A Weekend to Remember: April Compositing Workshop

I can’t believe this past weekend, I held my third compositing workshop. I love meeting everyone and getting to know everyone individually throughout those three days.

The days leading up to the workshop are always filled with excitement and nerves. One of the biggest things this time was the weather! When I first planned out this workshop, I was hoping for beautiful Spring weather, but we were hit with a freezing front at the last minute.

We didn’t give up on our Spring theme, though. Other than the weather, the weekend was filled with no nasty surprises! I loved hanging out and teaching everyone who attended. I’m thankful for my background as a teacher, which helped me prepare for the workshop.

The weekend started off great with a meet-and-greet and a nice dinner at Monza, where we all had the opportunity to network and get to know each other a little better before the learning began. In addition, we had the chance to exchange ideas and learn more about what each attendee was doing.

We also planned out what gear to bring to the next day's photo shoot. We made sure that everyone used the same lens so that nobody would stand in front of each other, and everyone would get a chance to get the same great shots.

Day 1:

The day started with an overview of photography and Photoshop concepts. Even though the people who attended the workshops are experienced photographers, everyone is at a different level.

I showed a few of my old photographs and composites and pointed out how I have also developed as a photographer. Through these examples, I pointed out how specific factors affect the quality and presentation of our images. Lighting and positioning your object are the most important considerations during a photoshoot.

I explained various photography concepts to help with editing the next day. The attendees also shared their personal experiences. Photography was not the only topic we discussed on the first day of the workshop.

My fellow photographer and business partner, Humberto Garcia, went over pricing, marketing, and specific scenarios attendees encountered with their clients. Then, Humberto helped each attendee understand how to raise their prices and close with those clients at those prices. He even practiced a consultation call with one of the attendees and then pointed out what she could improve to increase her chances of closing a client.

Around 4 p.m., our models were already prepared for the upcoming photoshoot and headed to the location. We wrapped things up in the conference room and headed out to our shooting location. We had a meeting room where everyone could set up their cameras and ask final questions before the shoot.

Despite the cold weather, I decided to keep the Spring theme. The sky can be one of the trickiest parts of shooting, but the lighting was perfect for the day. We had five girls model for us, and they wore beautiful dresses designed by Adrianna Ostrowska.

The girls were amazing to work with and took direction very well. We got stunning shots around the lake, and with our models' beautiful expressions and warm edits on our composites, nobody could tell how cold it was. We practiced some shots for regular workflow edits, but the girls also posed for us to create different composites that we could add other objects to.

One of the things I included in this workshop that I didn’t get to have in my last workshop in November was a Rapunzel shoot. If you didn’t know, the theme of the November workshop was Disney.

Around dusk, we had the images we needed for editing and wrapped up the day to rest and prepare for the next day of editing.

Day 2:

On the second day, we focused on editing the images we had shot the day before. We began by going over the Workflow editing tools using the Ultimate Compositing Workflow Action. Then we began editing from scratch.

Since the group was small, we were able to tackle more challenging edits. In addition, I demonstrated the methods I used for my improvements and was able to help anyone with specific questions.

We started by doing some beauty edits and moved on to more specific hand edits.  

This is the third workshop we’ve held in Virginia, and it was just as successful as the previous ones!

I love leading these workshops and sharing what I know with other photographers who are willing to learn and expand their knowledge. We always have beginners and experienced photographers, and they all leave with new skills that they’ll use on their photography journey.

The next workshop will be on September 29th, 2018, in Manassas, VA. You don’t have to be experienced to attend. I welcome all photographers of all levels. Whether you do photography as a hobby and want to make it into more of a business, or you have an established photography business, I encourage you to sign up for my next workshop!