Strobist Seminars

Now Registering: The Flash Bus

2011-02-12T18:31:00.001-08:00

I don't really know how to set this up rather than just to come right out and say it: Dude, I'm going on a 13,000+ mile teaching road trip with Joe Fricken' McNally.

We have cleared our calendars for March and April. We've got a totally fly set of wheels, an excellent radar detector, a trunk full of speedlights and a mapped list of every Chipotle in the United States.

It's gonna be epic.
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Announcing: 'The Flash Bus' Tour

By the numbers:

Number of cities: 29

Number of days on the road: 42

Length of the bus, in feet: 55

Miles to be covered on the Mother of All Road Trips: Over 13,000

Chipotle restaurants to be visited: Probably all of them.

Combined experience, in years, both instructors: Over 60

Average maturity level, in years, both instructors: About 13.

(Okay, 12.)

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If anyone woulda told me ten years ago that in 2011 I would be living on a bus with the Grandmaster Flash himself and teaching in 29 cites over the course of 42 days, I would have laughed in their face. Fact is, I am having a little trouble believing it myself right now.

My one concession to reality is that I am basically the warm-up act. Kinda like Wayne Campbell (party on, Garth) opening up for Aerosmith. I am teaching in the morning and Joe is teaching in the afternoon.

Little-known fact: Joe's contract states that he gets to sleep until 11am before being awakened slowly by the soothing voice of Julio Iglesias, live and in-person. Since I do not have a studio manager I did not think of such things in advance.

So I get up at 3am, clean the bus (quietly), wake up Julio (quietly) so he can start warming up (quietly) then exit the bus (quietly) so as not to wake up ~~Joe~~ Mr. McNally.

Then, I am to teach for the morning so there won't be any pesky lighting questions left by the time ~~Joe~~ Mr. McNally is on for live shooting in the afternoon.

(I'm just kidding. You can ask him questions.)

We're gonna be bilingual, too. We'll hablas both manual and TTL. I am teaching manual in the morning and Joe is teaching TTL in the afternoon. (I cannot even spell "TTL," so that choice was a no-brainer.)

We'll stop teaching only for a brief bio break in the morning and the afternoon, and for lunch. Because one does not get a body like mine by missing lunch.

Afterwards, we finish up with a panel discussion section with both of us and Joe's 1st assistant, Drew Gurian. Where that goes depends entirely on you, as we'll be in no-holds-barred mode.

Suffice to say that it should be a fast-paced, fun day. And by the end of it we hope your lighting will be pretty much intuitive.

To top it all off, we have pulled together an awesome group of sponsors who have worked with us to not only make it very affordable (under $100) but also to create a great goodie bag. Adorama is kicking in some cool stuff, too. I'm totally stoked. (More on that in the coming days.)
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In all seriousness, Joe and I have spent a lot of time on the road over the last few years. And we have decided that we really want to be able to spend more time with our respective families. So we are going out with a bang before dialing it back a few notches for a while.

We're not just talking New York / Chicago / L.A., either.

Albuquerque? Tell Heisenberg we're coming. Buffalo? Fry up some wings -- extra hot -- and save some seats for the Canadian day trippers. Madison? We'll see you on April 15th. See the tour website (link below) for a complete list of cities and dates.

We're going Full Monty on the social media, too. And considering who you are dealing with, well, let's just say you would not want to be the first person to fall asleep on this particular bus.

Lord knows what kinds of photos might get tweeted out from there. We will all be armed (with iPhones) and dangerous. Or dangerously immature, at least. Links to Twitter feeds, blog and RSS are on The Flash Bus site.

Registration will not open for a few more days, to give you 9-to-5'ers a chance to arrange an anticipatory sick day. There is (*cough*) that bug going around, you know.

Full details, registration info -- and one insanely demented illustration by warped genius Sam Spratt -- on our Flash Bus website.

Check it out, and we certainly hope to see you there.

Denver: August 7th, 2010 -- Lighting in Layers Seminar (Sold Out)

2010-06-17T22:10:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: The Denver seminar is sold out.
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This August, we are headed to Denver for a "Mile High Club" edition of Strobist, so to speak. It is a one-day seminar, after which I am heading to the mountains with the family for some much-needed R&R. It will be held Saturday, August 7th.

This seminar, Lighting in Layers, is designed to dig down deeper on what I feel is the most important control lever in flash photography -- balance. Whether the end product is simple or complex, we'll break down lighting into a series of logical steps to build your final look one easy variable at a time.

Format

The morning will be spent in lecture with supporting visuals. We'll take a few minutes at first to go over the basic principles of balancing exposure so we leave no one behind, and then dig deeper as the day goes on.

We'll break for lunch close to midday, at a logical stopping point. There are many food choices within an easy walk of the seminar location, as we are on the 16th St. Pedestrian Mall.

After lunch, we'll do a complete walk-thru of an actual editorial assignment, with problems popping up onscreen just like they did in my camera. I have included every frame in which a change (lighting or otherwise) was made, and also the how and why behind the changes.

Things do not always go well for me, and I think that is important to show. It is the ability to solve problems that matters. That said, there is generally at least one solution for any problem and it is the thought process that matters.

After the assignment walk-thru we'll switch to demo mode, doing a series of shoots as time allows. Feel free to bring a camera if you want to record setups for reference.

And speaking of that, all of the material from the screen presentation will be available for download afterwards. You may want to take notes, but having to scribble down something that is already onscreen is ridiculous and redundant. And this way, you'll have the onscreen pics for later reference, too.

Class size will be limited, to promote interaction and discussion. That is my favorite part of the seminars, and I never fail to learn something of value at each session.

Details

Location: The Westin Tabor Center, 1672 Lawrence St., Denver, CO. (Pictured up top).

Here's a Google map:

View Larger Map (Opens in new window.)
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Doors will open at 9:00am, and we will hit the ground running at 9:30, with or without you. Lunch time will be a little variable, as detailed above. Lots of food within an easy walk -- on your own for lunch.

We'll wrap around 5:00pm. My plan at this point is to head down to the hotel's watering hole for an hour or so in which to be happy afterwards. Call it a happy hour, I guess.

Registration

The price for the seminar is $159.99, and you can register via PayPal. You do not have to be a PayPal member to register, but you will have to have a credit card.

Standard disclaimer: I have every intention of being there -- plane tix, hotel room and conference room are already bought. But if for some reason beyond my control I cannot make it, refunds will be limited to the ticket price. Just sayin'.

You can register for the Lighting in Layers seminar via PayPal secure link ~~here~~ (The seminar is sold out.) Please bring either your ID and the email address under which you registered or (better yet) a printout of your PayPal receipt to the seminar.

Please bookmark this page for additional updates, should they become necessary.

Lastly, I look forward to seeing you guys. I love Denver and The Rocky Mountains, and I am excited to be headed out.

Lighting Workshop: Portland, OR, 7/25 (Sold Out)

2010-06-07T09:23:00.000-07:00

NOTE: The 7/25 Portland Seminar is now sold out.
__________

I'm heading to one of my favorite cities -- Portland, Oregon -- for a shoot and to connect with family and friends. I have left Sunday, July 25th, open for a one-day lighting workshop.

This seminar, Lighting in Layers, is designed to dig down deeper on what I feel is the most important control lever in flash photography -- balance. Whether the end product is simple or complex, we'll break down lighting into a series of logical steps to build your final look one easy variable at a time.

Format

The morning will be spent in lecture with supporting visuals. We'll take a few minutes at first to go over the basic principles of balancing exposure so we leave no one behind, and then dig deeper as the day goes on.

We'll break for lunch close to midday, at a logical stopping point. There are many food choices within an easy walk of the seminar location.

After lunch, we'll do a complete walk-thru of an editorial assignment, with problems popping up onscreen just like they did in my camera. I have included every frame in which a change (lighting or otherwise) was made, and also the how and why behind the changes.

Things do not always go well for me, and I think that is important to show. It is the ability to solve problems that matters. That said, there is generally at least one solution for any problem and it is the thought process that matters.

After the assignment walk-thru we'll switch to demo mode, doing a series of shoots as time allows. Feel free to bring a camera if you want to record setups for reference.

And speaking of that, all of the material from the screen presentation will be available for download afterwards. You may want to take notes, but shaving to scribble down something that is already onscreen is ridiculous and redundant. And this way, you'll have the onscreen pics for later reference, too.

Class size will be limited, to promote interaction and discussion. That is my favorite part of the seminars, and I never fail to learn something of value at each session.

Details

Location: The Embassy Suites Hotel, Portland Downtown, at 319 SW Pine St (pictured up top).

Location-wise, we chose it in part for easy public transport should you not want to pay to park. It is two blocks from a MAX Lightrail stop and one block from the Public Transit Mall.

Here's a Google map:

View Larger Map (Opens in new window.)
__________

Doors will open at 9:00am, and we will hit the ground running at 9:30, with or without you. Lunch time will be a little variable, as described above.

We'll wrap around 4:30pm, as there is another group scheduled for the room in the evening. My plan at this point is to head down to the hotel's watering hole for an hour or so in which to be happy afterwards. Call it a happy hour, I guess.

Registration

The price for the seminar is $159.95, and you can register via PayPal. You do not have to be a PayPal member to register, but you will have to have a credit card.

Standard disclaimer: I have every intention of being there -- plane tix, hotel room and conference room already bought. But if for some reason beyond my control I cannot make it, refunds will be limited to the ticket price. Just sayin'.

~~You can register for the Lighting in Layers seminar via PayPal secure link here.~~ (This seminar is now sold out.) Please bring either ID and the email address under which you registered or (better yet) a printout of your PayPal receipt to the seminar.

Please bookmark this page for additional updates, should they become necessary.

Lastly, I look forward to seeing and meeting you in Portland. I know that the city has a vibrant photo community, and I am excited to be headed out there.

tester1

2010-06-07T09:16:00.001-07:00

tester1post