It is very difficult to schedule the time for the classes that will be convenient for everyone, but I’m quite certain that we can find a time slot that will work for the majority of the students. Please select the best time slot for you to help us decide when we will hold this theory classes. Thank you for your time!

Theory classes will be held on weekdays, practice sessions will be held on weekends.

Here a few shots from yesterday – I didn’t try all the “Dim Sum dishes” as I have actively participated in many shots, thus was unable to shoot them. 

We tried out many different genres and styles of photography, and I’m sure everyone found something that really appealed to them – please follow this link to see our student works album.

Here is a quick review of things discussed and practised in the workshop:

• Generally, in portrait photography we want to keep aperture as open as possible, thus shooting with aperture in mind, shutter speed needs to be adjusted accordingly for the correct exposure
• On a sunny morning or afternoon – shoot against the sun, just like on the images above, and unless done intentionally, try to keep the direct sun rays from hitting the lens
• In reportage photography, or any other fast pace environment, we want to keep our shutter speed as fast as possible to “freeze” the subject, aperture then needs to be adjusted accordingly for the correct exposure
• As it gets darker, we may use much slower shutter speeds, and while shooting of tripod, we can show the “movement” of the moving subjects and objects
• On camera flash is typically used when there is not enough available light on your main subject – keeping the shutter speed slow, such as 1/15s – 1/5s or even slower, will allow the background to develop as well, while your main subject will not be affected by a slow shutter, as while in darkness, your subject is only being lit by the flash – usually with impulse of 1/1000s or shorter, which becomes your shutter speed for the main object
• Night street photography is also done on long shutter speeds, usually a few seconds and longer. You can achieve such long shutter speeds with a closed aperture of F16 or higher. Generally you should keep ISO at a low level, ISO 100 – 200, thus reducing the noise level to the lowest and allowing long exposures as well.

See you all soon at our future workshops and masterclasses!

Photography by: Igor Laptev

Fall in Ontario, is by far, the most beautiful time of the year! And what else could be more quintessentially Canadian than forests full of red maple leafs?  Every Canadian photographer’s portfolio should include such shots, since we are extremely lucky to live in such unique geographic location where such amazing bright colours are possible.

This will be an unforgettable, educational and adventurous experience, a real treat for any landscape photographer. The group will travel to Muskoka, Ontario in two passenger vans, leaving Toronto at 3 A.M. to catch the sunrise, and then will travel to several most scenic Muskoka locations, finishing with sunset shots and coming back to Toronto around 9 P.M. We will shoot from amazing lookout points, catch fall colours reflected in the rapids and learn techniques of photographing the waterfalls.

The masterclass will be held in a very similar manner as all our workshops and masterclasses – with very detailed explanations and instructions of how to create great shots that will become centerpieces of your portfolio. We will share not only the secret locations, unknown even to most locals, but also many techniques that will help you take the landscape shots that you will absolutely be proud of!

Locations have been scouted very wisely taking into consideration the amount of equipment we have to carry. The group won’t have to do much walking - we will drive up to shooting locations as close as possible.

For this masterclass you will need:

• DSLR with a wide angle lens (14-24 or 12-24 and/or 17-35 and/or 24-70m)
• 70-200 or 70-300 is strongly recommended
• Polarizing filter
• Coking filter holder with ND graduated filter
• Remote control is strongly recommended
• Lots of storage space
• Tripod
• Comfortable hiking shoes
• Warm clothing
• Packed lunch
• Thermos with tea/coffee

Do not miss this incredible opportunity, as this masterclass can only be held once a year. There is a very short window of opportunity for the most vivid fall colours, literally only one week when colours are the best before the leafs fall down. The group is strictly limited to 12 students - 6 passengers in each van. 

To register for this masterclass please follow this link: http://www.meetup.com/photoschool/events/33754612

Hope to see you there!

Brief recap of equipment used and things we learned and practiced:

• Impulse light source -  Elinchrom self-contained 500 W strobes
• Chimera small and medium size softboxes
• Lastolight reflector
• Pocket Wizard remote flash trigger
• We have learned and practiced various classic portraiture schemes with one, one+reflector and two light sources

Equipment we have used can be purchased or rented in Vistek or Headshot Rentals in Toronto.

To be continued…

Brief recap of the things discussed during the workshop:

• Just like with most photography genres, the best light for macro photography as well  is either during the morning or evening hours
• Focusing in manual mode provides more control. Focusing may be achieved either by using focusing ring or moving camera back and forth
• Aperture should be as closed or as high as possible. Macro shots have extremely low depth of field, high aperture will allow more planes to stay in focus
• When shooting of hands, shutter speed as fast as possible given the light conditions
• Tripods are great, but are only useful with static objects, in low wind conditions.