Thursday, June 21, 2007

Our Next Workshop at The Edge "A Return Engagement"


‘Almost Alone with David A Williams’
July 24th, 25th, and 26th. at Don & Ines Harper’s Studio – Leesburg VA

THREE DAYS OF PRACTICAL PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC ENHANCEMENT & EDUCATION FOR WEDDING AND PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHERS.

That “Learning should be fun” is a fundamental part of David’s presentation. Come and share an experience that will make you smile and think! Topics to be covered include…(and, no – I don’t know what we’re doing and precisely when – whaddya wanna know for anyway?)

• Detail Miniatures – story-telling images, and portraits of environments.
• A renewed emphasis on freehand designing
• Existing Light as the primary light source
• Supplementary light sources “Love that mixed lighting”
• Doing more with less – learning to think differently.
• Creating a homage portrait – ( how I make my MasterWorks portraits)
• What makes Aussie photographers different and David’s deposing.
• Aussie weddings & my approaches.
• Aussie children & my approaches.
• Single light portraiture
• The horizontal and the using depth – using negative space.
• Visual communication.
• Immediacy and expression.
• Art and design influences – identifying the component construction of a style.
• Fine-quality inkjet printing & Digital hand printing.
• Digital practices for weddings – sorting & proofing
• Digital tools you really need – e.g. use and creation of actions.


*This lecture does not contain any information on becoming an overnight millionaire, selling $500,000K weddings, murdering your opposition, using five lights, selling enormous wall portraits to poor folks who don’t wanna buy, or buying products you don’t need – (but think you should have)……sorry.

**It does contain heaps of good, simple, applicable, wallet-friendly, BS-free ideas for you to study hard about, and perspiringly practice over, that will make you a better - more intuitive and involved photographer…..that I’m NOT sorry for.




# Special Evening Occasion:
We will recess for about 30 minutes after which I will be inviting you to join me in watching a fascinating art & photography related program which will last for about 80 minutes. The class may decide to do something as a group regarding dinner.

Each day will finish at 5.00pm. Lunch will be from 12.00 ‘til 1.00pm. Lunch is included. Coffee break – we’ll work out as we go along.

What do I bring?:

CAMERA STUFF:
Please bring a 35mm style slr – digital for preference, but film is perfectly acceptable. (We’ll be working mainly 400iso)
Your camera instruction book (Hey, I don’t know everything)
Lenses? The widest maximum aperture lenses you have….and not too many – preferably a 24-70 sorta-kinda lens. 50mm f1.8 or f1.4 lenses are most suitable.
A tripod or monopod
A flash
A reflector
Something for taking notes on – writing down stuff.
Your own pen X 4 (so you can loose the other 3)
A laptop computer if you have one with Photoshop installed.

OTHER STUFF:
I would invite you to bring samples of your work both portraits and weddings. You do not have to show others if you don’t want to. It’s a good idea to start preparing an easily transported collection of unmounted prints.

I would like you to start (if you haven’t already) a scrap book of people images that inspire you and bring that too. This I would like you to share with others. Show me what kind of pictures inspire you.

Even if you have a computer for taking notes, you may still find some kind of writing pad handy for sketching ideas.

I would definitely like you to bring your sense of humor, your compassion for others, and your understanding. This will be a group of very different levels of knowledge and experience. We will all learn and have fun doing it. It has been my personal experience that everyone has something to offer and much to learn. I learn something new every time I get together with other photographers.



PRACTICAL WORK:
We will be doing practical work where we will be shooting models supplied by the Magnusson family brood, and each other.

(It is not appropriate for you to use the images taken of either the supplied models or other attendees on your website, in competition, for studio display or for promotion of your business. The same goes for any images supplied for you to work on in Photoshop during the lecture.)

Not everyone will have a laptop and some assignments are deliberately designed for two people to work as a team. Your help and cooperation with your fellow attendees is appreciated.



MORE more STUFF:

Australian photographer David A Williams M.Photog. FRPS ALPE is a ‘photographer’s photographer’. His interests, concerns and passions revolve around how we make pictures, and how we involve ourselves in the whole Portrait and Wedding experience.

After being thrown into digital capture six years ago, David has embraced the process wholeheartedly. He brings to it much of the ‘film’ mentality we are all familiar with. As he says “My biggest desire is to ‘de-bulls***-ify digital’ – get us away from the nonsense, and back to using this fabulous tool – simply”.

Simple is an approach David embraces for all procedures. “It’s not about quoting pixel counts anymore than film is about grain size. It’s about the image.” He sees a return to the self-sufficient studio, only with no boundaries as to the products we can now produce.

Drawing influences from over twenty years involved in all sides of the industry, David’s approach is based on making the simplest of images special. Placing people casually, working quickly and efficiently, enhancing the photographer’s position within the wedding by simple acts of random kindness.

An acknowledged specialist with inkjet, all David’s Awards over the last five years have been won with superb prints made on the Epson 1290, a tool he considers essential for any studio. He has now been chosen to work closely with Epson and their Epson 4000 Professional printer.

Kodak Professional in Australia chose him as the mentor for the Kodak ‘Portra’ film range, and more recently Fuji Professional in Australia chose him to speak for the Fuji S2 and its capabilities for the wedding/portrait industry. Many superb images he created for both companies are etched in the memory of many photographers.

His desire to learn more about the Wedding experience led him to become an authority on Detail Miniatures and story-telling support pictures, their fundamental importance, and how they work in an album presentation – adding a richness so appealing to the customer.

David is very conscious of the influences of other art forms on photography as shown in his popular ‘MasterWorks’ images. He shows clearly and concisely how a broader study base can equip photographers with better understanding of image making.

Having said that, David takes his work very seriously – but not himself. That learning should be fun is a fundamental part of any presentation by David. Audiences in America, UK, Australia, India, Thailand and New Zealand have all shared in the experience that makes photographers do two of the most important things in David’s eyes…..smile and think.

What people have been paid to say about me:


‘Refreshing, innovative, creative, funny – all come to mind when thinking about his seminar. I came away with more ideas from one two hour program than any of the other full-day sessions. Definitely well worth seeing’.
Mike Roper – Ballymoney IR

I attended the David Williams Seminar in Las Vegas: his combination of philosophy and PR is unique, quote (from Arnold Newman): ‘We don’t take pictures with cameras – we take them with our hearts and minds’ Whatever it takes to get him over here, do it.’
Steve Pugh – Sevenoaks UK

A seminar for Gold fish, I sat open mouthed all of the seminar at the brilliance and simplicity of the photography and the fistful of ideas from posing to photoshop techniques. Even the God Monte has people walk out mid-lecture; not David Williams. Sharp Aussie humour to boot.’
Steve Tarling – Needham Market UK


David Williams is a remarkable mix of the old and the new. His intense, detailed portraits reveal influences from Rennaissance Art and classic studio lighting, yet he mixes them with a deft understanding of current photography techniques - film, digital capture, inkjet output. Not only is David a highly accomplished photographer, by positioning himself as an international speaker he has a broad perspective on the professional photography industry, a leader for the profession as it comes to grips with the new digital world.
Peter Eastway - Publisher, Better Photography Magazine 1996 & 1998 AIPP Australian Professional Photographer of the Year


There are two sides to David Williams—the artist who is capable of evoking the full gamut of emotions from his portraits of everyday people, and the artist/teacher, who can talk and write about contemporary portraiture as an art form with clarity and authenticity. Both sides of him are equally enjoyable but I find myself getting excited to see how he has yet again reinvented his creative side to be on the cutting edge of contemporary portraiture, yet never straying too far from the classical techniques, of which he is fond.
Bill Hurter - EditorRangefinder & Focus On Imaging Magazines


"His lectures, talks and workshops are legendary here in New Zealand. We love him and his "down to earth" manner of handling digital, and image-making. His work speaks for the lad himself - it is rich, eclectic, unique and humorous."
Simon Hoyle, CPA. Canada (but Kiwi entrenched in Days Bay, Wellington, NZ.)


David Williams is a photographer's photographer - he is a second generation pro with skills, abilities and wisdom that has a way of connecting with everyone. His seminars and workshops are crammed with leading edge techniques and insights into what successful industry practitioners need know now. As a presenter David Williams mixes his lecture delivery with humor which lubricates the take-up rate of information for attendees."
Doug Spowart, M.Photog. FAIPP Queensland Australia

No comments: