Connecticut Photography Workshops

Perhaps you own and shoot with a digital camera, but are ending up with less than satisfactory photographs. Or maybe you’re tired of shooting in AUTO, realizing you’d really like to understand your camera a bit better. This, then, is the course for you.

You will learn all the important basic concepts of photography. This means you'll be on your way to never having to shoot in AUTO again!

Here are the major topics we'll be addressing:

• What aperture, shutter speed, and ISO are, and how to make them work for you
• Methods for avoiding blurry and out-of-focus pictures
• How to make sure your photographs are properly exposed
• The advantages of shooting in Shutter Priority and Aperture Priority

All the basic photography concepts will be presented and discussed in depth. These will include:

• Aperture settings
• Shutter settings
• ISO settings
• Camera’s light meter
• Depth-of-field
• Lenses

Please bring your digital camera, and be sure the battery is fully charged.

You will receive a handout when you arrive at class. It contains lots of information that will allow you to spend less time taking notes and more time listening and participating in class.

This seminar is paired with two others that I’m teaching, each also a single, three-hour session:
Digital Photography [Understanding Your Camera]
Digital Photography [Creating Great Images]

To receive a sound fundamental understanding of digital photography, I strongly recommend completing all three seminars. When I teach for various arts centers, colleges, and local towns, these are the three areas I include in my Beginning Digital Photography course, which runs for a total of nine hours over a three-week period.

These three specific seminars will be repeated at later dates. Therefore, if you cannot make one, you can take it at another time. ALSO, THE SEMINARS CAN BE TAKEN IN ANY ORDER. And no prerequisites are required.

We will be meeting in the café at the Glastonbury Barnes & Noble Bookstore. Should you need to contact me, my cell phone number is 860-712-7098.

Please note that no refunds are allowed unless the seminar is canceled. Also, switching from one seminar to another is not allowed. I need to know the exact number of attendees in a seminar to determine whether or not I can afford to run it. Thank you.

If you are an amateur or professional digital photographer who loves taking pictures, you might want to consider stock photography as a possible source of additional income. A stock photographer shoots a variety of images and sends them off to stock agencies. When magazines, businesses, ad agencies, textbook companies, etc. need photos, purchasing existing images from a stock agency, rather than hiring a photographer to shoot new images, can save them much time and money. When a stock agency sells a photo, the payment for that sale is shared between the photographer and the stock agency.

This Meetup will present all aspects of the stock photography business. Topics will include determining what kind of images will sell, the equipment needed to shoot them, adding metadata to your images, the keywording process, creating catalogs, types of stock agencies, and everything else necessary to set up your own stock photography business.

You might want to take a look at Alamy (http://www.alamy.com), a stock photography agency I suggest to students in my classes. Unlike other agencies, there is no selection process to become an Alamy photographer. As long as you follow certain basic technical requirements, you can freely upload images you create onto the Alamy site, making them available for purchase.

The Meetup will be held in the cafe at the Glastonbury Barnes & Noble. You will see a "Meetup" sign on our table. Should you need to contact me, my cell phone number is 860-712-7098.

Please note that no refunds are allowed unless the seminar is canceled. Also, switching from one seminar to another is not allowed. I need to know the exact number of attendees in a seminar to determine whether or not I can afford to run it.

So come join us and learn about the wonderful world of stock photography!

Austin Organs is one of the truly great pipe organ factories of the world. And it's been located in our own Hartford, CT backyard since 1899. A handful of friendly artisans design and manufacture each organ to very tight specifications for clients throughout the country. Almost all parts are created from scratch using their many vintage machines.

From a photographer’s point-of-view, this place is astounding. The factory is cavernous. It's room after room of machinery, tools, and assorted parts dating back to the early 1900’s. With little change in almost a hundred years, just about every square foot of the factory holds the promise of wonderful photo opportunities. There's even a cat that quietly roams about.

I will be working with you, if you want, as you wander and photograph, suggesting shot locations, setup information, lighting possibilities, and camera angles. I’ll also review your images as you shoot, offering feedback and suggestions. And I’ll be assisting those of you needing help with the operation of your camera.

To give you an idea of what’s to be found at the Austin Organs Factory, here is a link to their website (click the tabs at the top of the page – you’ll find lots of photos to peruse): http://www.austinorgans.com/aoifactorygallery1.html

A few things to please keep in mind:

• Be sure your camera battery is charged. If you have them, bring extra batteries and camera cards. Also, bring your battery charger.
• Bring lenses ranging from close-up to wide-angle.
• A tripod and cable release (for firing the camera) will be useful.
• We'll be doing a bit of walking, including going up and down stairs.
• The photos you take cannot be used for any purpose other than your own personal use. They cannot be used for anything commercial or editorial.

Please note that no refunds are allowed unless the seminar is canceled. Also, switching from one seminar to another is not allowed. I need to know the exact number of attendees in a seminar to determine whether or not I can afford to run it.

Feel free to call with any questions. My cell phone number is 860-712-7098.