Teaching at WPPI
Monday, March 2nd, 2009My workshop at WPPI went really well; it was good to be teaching again, to feel the thrill of standing before eager students, and to have the passion to help others to achieve. My room was filled to capacity, with apparently a waiting list of 10 people. I was very pleased to hear this, especially since my time slot was late Wednesday afternoon.
I had a chance to meet Bill Hurter, the editor of Rangefinder magazine; Jeff Caplan, the guru behind the legendary DWF (if you are a pro shooter, you must join. Period); and Skip Cohen, the President of WPPI, who graciously stopped into my class to talk shop (I felt like the principal came in to give me his seal of approval!)
I also met up with probably the nicest human being in the world, Shawn Reeder, whose work is amazing and his heart is simply wonderful. I also met up with Pete Redel, an up-and-coming shooter who has a funky and commercial style that will certainly put him on the photographic map.
Since this is our first step into the wild world of teaching workshops, we weren’t prepared with a DVD to sell or actions to give away. But, we are working on it! We are beginning to put together our DVD entitled, “Video for Photographers”. We anticipate having it finished within a month. In it we will include everything from why the new photo+video DSLRS are so wonderful, how to combine the two forms into what your studio can offer to clients, and all the technical stuff that makes shooting and editing video such a challenge. What could be more exciting than learning about “compression” and DVD Studio Pro?!? Please get in touch if you attended the workshop and would like to really take that next step forward in mastering photo+video.
Here is a good tip that I learned:
Recently, I bought an HD handycam. It fits in the palm of my hand, shoots 1080p, and has an image comparable to my more expensive professional HD video cameras. I will never use it again. I left it at home when I came to WPPI; I brought along the 5D Mark II instead. I want an elegant system, not two cameras. With the 5D, I hit the Live View function, and now I am one button away from shooting a full-frame 21 Megapixel still or shooting 1080p video with real depth of field.
These new cameras, for those like me who do not see an arbitrary split between photo + video, will change everything. Jump on board to find out why..
