Photo Class Details (04-18-09)

[STScott]

When: 04/18/09 9am to 3pm
Where: 1350 Meyers Rd Irving TX
Cost: $20 (all profits to go to support TWT).

To be covered: exposure, metering, composition, metering, and more....we will take a late lunch (buy your own) followed by a field trip afterwards to work on your new skills.

Bring: you, your camera and the camera's manual. All makes/models/types (SLR, P&S) of cameras are welcome. All skill levels are welcome.

Instructors: Scott Bromley http://www.scottbromleyphotography.com aka STScott

Chris Tamez http://www.majesticimages.org aka Sharkey

If you are interested please email me at: scott.bromley@yahoo.com in the email please include your TWT handle.

[poser]

man, I'm definately out, that's the MS150 weekend

[sharkey]

For all you Point n Shooters out there, don't think this is just for digital SLR's.

Many PnS cameras can be thrown into manual or semi-manual and even if they can't you can probably pick up some good info. on composition. Most of the time, I'm shooting w/ a Fuji PnS. It's only when I do weddings or a paid event gig do I pull out the big guns. ;-)


Besides the list Scott mentioned, bring some note-taking materials and one of your created images that holds a special memory for you.

[Gilk51]

I think 4/18 will work. I'll check with the wife and see if she wants to particpate as well. (I found her camera manual - it was on my desk at work :doh: )

We need a camera/cameraman smiley...

[dixonduke]

In! I am still planning on bringing a projector as promised in the planning thread, unless told otherwise.

[Gilk51]

There will be two of us attending!

[L8RG8R]

I'm in! :D

[Graubart]

I'm in. I will send an email as well, but do we bring the twenty or send it in advance? :sun:

[sharkey]

I'm in. I will send an email as well, but do we bring the twenty or send it in advance? :sun:

I didn't want to say anything Bill but since you asked, we've heard rumors, I think it's best that YOU send your payment in early, preferably a postal money order :eek2:

I'll let Scott handle that since I'm only a talking head and not reserving the space.

[Gilk51]

Personal payment is not acceptable? :eek2:


Any discount for 2? :mrgreen:

I'll be in touch...

[Brotha J]

I didn't want to say anything Bill but since you asked, we've heard rumors, I think it's best that YOU send your payment in early, preferably a postal money order :eek2:...

Oh no he di'int! :yawn:

Seriously, how is the payment thing goint to work? I assumed we'd pay at the door.

[STScott]

Oh no he di'int! :yawn:

Seriously, how is the payment thing goint to work? I assumed we'd pay at the door.


I suppose if I am willing to let Graubart pay at the door, the least I can do is have you send me half to reserve a spot.























Just kidding!!! :lol2: :lol2: Pay at the door is preferred.

[Graubart]

I didn't want to say anything Bill but since you asked, we've heard rumors, I think it's best that YOU send your payment in early, preferably a postal money order :eek2:

I'll let Scott handle that since I'm only a talking head and not reserving the space.

I'm going to have to start picking up aluminum cans now to gather up 20 bucks! Then there is that 35 cents for the money order fee. :doh:

[STScott]

Chuck and Ryan, please send me an email. Thanks

[STScott]

I really like Sharkey's idea of y'all bringing an image......before the class, email me at least one but no more then three images you are proud of or wish had turned out better and we will discuss them at the end of the class as a class.....don't worry I will keep the images anonymous if at all possible....not my fault if you noggin is in the image.

[Shaggy]

I'm in, that is unless I find a job by then that would require me to work that day. The wife might be there as well if she can get off work.

[L8RG8R]

Chuck and Ryan, please send me an email. Thanks


I sent one on 3/2. Make sure your spam filter didn't pick it up. Sending again... ;-)

[Gilk51]

Reminder - this is 10 days away - a week and a half - a week from this coming Saturday. :trust:

[Shaggy]

Sorry.... I am going to have to pass. I recently found out that my presence is required in Austin that weekend.

[L8RG8R]

Only a few more days. :mrgreen:

[Gilk51]

Only a few more days. :mrgreen:

Gotta find my Nikon manual... :scratch:



:lol2:

[sharkey]

I guess I better get started on a lesson plan huh? ;-)

[L8RG8R]

Gotta find my Nikon manual... :scratch:




+1 and charge flash batteries.

[Gilk51]

+1 and charge flash batteries.

flash? :scratch:



:lol2:

[L8RG8R]

Ok fine...speed light. :mrgreen:

[STScott]

OK...have recieved some PMs asking for confirmation.

The class is still on and at the same place. Feel free to bring drinks and snacks....the IPA hall has two fridges and a microwave.

Bring your camera, flash and the manual for each.

Please be there and ready to go by 0900....I will be there around 0700 setting up.

Bring your laptop if you want....we will provide copies of the PowerPoint to all attendees....I may have to download it to your drive from a thumbdrive depending if my burner stops acting up :(

Let me know if you are bringing your laptop so I know how many power strips to bring.

If you have any questions, not gonna show up, or are running late please text me at 972 743 8376....don't call and leave a voice mail, I am not so good at checking it :eek2:

See y'all there.

[Brotha J]

I, for one, will NOT be bringing a laptop.

[DFW_Warrior]

I know you guys were batting the idea of going to the Botanic Gardens after the class, so I thought I'd let you know that this weekend is the annual spring festival there. Good or bad, I don't know. But I'll bet it will be quite crowded.

[dixonduke]

Laptop, Projector & Open Mind, all headed your way.

I am still in McAllen, TX and don't get home to Houston until Friday evening. I will either start to drive up Friday night or get up EARLY Saturday morning and drive up.

Either way I hope to be there in the 8 o'clock (am) hour.

Looking forward to it.

[L8RG8R]

Scott, I'll have my laptop with me.

[STScott]

I, for one, will NOT be bringing a laptop.



Wife won't let you? :rofl:

[Brotha J]

Wife won't let you? :rofl:

UGH! Me no have to listen to woman in matter like these.

The power adaptor port on it went bad a couple of weeks ago. I'm debating whether or not to get it fixed. The same thing happened to my litle brother's laptop: $20 part...$200 repair bill. :eek2::giveup:

[Gilk51]

Bring your laptop if you want....we will provide copies of the PowerPoint to all attendees....I may have to download it to your drive from a thumbdrive depending if my burner stops acting up :(

Let me know if you are bringing your laptop so I know how many power strips to bring.

Scott, I am planning to bring a laptop with an external USB burner - will the presentation fit on a CD? I'll bring some blanks.

I'll also bring a power strip...

[sharkey]

Laptop, Projector & Open Mind, all headed your way.

I am still in McAllen, TX and don't get home to Houston until Friday evening. I will either start to drive up Friday night or get up EARLY Saturday morning and drive up.

Either way I hope to be there in the 8 o'clock (am) hour.

Looking forward to it.


Dang, you definitely get the award for farthest away.
My hats off to you... :bow:

[Brotha J]

Scott, I am planning to bring a laptop with an external USB burner - will the presentation fit on a CD? I'll bring some blanks.

I'll also bring a power strip...

Will you burn me a copy? I'll bring a DVD.

[igo-wfo]

I'm in.

[Gilk51]

Will you burn me a copy? I'll bring a DVD.

Assuming I can get the file(s) from Scott and the burner works, sure. :shrug:

I plan to bring blanks, too, in case you forget...

[dixonduke]

Well the weather is not playing nice. I had a flight out of McAllen for 6:15pm but when I finished early I tried to leave early. All flight between noon and six were sold out. Same with harligen. So I hitched a ride to Corpus and was to fly out at 3:45. Put it this way. The 1:30 flight is still on a ground hold and nothing is moving until at least 4:30, who knows what time I will leave. Oh well the corpus airport has free wi-fi.

[dirt bomb]

I'm going to try to make it too and I'm bringing my laptop.
Chris

[STScott]

Well....we should all be pulling for Dixon Duke...he has the projector. :zen:

Does anyone else have one that we could use?

[igo-wfo]

Check yo' PMs.. :trust:

[dixonduke]

I made it to my house in The Woodlands!

I finally just called my travel department and had them rent me a car to drive from Corpus to IAH. There I picked up my truck and drove home. Been here about 30 mins now and am getting ready to head out. Only 225 miles left on todays journey to go.

Its been an interesting day... and before it is over...

Woke up in McAllen, TX

2 Airports
2 Rent Cars
2 Private Vehicles
2 Hotels
Nearly 650 Miles....

Are we having fun yet....

I will see you all in the morning....

[dixonduke]

In Irving....

See Y'all in a couple of hours

[Gilk51]

In Irving....

See Y'all in a couple of hours

You da man, Duke! :hail:

[Gilk51]

(already tried to reply to this twice but the new 'puter locked up both times. :angryfire )

Good turnout on a misty morning. Scott and Chris presented a bunch of good info. :thumb: :thumb:

the profs: Scott B. (STScott) and Chris T. (sharkey)

Folks attending:

Susan (tortuga)
Chuck (Gilk51)
Ryan (L8RG8R)
Jay (Brotha J)
Mark (igo-wfo)
Bill (Graubart)
Duke (dixonduke)
Chris (dirt bomb)
Baron (ackthpffth)
Sarah (TWT reg?)
Derek (TWT reg?)

The two guys split the tasks with the more technical (i.e. nerdy) topics covered by Scott and the "artsy" topics covered by Chris. So, Scott talked about ISO, shutter speed, and aperature. Chris talked to 4 "laws" of composition and framing the subject. They both had some tips about taking people pictures singly or in groups and how to get the best results.

Although the class was informal, the material was well organized with adequate examples to support the topics. Most of the nuts and bolts topics addressed were more slanted to the digital SLR rather than the point-and-shoot cameras but the composition lessons are beneficial to all.

They brushed on a few topics that should be a class in themselves like flash photography and use of post processing programs like LightRoom. There is plenty of material left for a 201 class.

It was not a "formal" class in that interaction and questions were encouraged. The students took advantage of this but not enough to get topics completely sidetracked. I think everyone got their questions answered and occasionally the answers differed between Chris and Scott due to their experience and emphasis.

Class started a bit after 9:00 and ended about 2:30 with a few breaks in between. I'm looking forward to going through the power point presentation again to reinforce what I heard.

I was embarrassed that I didn't know the manual and semi-manual funtions of my DSLR better. :doh:

Interestingly, S & C were Canon proponents while most of the students had Nikon hardware - I remember D60, D70, D80, and D90 models.

Susan & I give the class :thumb: :thumb:

OK, S & C, that's my feedback - I ain't sending no PMs... :nana:

[Graubart]

I sure am glad that Chuck wrote up that review so I didn't have to. I don't like typing that much. :lol2:

Yep, I see many more photo classes in our future. :sun:

A big thanks to Scott and Chris for doing this for us. :clap:

[dixonduke]

Back in Houston.

Thank You for the class :clap:,

http://duked.smugmug.com/photos/515341760_hrNx8-L.jpg

[dixonduke]

Forgive the hamfisted crop on this one and no post but for the crop...

http://duked.smugmug.com/photos/515348864_VSKss-L.jpg

I think that the only person that asked more questions than I did was this guy with his hand up. :deal:

If you have never had the privilege of meeting Brotha J in person before, let me tell you that your missing out!


Now onto a serious note.

Scott & Chris;

First and foremost, GREAT CLASS!

I know that you both felt that the content was/might be elementary considering your experience, however I feel that the content was spot on with what I was hoping it would be.

Learning how to use that scary "M" selection on my camera is exciting to a point, and I am looking forward to getting out and trying what we learned.

I am going on record now offering a place to stay and will sponsor a venue if you are ever so inclined to put this class on down Houston way.

Thank you both for taking the time to put this on. :bow:

[igo-wfo]

I agree with everybody above me!
These guys know their stuff and are very competent and willing teachers.
I like Chuck was pretty well humbled about how to use my camera's manual functions and learned a great deal how having total control over the "three sisters" of manual operation (go to the next class to find out what those are..:trust:) and how you can't always beleive what your camera tells you is a good setting.

A big "I heard that!" on Brotha J, sir, it was a pleasure to finally meet you in person and having you there with us was worth the price of admission by itself.

Even if you did almost make me spew green tea all over my gear..:lol2:

Whenever you decide to do a 201, sign me up!

[Tracker]

man, if it wasn't that my best buddy's daughter got married today, I'd a been there like a duck on a June bug. Wish I coulda been there.

[M38A1]

I'm really sorry to have missed this as schedule conflicts just wouldn't work out. Sounds like the learning experience was great.

[L8RG8R]

Fantastic class and THANK YOU!!

Both the class and and company were the finest of fine. The structure and presentation of the course were primo. I especially enjoyed the composition part. I've never had much instruction on that aside from just looking at portraits and trying to replicate. Just doing that doesn't provide all the other little details provided in the class that help to get there easier.

I also didn't know that the spot metering moves with the focus area. Very cool! I always assumed it stayed center.

THANK YOU!!!

[Brotha J]

http://duked.smugmug.com/photos/515348864_VSKss-L.jpg I think that the only person that asked more questions than I did was this guy with his hand up. :deal:

Sorry. Inquiring minds want to know. And no, that Is not schmootz on the back of Brotha J!'s head. If you look (crop) real close, you can plainly see that it is, in reality, a tattoo on the back his bronze dome. :eek2: :doh:

If you have never had the privilege of meeting Brotha J in person before, let me tell you that your missing out!

The dude will blow your mind, spew your drink, or drive you crazy. Sometimes all three. :giveup: What a rush.

Oh yeah, the seminar.

It was fantastic. Neither Scott nor Chris talked down to us amateurs. Their Powerpoint was focused and to the point. (you can tell that they spend some quality time prepping that thing. GO COWBOYS!

I said it before, and I'll say it again...:yawn:

...it was worth asking for the day off work.

Con(s): This is strictly from a teaching standpoint.

* I know that this would add expense to the project. But perhaps an agenda should have been provided.
* Perhas there should have been a "setup" to shoot at when we were going over some stuff.
Ex: A vase of roses in a corner. So that we could test our new knowlege in the real world.

Looking forward to the next one. :rider:

[sharkey]

Thank you'll for the kind words. Once again, Kudos to Scott for doing most of the prep work. Time is always a scarce commodity for me lately and Scott did a lot of work w/ the powerpoint stuff I gave to him.

Being the first class and you'll the guinea pigs, I think it went off pretty well.

Brotha J, it was a pleasure to finally meet you. The lack of a handout was purely a cost effective measure. Hopefully, the notes you took and CD of the slideshow can mesh for you in the future. I could have done a bit better job on explaining the areas to be covered in the intro.

I was expecting some time behind camera for everyone after class but it didn't materialize like I thought it would. Perhaps 2 half days are in order - 1 in classroom and 1 in field?

It will definitely evolve and we'll spend some more time w/ flash and maybe studio set ups on the cheap.

Duke, thanks for making the trip. Wow is all I can say. The loan of the projector made the classs. The class would be very boring without the slideshow. We'd love to do a class down south. We'll see what we can do.

Chuck and Susan, your hospitality is a blessing and I'm very grateful.


Now everyone go out and "create some images"!

[M38A1]

Now everyone go out and "create some images"!

Yeah, the "Perspective" photo assignment closes midnight tomorrow (Monday) so get cracking!

[STScott]

Thanks to everyone who attended....y'all made teaching very fun. It is always good to work with a lively group who asks lots of questions.

Brotha J was indeed a trip. Good point on the shooting set up....I had intended to have y'all go shoot in the park next door after my section was done but the weather was not cooperating.....good idea on having an alternate plan...thanks.

Dixon....if you are serious about having a class down Houston way we (Chris and I) would love to do that. PM me sometime and we'll hash out the details.