital projectors. I’ll show how I use colored gels with flash photography, LED tube lights for colorful constant lighting, and even light painting brushes and lasers to create images exploding with color.

The shoot is only the beginning. After capturing a variety of images in a live demo, I’ll move to Photoshop where you will learn to create magical lens flares, glow effects, and bursts of color that will blow customers away. I’ll show how to achieve these special effects in at least three different ways. First, with stock Photoshop and zero plugins. Then I’ll (briefly) show how I use BorisFX for an easier way to create lens flares, glow effects, and more. Finally, I’ll spend a bit more time showing how to use the Oniric non-destructive glow generator as a Photoshop plugin.

It’s a lot of information for a two hour class, so all attendees will receive a link to detailed notes on the software and Photoshop features I show in class.

If there’s one thing that I learned early on in my career as a photographer, it’s that Weddings aren’t always sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes, we get crappy weather and sometimes the schedule just doesn’t work out in our favor. Such is life! Whatever the situation, we should feel comfortable being able to create something unique for our couples within moments. Many times, this involves adding color(s) to transform a dark or uninteresting location into something amazing. Understanding Color Theory is a critical piece to knowing how to put together epic shots in the dark.

For this class, I’d like to start by explaining color theory and the importance of understanding the color wheel as well as the different categories that exist within the color wheel. Once we lay the ground work down, we’ll get right into creating with a Bride and Groom. This course is a Live Demonstration so please be prepared to take notes and then observe as we get into the Demo. Although you won’t be shooting, I want this course to be as interactive as possible and I expect to call on attendees for their ideas and input as we work together towards an amazing final result.

This isn’t your standard “sales” class! In this class you will learn how to craft purposeful communication that lead directly to incredible, consistent sales client after client. From psychological principles of communication and a deep dive into what I call the “Q” Factor (the secret sauce of sales), you’ll walk away with an incredible amount of confidence, ready to serve your clients better than ever before. If you’re looking to be a better communicator, raise your sales average, and ultimately grow your studio, this class is for you.

In this lecture, Jonathan will go through key images throughout his portfolio starting with simple 1 light images, all the way up to 6 lights in a single scene, and how lighting can affect the mood of a scene. Ask questions, and engage in a fun lecture that dives deep into some of his iconic images that will also challenge you in your own career and help you think differently with your portrait work.

Approaching unique situations and creating a story, that is the goal of this hands-on class. We will have several models, each with a very unique look. We will discuss the thoughts behind lighting each one. This is an open-minded class we explain exactly why we do what we do, and the goals behind the light, pose, and purpose. This is an ideal session for wedding and portrait photographers, as the challenge of the environment often comes up in our work. Everyone gets a chance to shoot, but more importantly, learns a mindset on how to get more sellable images in fewer clicks of the shutter. Please note that may be a bodypainted model in this class, so partial nudity should be expected.

Your images can be great, but if you can’t convert them in dollars, you’ll never get ahead financially. Learn Gary’s approach to sales that consistently brings in multi-thousand dollar sales. From the steps preceding the sales appointment, to the process and what to say in the sales room, learn what it takes to master in person sales. You can do this! You don’t have to be a starving artist!

Need some drama in your life? No! Not that kind of drama – I’m talking about lighting, mood, and imagery. This course will be all about drama and how to create it in your images of men/grooms/dudes. We will explore possibilities in the venue, add lighting and posing as well as other elements to create that good kind of drama

Topics covered:
– lighting
– posing
– composition

An art director for a publication has assigned you a creative brief for an editorial portrait and you feel like a fish out of water. You’ve got portraits down, but this calls for a new set of skills.

In this lecture, participants will learn:

• How editorial portraits are different from the portraits you’ve been shooting
• How lens selection impacts your portraits
• How to work with art directors and deliver images that meet their needs
• The relationship between composition and text to tell powerful stories

Watch all of these lessons come together for a live spec editorial shoot with images dropped into mock layouts.

How to pose couples easily while making them look great and in turn, sell more images!

Jenn is going to give away the secrets to how she provides an amazing client experience for her high school seniors. She’ll discuss what she does and provides, as well as what the kids want from their photo session, how to get them talking, and how to get them to share on social media. Jenn will break down the way Gen Z thinks and how to connect with them.

Watch a full boudoir session and get tips for flow posing, creative lighting and what always sells!

It’s time to bring your studio maternity portraits to the next level and create maternity images that will sell!
– creative & dramatic lighting
– fashion inspired styling
– styling on a budget
– how to direct your clients
– posing & expression coaching

Coming up with new ideas and make it happen in studio is not an easy task. In this class you will learn how to find ideas for your studio photoshoots and learn how to be more creative.
-How to find new ideas for your studio photoshoots
-Make those ideas happen! I will show you how I execute ideas I have for a creative photoshoot and what to do when I struggle to make that idea happen the way I want it.
-Learn the many ways you can make your studio photoshoots more creative from the styling of the shoot to the lighting and gels.

“I’m in the process of updating my site,” is the most common excuse I hear when I get handed a business card! Let’s admit–websites are hard, tedious, and frankly, can be quite confusing. In this class, I will walk through how to absolutely rock each page on your website, elevate your brand message, strategically walk clients through phenomenal experience while priming them to spend BIG! From selecting the right images to mapping out a strategic, effective flow to your site…you need this class now!

How does an editorial story get photographed on location? This will be a realistic exploration of locations indoors and outdoors to create a single story that would make up an editorial shoot for a magazine.