Mike's Camera | Portraiture: Seeing the Being Inside

Many experienced photographers will agree that capturing a portrait that truly represents a person is one of the toughest, most challenging assignments. After this workshop you will love to take portraits. As a group we’ll begin by quieting the noise inside ourselves so we can be keen observers of our subject.

A good portrait photographer is a great listener and observer. At the same time we will learn, with our words and body language, how to help the subject really relax into their more “essential” being. We will work to create portraits that really show the world, and the subject, and ourselves as portrait photographers, an essential, personal and valid statement of what we want this portrait to say about who this person is.

If there is someone you really want a portrait of, bring them along… a spouse, a child, a friend… and don’t forget about self-portraits! We will pair up and do portraiture on each other. We will use both natural light and flash, with an emphasis on taking advantage of available light. There will be homework for a week, shooting portraits, which we will review together as a class the following week.

Throughout all the shooting Charles will be close by for field evaluation of your work and helpful suggestions. After the shoot we will share a supportive critique, where we learn to give and receive feedback in a positive constructive and loving way. For some this will be the first time they have shared their work in public and Charles will make sure it is a positive experience for all.

First Session

We’ll begin with brief lecture/discussion for about 45 minutes. Then we will be actively shooting for 2-3 hours with several subjects in different lighting situations, indoors and out. Then we will share lunch and then have a 2-hour discussion with Charles’ special “supportive” critique approach.

Second Session

Your homework assignment will be to shoot more portraits in the following days that you’ll be invited to share in this follow up critique session. We will review what we have learned and share techniques that really worked, and those that we didn’t find as useful. This session is great fun.

Who Should Attend

This workshop is for any intermediate to advanced photographer who wants to develop their skill in taking portraits. It will be a chance to combine improving your photographic skills and improve your skills while working with people. It is a challenging assignment and our success will depend on each individual’s effort and our group’s ability to build support.

Dates, Times & Location

Instructional Seminar at Mike’s Camera, Boulder, and then reconvene to a lovely home that affords many attractive settings both indoors and outdoors for a variety backdrops for shooting portraits.

Sunday April 29

2:00 PM- 6:00 PM

Thursday May 17

6:30 PM- 8:30 PM

All times are approximate and are used primarily for planning purposes

A detailed itinerary will be sent to each participant prior to the workshop date

Cost

$169.00 for early registration, $189 after April 21

Bonus

Three FREE 12x18-inch prints for Critique Session “show & tell” that can be ordered from the Online Photo Center

Class Size

Due to the hands on nature of the workshop, this program is limited to a maximum of 15 students.

What to Bring

A digital camera that permits manual settings is all that is required. A tripod will be useful and is suggested.

About your Instructor Charles Steinberg, M.D.

Charles is both a physician and a photographer. The last 8 years he has served in East Africa, training health care providers in AIDS treatment. This has given him intimate opportunities for photographing the realities of Ugandan life and AIDS in that setting. He also has served as the photographer for a poverty eradication project, BeadforLife and again his work covers their web pages with the real stories of those women in Uganda living on less than a dollar a day. Charles has studied photography for the last decade at places like Anderson Ranch, and teaches himself at Hollyhock in British Columbia.