Classes

Think you have what it takes to develop a full concept on the fly? Put your mind where your mouth is in this intense hands-on course. Work in small groups with a few choice items of wardrobe, props, and materials. In the fastest two hours of your life, expect to create, shoot, edit, and showcase your artwork with a same day slideshow!

Unleash your editing prowess in the captivating world of Santa photography with our groundbreaking course, led by Chris Fritchie. Prepare to immerse yourself in the secrets behind Chris’s award-winning Santa images as he unveils his meticulously developed editing techniques. Delve into his coveted workflow, meticulously fine-tuned over years of experience, that has revolutionized the industry with its unparalleled speed and efficiency. Discover how to achieve breathtaking results while optimizing your editing process. Under Chris’s guidance, you’ll acquire invaluable skills that will elevate your photography to new heights, empowering you to create captivating Santa images that command attention and admiration

You’ve delivered your clients their personal branding images; now what? Does your client know how to use these images in their marketing plan, or will they just collect dust on their hard drive?

Educating your clients on effectively using their images after the session is the key to a full-service branding photography experience and will keep them coming back for more!

In this class, you will learn how to leverage the power of adjacent products and services to grow your personal branding photography business. You’ll discover the secrets of upselling and cross-selling your services, identifying relevant and valuable add-ons, and teaching your clients how to use their branding photos for social media and marketing. You’ll also explore how partnerships and collaborations can help you expand your reach and offerings, giving your business the boost it needs to succeed.

Don’t just focus on your photography skills—level up your business game too! This class will equip you with actional steps that can be implemented to turn your branding photography into a lucrative business while still keeping it fun and fabulous!

This class is great for those looking to level up but also for beginners to understand how different light sources effect our images. Learn how one press of the shutter can get you more than one type of exposure by using lighting of all types mixed together. More importantly learn WHY and HOW all these effects happen so you can apply them where and when you see fit. Go beyond just using slow shutter for gimmicks but how to apply it to optimize certain situations. Learn how to balance flash with constant lighting and even wild effects with random light sources you can find from a dollar store.

This demo goes from practical techniques for multiple images, shutter drags, ghosting techniques and more to work with motion all the way to wild stylized flares, streaks and other things to make your images dynamic to jump out at the viewer. While these techniques are nothing new its important to understand how they actually work as a fundamental foundation for elevating your images.

People like to purchase from people they know. The easiest path to more clients is through your model team. Letting them do a Stylized Best Friend Shoot gets other potential clients in front of your lens so they get to know you! We will do a shoot with 5 best friends. We’ll look at posing, lighting and what exactly to shoot and video. Then we will process the photos and video into marketing material for Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. We’ll learn how I create the content from the media we create. We’ll explore the best ways to release the media to capitalize on the people in the photos and other potential clients! This is a 50/50 Live Demo/Lecture class.

Back by popular demand! 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.), tacking on one more time-consuming task can seem daunting. But with AI, blogging can be manageable.

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 your blogging game and attract more clients.

In this class, we will explore the unique blend of romance and sensuality that defines boudoir photography for brides. Through expert guidance and hands-on demonstrations, you will gain the skills and knowledge needed to create breathtaking portraits that highlight the radiance and allure of the bride on her special day.

Discover the art of crafting a romantic and intimate atmosphere through lighting, composition, and posing techniques. Learn how to create a safe and comfortable space that allows your brides to embrace their sensuality and showcase their inner radiance. We will focus on building trust, communicating effectively, and guiding your subjects to bring out their most confident and alluring selves.

Throughout the course, you will explore various wardrobe choices, styling options, and props that enhance the romantic ambiance and evoke a sense of intimacy.

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.

Are you interested in expanding into the personal branding genre but unsure how to start? Are you unsure how to market yourself as a personal branding photographer? Do you aspire to establish yourself as a respected and sought-after personal branding photographer in your community?

This class teaches you to go beyond the standard headshot and build a thriving personal branding photography business. From understanding the genre to identifying your target audience and developing a unique selling proposition, we’ll cover all the necessary steps to attract clients, price your services for profitability, and close the deal. You’ll also gain insights into creating a marketing plan using social media and email strategies.

Snap up your business potential with invaluable takeaways and actionable steps, empowering you to succeed!

Let’s take some hot photos the bride and groom CAN’T show mom and dad. Come and shoot some HOT boudoir photos of a couple, and a bride alone. I’ll show you how to get classy and elegant sexy portraits that the bride and groom will cherish privately more than the wedding photos. This is a great add-on to your bottom line with opportunities to make thousands of extra dollars by selling albums and wall art. But you gotta get those HOT pictures first, and it’s about to get hot in St. Louis!

Struggle with marketing? We all do. In this course, Sal is going to put together a 12-month marketing plan for you so that you can walk out of this class ready to execute. No matter what genre you are focused on this class will give you marching orders for the upcoming year.

Topics Covered // Social Media Best Practices, SEO Content Creation and Marketing, What services to market and when, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and more.

In this class, we’ll build a high-end, luxury bridal show booth using budget-friendly materials. A portion of the class will be spent physically building the booth so you can see how it all comes together easily. Including image selection, mocking up the booth before you go to print, placement of images in the bridal show, and actually assembling it. We consistently can do a 10-20ft booth for under $500. Once it is set up, we will role-play how to talk to people in the booth to get conversational and start building the relationship. Additional topics covered are – best practices for lead gathering, pre and post-show planning, VENDOR networking before, during, and after the show, and keeping engaged with your couples post-bridal show.

In this comprehensive class, we will explore the essential aspects of running a successful photography business in today’s competitive market. From understanding the industry landscape to implementing effective marketing strategies, this course is designed to equip photographers with the knowledge and skills required to thrive as entrepreneurs.

When you look at the world, what do you see?

Isn’t it amazing how much people are the same and yet so different?cWe can attend the same functions, work in the same environment, attend the same schools, and yet have a completely different upbringing. In this class, we will photograph HEADSHOTS with people of various ethnicities. There will be props for culture-specific attire.

You will learn headshot lighting, beauty lighting, creative lighting, as well as accentuating, and highlighting the characteristics of a culture.

Bring your gear! This is a hands-on class that I will walk everyone through.

My goal is for you to walk away with the knowledge and ability to create something stunning for ALL of YOUR CLIENTS and appreciate their differences.

Have you ever walked into a Sephora and noticed the images used in the store? Or seen those elaborate makeup campaigns and wondered how they do that? This course will teach you the ins and outs of setting up these types of shoots. We will demonstrate how to capture the commercial, clean look that companies look for, as well as have fun creating the editorial makeup looks that will get you noticed. We will also learn the preparation needed before the shutter is snapped, so you can execute your look.

If you’ve ever thought wedding albums are too much work… if you’re secretly glad when your clients don’t want one… you are missing out on tens of thousands of dollars every season.
Learn to love wedding albums with an easy workflow that adds thousands to your bottom line. We routinely design albums with 70 or more pages without hard sales, without pre-design-and-delete, and without a lengthy image selection process. Our initial design is done in about an hour, and our clients make their changes within 30 days. We’ll share with you the processes that we’ve developed over the years to make album design simple, painless, and profitable. With an average wedding album sale of over $3000, this adds significant income to our studio each year! Topics covered include:
• Why sell albums?
• Getting your clients on board with the design process
• Our unique formula for creating bigger albums that our clients love
• Pricing made easy
• Upsells that work
• Simplified design and changes
• Keeping your clients on track with image selection, design, and payments
• Managing client expectations by having an album design contract
• Offering payment plans to sell bigger albums
Albums don’t have to be a sore spot in your business any longer!

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 body painted model in this class, so partial nudity should be expected.

In this specialized class, we will delve into the world of volume photography, focusing on capturing high-volume events such as yearbook photos, team and individual portraits, and other group sessions. Whether you’re a seasoned volume photographer or just starting in this field, this course will equip you with the knowledge, techniques, and business strategies to excel in this unique genre.

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. These methods will help set you up for sales success!

You don’t have a huge budget for your client closet? No problem! Create your own unique high-fashion dresses for your clients.
NO SEWING SKILLS ARE NEEDED!

You’ve got the camera, you’ve got the portfolio and maybe even a logo, but how do create a brand that will be so desired that it basically does the selling for you? My studio has gone through countless rounds of brand reconstruction – with plenty or failures and successes in between. I’m going to show you the very recipe I’ve refined after 10 years of photography business. Through very real, attainable steps you’ll be able to refresh or launch your business and put yourself on a trajectory of success in your community.

During this class, we’ll identify the makings of a quality brand image and how to create a true VIP client experience.

At times we get so caught up in posing that we forget to create movement in our photos. Motion in images grabs your attention. In this demo to hand-on course you will learn multiple motion scenarios with our models and then the class will break into smaller groupings for a more intimate shooting experience. We will have continuous lights on hand to add the drama to the motion.
You will learn:

– How to address your model
– Camera settings
– The flow of the shoot
– Dramatic motion

I will show you my approach to creating any image. To me creating images is nothing more than simply organizing different ingredients to create any image you want.

Go beyond pointing a light and praying it looks good. Create images that actually connect and mean something.. from virtually nothing in the space. Lighting can be language that shapes perception to bring out and define the character of our subject but it does not stop there. Build a scene using light, make any space into an environment with an atmosphere your viewer can feel. Using tools you have seen to create scenes in films you will learn what story to tell and how to tell it on a deeper level visually. Manifest the atmosphere, build the scene, create the narrative, and take things a step further.

At SF23 We had so much fun creating with Kay Alvarez and our two models. This time we are adding a twist of color, a pop of makeup and a splash of gels. We are also going to shape, modify and bend light with GOBOS. Didn’t attend our class last year? That’s okay, I will guide you every step of the way. With multiple stations, attendees will have the chance to photograph the models with different artistic angles and light setups. Godox/Flashpoint triggers will be provided. Everyone will have an opportunity to shoot. Let’s play with light!

Attendees will learn:
Camera settings to apply for the creative portraits
Lights, tools & lens that work best for a portrait setup
Placement of light, reflectors and modifiers

Taking a client’s photo can be so much more than just a standard portrait or headshot. It can be as creative and wondrous as you’d like to make it. It can be a reflection of your client and their uniqueness, hobbies, and individuality. Or it can be something in you personified and transparent made tangible through an image. In this class I go over how I find my creative inspiration, whether it’s my own or a reflection of the client, the resources I use to source creative props and sets, and finally, the lighting set-up used to achieve that specific look.

Do you have a dream shoot but you struggle to bring it to life? In this class you’ll learn to:
-come up with a theme
-expand on your ideas
-throw out what doesn’t work
-use that plan to build your sets
At the end of this class we will use the set we built as a team to create some killer images.

Whether you’re a seasoned photographer or a beginner, group shoots are an excellent opportunity to build your network, creative exploration, and expand your portfolio. However, are you tired of taking the same shots as everyone else during group photoshoots? It can be tough to stand out when everyone is using the same sets and poses. But why settle for ordinary shots that blend in with the rest? Join me to learn techniques to make your images unique and stand out from the rest!

Want to make an extra $30-40K with album sales? It starts with a design that sells. I’ll take you through my method of designing an irresistible album that clients want to buy. We’ll also do a live design demo so you can see it all in action!

Are you interested in learning how to create dark and eerie images? If so, this dark arts photography class is perfect for you. In this hands-on course, you will learn the basics of dark art photography, including composition, lighting, development, and post-processing. After a basic demonstration, You will have the opportunity to experiment with different creative techniques and develop your own style. Be prepared to create with fake blood, special effects and some pretty unique props, resulting in stunningly eerie dark imagery. Please bring camera if you would like to participate in the hands on portion, as you will have the opportunity to shoot each model/concept.