Small Worlds: Intimate Landscapes and Macro Therapy

Macro photography holds a unique place in my heart. Unlike most genres that take their place in the service of others, macro photography is more often personal, and that is the case for me. It is calming and centering, almost like a meditation. As an act of observation, macro photography slows your thoughts, increases intuition, and fills the harried and chaotic parts of your mind with calm.

This form of photography encompasses images taken with a macro lens, or a lens with close focusing capabilities. Other terms that may serve well are close-up photography or intimate landscapes. Intimate landscapes may be my favorite macro-esque concept. It is close-in photography that gives a bit of context. Instead of filling the frame with your subject, you include enough of the environment to give the subject a sense of presence and place. This option lets you explore more compositional directions, light patterns, and play while sharing small worlds that people generally miss.

Join me for a day of shooting small worlds with hands-on instruction encompassing natural and artificial light, composition, personal style development, and creative editing. Any camera is welcome, but a lens that focuses closely (generally under two feet) is preferred.

About the Instructor

Caroline, a Sony Associate Artisan of Imagery, is a photographic artist living on the prairie. She enjoys observing and recording the beauty all around her in her signature painterly style. Her personal work centers around creating art pieces for her home, while her professional work centers around storytelling images that are often raw and emotive. Always one to think out of the box, Caroline finds the most joy in pushing creative boundaries and seeking out new ways to channel her creative energy. Her first love is teaching and she is the most happy when she is helping others reach their goals.

Environmental Portraiture

Creating the perfect on-location portrait requires equal part portrait along with equal part location, mastering the surroundings in terms of exposure, interest, framing and the best possible location. Explore lighting and posing techniques that will knock your work out of the park!

About the Instructor

Tracie Maglosky is an award-winning wedding and portrait photographer in the Cincinnati area and her studio, located in the heart of downtown Cincinnati's Brewery & Arts District in OTR, boasts beautiful original hardwood flooring and wide open floor plan.

As a distinguished member of the Visionary Program for Olympus Worldwide, in 2013she has been given the honor of Trailblazer and in 2016 promoted to Visionary and travels frequently to present her photography skills and concepts as a leader in the industry.

A busy mother of three boys, Tracie has a passion for wedding, maternity and newborn portraiture and capturing the moment... "because it only happens once." She has never met a stranger and continues to celebrate the beauty of the world through every captured moment with her lens.

Before They Grow Up

Dive into what it means to shoot with emotional intention while capturing the magical, fleeting moments of childhood. By tapping into our own personal connections with childhood…both in our own memories and in our experiences as parents/grandparents/caretakers…and allowing those to guide the technical choices we make behind the camera, we can create images that speak clearly to our unique experiences and document childhood in a way that is more closely aligned with our memories.

About the Instructor

Kellie Bieser is a full-time photographer living in Ohio with her four (soon to be five!) kids, dog, cat, three chickens, and very patient husband. Fueled by an endless cup of black coffee, she works to document her days in a way that doesn’t just capture the scene but also captures the way it felt to be there.

Ballet Photography: Beyond Beauty

Even the most technically perfect photographs can still be dull if they have weak creative choices. In this workshop, we will learn how to make compelling creative choices and see how to turn simple design ideas into beautiful photographs that will make people say “Wow!”

We will start the day with a slide show & discussion of ballet images and analyze them to understand the principles of good visual design. Some topics will be:

• Composition: How to frame, crop and place your subject within the scene.
• Perspective: Also known as a great tool for controlling your background.
• Lighting: How to shape the light, define your subject, and set the mood for the image.
• Lens Choice: Which lens to choose and why.

We will then have the opportunity to photograph professional dancers. After that, we will return to the classroom and discuss the business of photography. How to price your work, and how to sell your work. We will do a classroom experiment in worst case scenario and learn to face fears around defending the value of your imagery.

About the Instructor

Monica Royal was born and raised in New Brunswick, Canada. She immigrated to California in 1999.

After being a hobbyist for 15 years, she formally launched her photographic career in 2006 after studying with world renowned fine art photographer Freeman Patterson. It was the inspiration from him that helped develop her fasciation with water and other liquids as design elements within her artwork.

Monica’s imagery is widely recognized as unique and innovative. She won Illustrative Photographer of the Year with Professional Photographers of San Diego in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. Her artwork has been published in several national magazines. Monica’s articles and podcasts have been shared on numerous webpages.

As a social and entertaining artist, she has become a sought after speaker & private teacher. Through coaching and training she helps take her students to their next level of professionalism and well beyond. Monica travels around the country speaking and teaching with the sponsorship of Tamron USA, Miller’s Professional Imaging and Savage Universal behind her.

Monica has permanent art installations in public venues in Canada, the U.S. and Guam as well as a long list of private collectors. She has exhibited at Escondido Art Gallery in Escondido California and the Natural History Museum in San Diego.

Posing, Subject Communication and Boudoir

Boudoir is a special niche in photography. It can be a life changer for our clients. That is a big responsibility! In this class Jen all about a successful boudoir shoot. Posing, lighting, communication and all the other ingredients that go into creating an amazing experience that your client won’t forget.

About the Instructor

Jen Rozenbaum embraces her femininity while allowing women to embrace their own. By daring her clients to shed their clothes, they begin to shed their inhibitions. In the last nine years, Jen has found a burgeoning audience in the intimate photography market and is now sharing her shamelessly feminine movement with women worldwide. She proves that you can own your world if you live fearlessly, think audaciously and act spontaneously.

Fashion, Travel and Editorial

After 11 years of shooting, I have spent extensive amounts of time honing my photography style and skills. My career began in the 80 mph winds of west Texas — full of tumbleweeds. My hope is that you walk away from my class with all the tools to push quickly through any road blocks you have come across and inspired to try new genres of photography.

Topics Covered:

• Vision & Composition — Creating strong images on the go
• Storytelling — I will teach you how to create a story with all the tools accessible to you
• Lighting & Portraits — Let’s strengthen your knowledge of portraits, with a hands on approach. I want you to think outside the box and try many lighting approaches.• Gear — Let’s chat about what gear I use when and help you with your own setup to achieve the very best outcome.
• Broader Horizons — Let’s chat about what you love to shoot and how to get you more of that work!

The class will begin by discussing several genres of photography and end with a hands on workshop.

Towards the conclusion of the class, we will give you time to photograph models and an editorial shoot that I have styled for you!

There is nothing better than walking away with some new content and rad images that you are proud to share.

I look forward to meeting you all and connecting during the class!

About the Instructor

Kara Mercer is a commercial and editorial photographer and art director based in Seattle, Washington. She specializes in developing content for fashion, travel, and lifestyle brands. Known for her use of light and her eye for creative direction, Kara believes every image should stand strongly on its own while also contributing a unique yet complementary voice when serving as part of a collection. Her work is influenced as much by minimalism and thought-provoking conversations as it is by contemporary studies in human psychology and the emotive, sometimes ethereal feel of romanticism. With these influences, she seamlessly combines playful narratives with a timeless aesthetic for commercial media campaigns (print and digital) and editorial work.

Previous clients include : Condé Nast, Sorel, Visit Jordan, Visit Alaska, Fujifilm, United, and many more.