Classes

Filters, prisms, and gobos aren’t just for big-budget studios and most of these tools cost less than your last Starbucks order. In this hands-on lab, you’ll rotate through five lighting stations, each set up with a different in-camera tool: a stretch filter, a blur filter, a gobo pattern, a faux lens flare, and a prism with a colored light source. No Photoshop. No expensive gear. Just you, your camera, and fun effects.

You will get a master QR code for each station linking to setup instructions and example images so you know exactly what you’re creating before you shoot it. Then you shoot it yourself.

You’ll leave with the exact setup for 5 creative effects, the confidence to recreate them in senior sessions, and a set of images you made in class.

This class is for photographers with basic camera knowledge who want to add a creative edge to their senior work without heavy post-processing.

From panic to pro poser in 90 minutes, that’s the promise. You know that moment mid senior session when your brain goes completely blank and you have no idea what to do next? Every senior photographer has been there, especially when Gen Z seniors are staring back at you waiting. This class ends that forever. It sold out in 20 minutes at ShutterFest 2026 and this year it’s back bigger and better.

The PAC Posing System is a simple, memorable framework built around three decisions: Positions, Angles and Crops.. Those three decisions create 36 unique senior pose combinations — meaning you will never run out of ideas again. Built specifically for the senior market, it works across every body type, personality, and location you’ll ever shoot.

This isn’t just a lecture. You’ll watch two live models directed through the full PAC system in real time, diagnose bad poses with the model, see exactly how to fix them, and put your skills to the test in a 30-second pose challenge that ends the class with energy and laughs.

You’ll also get specific prompts and techniques built for Gen Z seniors — because this generation responds to direction differently, and knowing what actually lands with them is the difference between a stiff session and images they’ll love.

You’ll also leave with a 2 sided handout,  the PAC System card and the complete “What To Do Next” rescue toolkit — a cheat sheet for every moment your brain freezes: how to keep talking, fix the hands, create angles, add motion, and go to your go-to prompts when nothing else is working. Both are also available digitally via QR code.

Already know the PAC System from 2026? This year goes deeper.  Same system, new segments, and upgrades built from your feedback. Whether you’re brand new or coming back for more, you’ll walk out with tools you can use at your next session.   Not someday, this weekend.

“Gen Z seniors don’t want traditional portraits — they want images that look like they belong on a magazine cover or a music video still. The optical spot is the tool that gets you there.

In this hands-on lab you’ll rotate through six optical spot setups across two rounds — starting with dramatic single-feature spotlighting and building to wild projected patterns on clothing shot from angles most photographers never try. Every setup is designed specifically for what Gen Z seniors are already asking for and saving to their inspiration boards. We will use constant lights for ease and convenience.

You’ll get a QR code with setup instructions and example images so you know exactly what you’re creating before you shoot it. Then you shoot it yourself.
You’ll leave with the exact recipe for 6 optical spot setups, images you made in class, and the confidence to offer a creative senior experience your local competitors aren’t delivering.

Basic camera knowledge required. Manual mode helpful. This class is built for photographers who already shoot seniors and want to level up their creative offerings without buying a truckload of new gear.”