Shelton Muller, Photographer

An Apostle at the Workshop

2011-12-14T11:25:00.001+11:00

Our Creative Natural Light Portrait Workshop last Saturday had a slightly different but absolutely wonderful appeal to it. For the past years, Creative Photo Workshops has hired attractive young men and women to be our models at our workshops. There are plenty of young people around who enjoy earning a few extra dollars posing for the camera. But Saturday saw us enjoying the honour of photographing our oldest and perhaps most captivating model yet - Apostolos. Apostolos is 91, and is the father of Sophia, one of our customers and attendees at our workshops. While we also had one of our regulars, David Hirst, modeling for us. David is great to work with and handsome to a fault. But unfortunately he was overshadowed by the presence of our other model, Apostolos, who, despite being quite tired, sat patiently near the window, posed for the light. We are only glad that David wasn't too worried about playing second fiddle as our attendees clamoured to capture Apostolos' life-revealing face and features.

Young and handsome, David didn't stand a chance....

It is an interesting and wonderful experience capturing the face of a man who has seen so much of life. It is the kind of portrait photography that adds so much more to the experience than just beautiful lighting. It is about honouring, seeing, respecting and capturing for posterity. It is, I suppose, one of the greatest gifts of photography. Young, attractive people have their own beauty - the beauty of youth and vigor. But the aged bring with them something more far reaching. They are vessels of experience and wisdom.

Thank you Apostolos for being our willing model and thank you Sophie for bringing your Dad along. We were honoured to have you both there at our workshop.

Father and Daughter - Apostolos and Sophia

Getting The Mojo Back

2011-12-05T16:39:00.001+11:00

I remember a conversation I had with a prominent Melbourne wedding and portrait photographer many years ago. I was just beginning on my journey as a working photographer and he was well on his way. He was also heading off on a well-deserved holiday to the Maldives. I was very excited for him, having never been to such a place and considering that on my income at the time it would only ever be a dream for me to go to such a place. Interestingly, since that time I have seen and captured my fair share of the world. Anyway...I digress...

In my excitement at the prospects of going to such an exclusive idyll, I mentioned that he will be able to take some beautiful photographs there. While never having been there, I had seen the photographs and that was enough to get my juices going. Naturally, I exclaimed something along the lines of "Wow! You'll get some great photographs there!" to which he responded "I'm not taking my camera! I work with the damn thing!"

Now, this threw me completely. It saddened me to think that this prominent and talented photographer was so disenchanted with his craft that now he sees his camera only as tool he uses to earn a living. Once upon a time it represented enjoyment, passion, fulfillment and creativity. The thought of earning a living with it would have filled his heart with excitement and ambition. Now...decades later that is all changed.

Now...for me...decades later, I can actually understand his feelings. I don't agree with them. Not at all. But I do understand them. Years of shooting can actually destroy your love for photography, even though the life of a working photographer is without doubt more interesting than most. It is human nature to take things for granted, to change our passions and endeavours and, as we age, look for simplicity. In this endeavour, I have also found myself wavering. Recently, for instance, while in Hobart, Tasmania running workshops, I found myself leaving my LowePro ProRoller in the car, filled with DSLRs and lenses, only to use my iPhone and a plethora of apps to create the images I was looking for while we strolled the streets. The images were very rewarding, but there would have been a time when limiting my options like that would have appalled me.

If you have been following our Creative Photo Workshops events, you would know that Glynn and I recently returned from another tour of duty, running workshops for Dan's Camera City in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Dan's are without doubt the awesomest, bestest, most wonderfullest photo retailer in the United States. Yeah..we love 'em. Anyway...We were kept very busy, running about 16 events in 11 days...or something like that. It was exhausting, and after each workshop we would grab something to eat and then return to our room, often falling asleep on our beds while in mid conversation. Anyone would think that on our planned day off, TV would be the order of the day.

Nope. Not at all.

What does a photographer do on his day off? He gets out and takes photographs. Why? To get the photomojo back.

After we'd given a brief presentation to the staff at Dan's, Glynn and I got into our rental vehicle and headed for a little town called Jim Thorpe. This lovely little place consumed our day as we strolled the length of it, stopping to converse with locals - so we could photograph them of course - and capturing the details that make this town so lovely in its late autumnal context. Driving back from there to Dan's, we followed Glynn's instinctive nose for great locations, finding barns and ruins and streams that we could photograph before the light failed us. As the shooting day ended, Glynn and I agreed that it had been one of the best days we had ever spent together. While we enjoy our work immensely, this was a day in which we could indulge ourselves in our own vision and simply enjoy photography for photography's sake. And in the end, that is why we took up photography in the first place.

Add caption

Glynn sports his
LowePro Street
and Field Gear
in Jim Thorpe

It goes without saying that I still find the viewpoint of the photographer I mentioned at the outset one that I cannot accept. But I can understand how it happens. Your camera once represented the very thing you longed to do - create images, and hopefully make some kind of living in the process. A photographer's life is probably more interesting than most but it is human nature to yearn for change, and take things for granted. After a while, the very thing you once loved becomes only a means to an end. That is a sad thing if you let it happen.

If your photomojo is beginning to wane, do the one thing your instincts may disagree with. Grab your gear, get into your car and find something to point your camera at. Anything. You don't even have to go to Pennsylvania - unless you already live there of course. Wherever you go, whatever you capture, the process will do you good - especially if you ever find yourself on the way to the Maldives with little interest in bringing your camera with you.

Rob Guest Endowment Concert

2011-10-20T11:18:00.002+11:00

Sylvie Paladino performs
"Beauty and the Beast"in duet with a recording of Rob Guest

Hello Blog! You'd think that I would visit you more often, wouldn't you? I mean, you and I have been doing this for a long time now! Sorry Blog...I have been all over the place recently! Anyway...enough of the apologies. You get the point, I'm sure.

Last week, my wife, Tash, and I had the privilege to once again photograph the Rob Guest Endowment concert. This is a part of my regular work for ANZ Trustees, who, in this case, care for the Rob Guest Endowment, a trust that sees to the futures of Australia's best upcoming theatre performers. It was set up in honour of the late Rob Guest himself, one of this country's most respected performers and mentors within the industry. I had the joy of seeing him perform as Jean Valjean in Les Miserables here in Melbourne several years ago. His version of "Bring Him Home" brought me to tears. His sudden passing was felt with much sadness by those who knew him and worked with him. I never had that privilege as a photographer, but I am glad that I was able to see him perform.

Winner, Blake Bowden with music director,
Kellie Dickerson

This year's Endowment concert once again revealed the potential of young performers within this country. Each year I am astounded at their talent. Having been a singer on the odd occasion myself, I am awed by their abilities. Both musical and theatrical, these young people are offered some rather wonderful opportunities by the trust and their futures within the industry are given a serious boost. This year's winner was a young man named Blake Bowden. His performances were certainly memorable and his win well deserved. That said, I would not have wanted to be a judge on that night. Not from what I saw and heard. I am sure the margins were very fine indeed.

At the helm of the musical performances on this evening was the lovely Kellie Dickerson. Kellie was Rob Guest's partner in life, and I was left in awe of her ability to conduct an orchestra while the voice of the man she still loves sings "Beauty and the Beast" along with Sylvie Paladino in a profoundly touching duet. Even I had to prevent a tear or two from inhibiting my work during that performance.

As photographers, our job is to capture the evening as it happens. In this regard, I have to admit to feeling proud about the things we teach in our workshops. Understanding metering, light, walking the arc and lens perspective all come into play if you are to produce jpegs within the camera that can be used immediately from that camera. These are the processes and techniques we teach at our Creative Photo Workshops and events. I am not interested in hours of Lightroom or PhotoShop, and frankly I am not paid enough to be bothered with it. I quote for my shooting time. Therefore, I don't want to work for more hours without pay. Do you?

If I were shooting this event ten or fifteen years ago on film, I would have been compelled to employ my 'in camera' prowess. Why? Because I would have had to turn up with perfect transparencies the day after. I see no reason why I cannot now follow the same process and produce hundreds of jpegs in the camera that I can upload quickly and straight from the camera. My wife did the same thing, metering for the highlights, shooting to produce jpegs, not RAW files that are 'shot to the right' and need finishing. Yes, there are arguments for and against but I often feel that the humble jpeg is underestimated. Do I shoot RAW files? Absolutely. Do I use many of them for my customers? Rarely. After the concert, I resized them in Lightroom and uploaded them to Dropbox for my client.

Job Done.

I believe that the time honoured process of producing in camera needs to be considered seriously, even by the neophyte photographer who has only ever known digital. In this regard, long time shooters like me have a distinct advantage. Conversely, my wife has only ever shot digitally as a professional, but she knows the processes behind the production of SOOC jpegs.

Thank you ANZ Trustees and The Rob Guest Endowment for another fabulous night out and the honour of being part of this philanthropic event.

Working with Flash

2011-08-08T14:23:00.001+10:00

Model, Brooke Sebek, is not faking being cold,
but using Tungsten White balance and Honl CTO gel confirms it in this image...

Model: Olga Ellie Zaramboukis

Creative Photo Workshops held two Creative Flash Photography workshops (Part One) over the weekend. While this can be a difficult workshop in some ways, it can also be very rewarding - both for us as teachers and for our customers. The images our customers create and take home are dynamic, interesting and often ethereal. Moreover, they are created from very ordinary circumstances, which is actually the case with all of our workshops to be honest. But there is something about alerting photographers to the power of flash that is very rewarding in terms of their creative and photographic empowerment.

Usually the day begins with most of our customers telling us that either they have no understanding of a flash they have bought and don't know how to use, that they simply hate flash, or that they only use it when they absolutely have to but don't know how to be creative with it at all. Our workshop changes all of those attitudes and difficulties. It begins with some simple but eye-opening on-camera flash techniques and then progresses to the off-camer flash stuff we all love.

I am very proud of what we teach at our flash workshop because it deals with the principles and returns our photographers to a day when there was no Nikon CLS, infrared TTL exposure or easy way out. We do the math, and we teach it as the best way to take control. If you haven't attended one of our Creative Flash Photography workshops yet, I would highly recommend them...even if I say so myself...:-)

Mackay Workshops, Aaaaye....

2011-08-05T16:18:00.001+10:00

Model, Jana Bailey, at our Creative Flash Workshop in Mackay

Model, Rae Johnston dons a wedding dress for our
Creative Wedding Photography Workshop

Creative Photo Workshops loves to travel. We love to take our love for photography and bring it with us everywhere we go. The great thing about being in our business is that we get to do it for a living! Recently, Glynn, Tash and I found in ourselves in Mackay. Tash and I travelled to Mackay with our new friend and locquacious laughmaker, Tearah, a photographer from Blackwater where she was going to join us for even more workshops there. Glynn was flying in from Melbourne and off we would go.

I have to tell you that I was surprised with how quickly our workshops were filled. The wonderful bunch of photographers in Mackay were so pleased to have us there, and I also have to admit to a feeling of vindication after what we had heard went on in Blackwater. I really appreciated the photographers there in that small mining town who came to our workshops. Again, thank you so very much. You more than compensated for the other silly so and so's....

We ran five separate events in Mackay. Our Natural Light Portrait Workshop, Creative Flash Part One and Part Two and our Creative Wedding Photography workshop. On the Friday evening we ran our Film Noir event at the Mackay Heritage Railway, for which we are very grateful. Gangsters, Fedoras and Fog Machines. It was a great night.

I have to admit to absolutely loving what we do. In a nutshell, we came into a group of photographers, taught them some things, made some friends and got asked to come back to do more. Now, that is a great gig. I feel sorry for photographers who don't understand the joy it brings to us to be able to share, to enable, to empower people in their passion and their craft, to make new friends and to be remembered with affection for having done so. For that, I get paid. And there are photographers who are afraid of doing that? Wow. Incomprehensible. Sure, I aint drivin' no Maserati, but I am loving what I am doing. And I would prefer a more practical vehicle anyway...

Thank you Mackay photographers for making us so welcome. We look forward to coming back soon.

Model: Raylene Smith

Local legend, Paddy, poses in a pub door as part of our Natural Light Portrait Workshop...

Rae poses in the Queensland 'cold' for an off camera flash photograph...

If the world needed an Enema

2011-08-04T17:42:00.003+10:00

From our Natural Light Portrait Workshop, Blackwater QLD. Not bad for an Alpaca Shed as a location...

The lovely Megan Walker

A couple of weeks ago I recorded another episode of Shutters Inc with my good friend, fellow photographer and podcast host, Bruce Williams. In it I mentioned that I would be heading off to a place in Queensland called "Blackwater". When he asked "Where!!?" I told him to imagine a place where, if the world needed an enima, that is where they would put the tube. Blackwater, QLD. Hey, it was only a joke, ok?

Why was I going to Blackwater? Well, my wife and I had been invited to come to this mining town to represent Creative Photo Workshops and run workshops up there for the photographers who live in this 8000 strong town. While it is normally Glynn who accompanies me, my wife had been invited especially from the host of this invitation - our good friend Di Collins. Di and I met years ago when I first went to Rockhampton to run workshops there. But since then she has become good friends with Tash, and so the workshops were really only a front for her chance to catch up and giggle with my Mrs. But hey! What do I care? Any chance to roam the world and teach photography and I am there - especially when I can take my wife along and enjoy the crazy quietude of her lovely company.

What distressed me was that I had heard from people in the town that there had been some resistance to our workshops being held there. Apparently some fear arose among some photographers in town and I heard that some even went to the point of tearing down the posters that had been put up to advertise our events. If this is true - and I have no reason to believe that it isn't - then I am deeply saddened by that mentality. If there is one thing that we all need as photographers it is education. I have been shooting for over thirty years and I long to attend more seminars and workshops. My problem is that I am usually running them instead. But to so grossly object to an internationally welcomed team of photographers coming to your part of the world to run workshops because you are afraid that other photographers may learn something that you don't know is so small-minded it beggars belief.

The photographers who attended the workshops there were all lovely, and their spirit of sharing and gathering as fellow photographers was not one I would worry about at all! They were very interested in getting together, shooting and sharing ideas, catching up and having fun with their cameras. I can only say to those photographers whose reason for not attending was your small-minded objections to outsiders or your fear of others learning something you don't know, then you should have come to them yourselves. You would not only have learned a thing or two about photography, you would have been given a polite lecture about the greatness of sharing and the elevated level of thought that the more professional photographers have in this world - one of giving, sharing, teaching and encouraging.

I hope to return to Blackwater to run more workshops. The profit in it would be irrelevant. The message to those nay-sayers and persecutors would be everything. Thank you Di for being positive in the light of your opposition. Thank you for being strong. Thank you for making it possible for us to come and have some fun with you and your fellow photographers in Blackwater. I stayed there for days and didn't see any tube coming down from the sky. Hmmm, I must have been wrong.

From the second of our two Film Noir events in Blackwater. A local locomotive in a nearby park becomes an ideal location for this fabulous event

Working with Natural Light

2011-07-04T15:00:00.001+10:00

As a photographer, it goes without saying that I love what light does. I love it. There. I said it. Even though it didn't need saying. Our Creative Natural Light Portrait workshop is a great lesson in finding light and working with it. We ran this workshop on Saturday with two young girls, who happened to be sisters, as our models. Courtney and Chelsea are only in the early mid teens, and they are beautiful young women with a lovely spirit. As pretty as they are, however, they, like every other person, still need to be properly lit if they are to be complimented in their photographs.

Far too often I see photographers - especially those new to the craft - relying upon the beauty or interest of the subject itself and often ignoring the light in which they place them, or find them. Photographers do not photograph interesting things. We don't even photograph beautiful things. We photograph light on things. That's what we do. And when we finally wrap our little heads around that concept, it doesn't matter what we take pictures of. Anything can be interesting.

However, it just so happens that our models on Saturday were very pretty. What the heck...

Back from Workshops in the US...

2011-06-03T11:07:00.002+10:00

Creative Wedding Photography Workshop, Los Angeles.
Model: Bonni Mircovich

Film Noir Workshop,
Bethlehem Pennsylvania

Hello everyone! First things first. I know that you are all getting a little tired of me starting my blog with an apology for the delay in updating. Well, I would be if I were you. That being the case, I won't do it this time. OK? These last couple of months have been incredibly hectic however. And now that I am back from the workshops we ran in Pennsylvania and California, I can give you a bit of an insight.

In the week before leaving, I had to pack up my house and move, shoot Susan and Billy's wedding on the Saturday (more on that soon), pack for the US that evening, get married myself on the Sunday and then get on a plane the morning after - complete with my beautiful wife, Natasha. Yes, it was kind of a working honeymoon you might say. Tash and I love our work and we love to travel, so it was destined to be wonderful. My Love is a wonderful photographer in her own right and had never set foot on American soil before, so for her it was very exciting indeed. For me, it was a chance to give her a glimpse of how beautiful the country is and how hospitable our hosts could be.

So, after living through a week in which some of the most stressful and exhausting things two people can go through, we spent thirty hours traveling to finally arrive in Newark airport, exhausted and excited at the same time. We were in New Jersey and ready for all that lay ahead! The next morning would see us take the drive down to our hosts in Allentown, Pennsylvania and arrive at Dan's Cameras - ready for a meet and greet with many who had booked for our workshops and events in that part of the world. I gotta tell ya - its a good thing we are young and healthy! :-)

I won't go in to the day by run of workshops and events or I will be here forever - and so would you if you were to keep reading! But I will say that we were overwhelmed by the warmth and hospitality of our hosts - the gang at Dans - and our friends who attended our workshops. Altogether we ran seven events and workshops in Allentown and we have been asked to return for more! Will we? Ah, yuh!

Jeremy, Studio Essentials Workshop,
Dan's Camera City,
Allentown, PA

Taking a few days to ourselves, Tash and I explored through Pennsylvania, taking time to visit Gettysburg - a place I have wanted to visit since I was a boy. On these fields in 1863 history was made, brought about in the most horrific of ways. Battles and wars are the unfortunate means by which history is often written, and these fields and hills were the site of the most devastating battles of the American Civil War. It was an interesting day, poignant and informative, especially as we stood in places where thousands of men had been led into the very places they would meet their painful end. Standing on Big Round Top, Cemetery Ridge and the point of Pickett's Charge were all very interesting and moving indeed. A drive through Maryland and Pennsylvania the next day brought us finally to New York City where we spent the better part of 16 or so hours seeing the sights and walking through this remarkable metropolis. Atop the Empire State Building we photographed the city below as the sun set to the west. On to Times Square, 5th Avenue and Macy's on 34th Street...

An early plane to Los Angeles was the next order of things. We had not even bothered to get a room in New York as our plane was scheduled to leave so early. Again, Creative Photo Workshops had been invited by our good friend, Mark Comon at Paul's Photo in Torrance, California to run workshops for them also. Film Noir kicked us off, followed by our Creative Flash Workshop Part One the day after and our Creative Wedding Workshop the day after that. Now, with Monday through Friday to ourselves, Tash and I could visit the sites and experience California.

We did that in some rather diverse ways. We wound up doing everything from being in the studio audience for Jerry Springer's "Baggage" program to experiencing the beauty of Joshua Tree National Park, the heat of Palm Springs, bad pizza in Temecula and the colour of the Gaslight District of San Diego. In LA itself, Graumann's, Malibu, Santa Monica, Hollywood Boulevard and the Hollywood sign were all on Tash's 'to do' list as well. Boxes ticked. Done.

A quick snap at sunset, Joshua Tree National Park.

My Love at Joshua Tree

For Tash and me this opportunity to run workshops and events in Pennsylvania and California afforded us a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We will never forget it. So many new things. So many wonderful experiences. So many new friends. So many boxes ticked and new ones to consider. We saw and experienced things both of us had long dreamed of, but now with the added beauty of holding each other's hand along the way. It made the getting there - in every way - finally comprehensible. I have travelled many times, to many places. My 'About Me' page in this blog is but a glimpse of my adventures, camera in hand. This one was an entirely new and unique one altogether.

So, as you can see, it has been a rather busy time, and I have only scratched the surface in telling you of the busy nature of my life these past few months. I am hoping finally for some calm, while working to continue the excitement and adventure. It is a wonderful life and despite its unpredictable paths, it continues to excite and fulfill me. With new and joyous love in my life, I am renewed in many ways. There is yet more to achieve, complete, restore and renew. Thank you to all who have borne with me through some rather difficult, confusing and exhausting times. Your friendship, kindness, patience and understanding have not been and never will be forgotten.

More to come....

Shelton.

Think! But not too much...

2011-04-29T12:12:00.001+10:00

Yesterday was an interesting day. It started with such promise and I was very excited. But it was going to be a day of learning for me. Let me tell you why. Lets start with the setup, shall we?

A shoot had been arranged for Glynn and I and the CPW team. A tutorial was planned. However, due to illness, two of the team could not make it at the last minute. That's ok. Glynn and I would still do the shoot.

We had the pleasure to work once again with Australian Top Model, Sophie Van Den Akker. Creative Photo Workshops was there working with Sophie when it all started for her. She first modeled for us for our initial Emerging Nymph event, and then for a couple of our flash workshops. Then, she landed her place on Australia's Next Top Model, coming third in the placings but perhaps the most commercially successful of the models since then. Sophie has worked for Nikon, Speedo, Avon and other high profile companies since her TV debut on that interesting reality program. Sophie is a beautiful girl with one of the most geometrically perfect faces I have ever seen. She is a laugh a minute and great fun to work with as a result.

To us, she is still just Sophie. However, getting hold of her is not so easy anymore. She is in demand - and under contract. However, she graced us yesterday with her company for a shoot. And Sophie - thank you! It was wonderful working with you.

The lovely Sophie Van Den Akker in designs by Matcho

There is so much going on in my life at the moment that I have to admit to being plain tired. And yesterday - it showed. Here I was in a fabulous location - an abandoned factory complex in Kensington, just north of Melbourne. I had a wonderful model, fantastic clothes from Matcho, a very talented clothing designer, and my old shooting buddy, Glynn Lavender. Add to that our Elinchrom Ranger Quadra kits and you have the makings of a memorable and creative shoot.

But yesterday my mojo just wasn't working. I think that I was so distracted by other things that I just wasn't problem solving very well. And, as my previous post argues, successful photography is mostly problem solving. To be honest, I believe I was overthinking it. I was making things complex when they were really quite simple. And I learned a lesson from my own book once again. Keep it simple. Keep your lighting simple. Keep your lenswork simple. Keep your concepts simple.

While I am relatively pleased with some of the images, I would love to have another shot at it. Alas, I don't think that will happen. Sophie is off to bigger and better things...

Glynn gets into position for a photograph

Shelton Muller

The Principal Principles...

2011-04-13T18:20:00.004+10:00

I find myself constantly torn between two kinds of photography that are very dear to me - Natural Light portraits and Strobist work. Natural, available light presents a challenge to a photographer. It is what it is and there is little chance of changing it. Personally, I do not believe there is any such thing as bad light. There is only the bad use of it. Light is required for every photograph, but it comes with many faces. Those faces set the tone and feel of the images you create within the moment and in that you are at the mercy of the light you are given.

Learning the nuances of natural light and working within its allowances is a liberating process for any photographer as it means never being stuck for a creative option. There is always an answer, an image, an opportunity. A photographer who knows available light can shoot anyone, anywhere, anytime. This photographer doesn't need exotic locations, beautiful brides, unique subject matter or anything particularly overwhelming or dynamic to create from the given situation. This photographer knows the power of writing with light and knows that brush well. That is powerful stuff, and simply good for business if you are a working photographer shooting his share of weddings and location based portraits. There will never be a situation in which you will throw up your hands and surrender for lack of ideas, control or options. Photographers who work - or intend to work - in these arenas cannot afford to go in without knowledge of their craft, the light and the need to work with it, beneath it, around it and within it. A rainy day does not scare a wedding photographer. It simply changes his approach and gets him a little wet. The same is true of harsh sunlight or cloudy days. The light will be what it will be and the photographer bows to its will. Once done, he knows where he stands and what can be achieved. There is little point arguing with the nature of the light or hoping that some other kind of light had been available. No amount of cursing, hoping or wishing will change what you are given.

Strobist based photography, however, is about control. It is about putting your light anywhere you want it, and, if you know how, transforming reality with the turn of a dial. That is a very rewarding process indeed. What it means for the photographer is the chance to create ethereal images from very ordinary circumstances and surroundings. It means that you can take a concrete slab, an old chair and a model - like these images here - and create images that astound you - and you're the one creating them!

In the end, I am glad to have acquired over the years a deep working knowledge of principles and techniques behind the creation of all kinds of images whether they be naturally or unnaturally lit and created. My first camera was a Minolta SRT 101, a clunky classic with a full metal jacket and million cogs and springs that made images possible inside it. It was the best introduction to photography I could have ever had.

Perhaps one of the greatest crimes of the digital era is that the neophyte photographer can become hypnotised by the power of the technology and fooled into believing that the principles and sciences behind photography no longer need to be learned. However, they soon find themselves twiddling dials ad infinitum wondering why the images in their heads do not become the images in their cameras. The old 'fix it in PhotoShop' option is hoped for, but not even that can do it all the time.

Creative Photo Workshops deal in time proven principles such as refined metering techniques, lens perspective, depth of field and composition - all the things needed to create the image in camera. We teach guide numbers, spot metering, incident metering and other time honoured principles that are becoming lost to photographers who have only joined our ranks in the last few years. These time honoured principles are the life savers, however. While I love the potential that PhotoShop and Lightroom add to my images, I still believe in creating in camera. I am a photographer, not a PhotoShopper. I create images in the camera and enhance them in the digital darkroom. But I work towards being as happy as humanly possible with the image straight from the camera. That doesn't always happen of course, but then no photographer can say that it does - all the time. However, its nice when the odds turn in your favour.

Today's photographer needs to understand what the older generation of photographers has known since the inception of this deeply satisfying endeavour. They need to understand that there is more to photography than an idea. There is the need to able to produce the idea. Herein is the challenge - and one that technology does not meet completely. Photography is 5% Creativity and 95% Problem Solving. An innately creative individual can envisage a photograph and burst forth in an endeavour to create it. That is the creative part. We could say that is the easy part. The successful photographer knows how to solve the natural problems that will undoubtedly arise in the creative process. Without that knowledge, photography becomes frustrating when it needn't be. Learning the principles and using even the most average intelligence will result the satisfaction of being able to create and complete any image that arises within the eager imagination.

I'm not Tonto, but I work with a Loan Ranger...

2011-03-16T17:38:00.003+11:00

Hello Blog and Dear Readers!

Sorry its been so long since my last confession. So much has been happening that keeping up with this blog has been difficult. While its the case that there has been so much to write about, getting the time to write about these very things has been the hard part. Yeah yeah, I know what you are going to say. Excuses Excuses. And I would have to agree.

But, last night was something to definitely write about. Last night Creative Photo Workshops ran yet another Emerging Nymph evening at Black Rock, our usual haunt for this shoot along Melbourne's bayside beaches.

Our models were Kelly Jean, Sarah Hardy and male model, Leigh Crozier, who, of course, was not an Emerging Nymph per se', but he added that 'business man in the water' aspect that has evolved within this shoot. While this event has now been repeated by us several places in Australia and now in LA, it is different each time. The models are different, the conditions are different and the weather can certainly factor in! Unique to last night was the addition of rock three-piece, Zenith ASP, a Melbourne band who came along for some free promo pictures. Hey! Why not? Joey, Evan and Jayden were very pleased with the images they were getting for the sheer act of turning up. For their image, we used Elinchrom lighting each side, and gaffer-taped a FotoBestway strobe complete with FlashWave III receiver to the back of an old Strat copy of mine. It was an interesting effect and it can be seen as the light on Jayden's face in the image below of the band.

On the CPW team there was me (of course), Glynn, Natasha Humble, Adam Davidson and the inimitable Kerry Sumner. We were there working to ensure that our customers got some great images and to hold lights and set things up. We had about 12 customers, so that's a pretty good ratio of CPW team members to customers. Kerry and Adam were once customers of Creative Photo Workshops, attending workshop after workshop in our earlier days as a business. Their talent and passion for photography is contagious and we are honoured to have their assistance at these events. They are a pleasure to work with.

Zenith ASP

Apart from the addition of a three-piece band, something else is new to the Creative Photo Workshops arsenal of tools -the addition of Elinchrom Ranger Quadras as our location lighting kits. We have long wanted a portable, powerful lighting kit for our workshops and events - and this is it. For events like this and our recent Castlemania event, the Elinchrom Ranger Quadras have been absolutely perfect for location lighting. They are certainly not cumbersome but they are powerful, easy to set up and easy to use. One of them even took a spill last night and wasn't phased by the fall. The Rangers are ruggedly built and keep working and working and working. Packed neatly into a relatively small case, they can be taken almost anywhere with you. With 400 watt seconds of potential power, there is little they can't achieve for you on location or even in studio.

For us, this is very important - as I am sure you can imagine. Portability is one thing. But when you have a dozen people all working from the same flash head, it needs to recharge quickly and have enough power in its batteries to keep up the pace and last the night. For us, the Ranger Quadras have been perfect and have not given up the ghost. Firing on full power for much of the time, they kept up with the different setups we had established and didn't let us - or our customers - down. If you do your share of location shooting with a requirement for portable flash, the Quadras are a perfect choice. They are not an inexpensive item but the pro or semi pro would have them paid for in no time considering the images they make possible, the power they contain and the logistics of location lighting they simplify. We certainly intend on using them extensively for our events and workshops.

Using Elinchrom Ranger Quadras on location

Case in point. For this shot of Leigh (above) a 40x40cm Elinchrom soft box was attached, as you can see in the behind the scenes photograph. This was enough to soften the output and spread the light more evenly, which, considering the proximity and angle of the light, was a necessity. The softness was great for sculpting and detail and the spread of light meant that lighting Leigh evenly across his cheats and to his arms was possible. To achieve this shot, our assistant and Friend of CPW, Adam Davidson, simply stood in the water next to Leigh, the battery pack hanging around his shoulders and the flash and softbox on a stand held firmly in his hands - as you can see from the behind the scene image here. It was not difficult to achieve by any means. All it took was some imagination and Elinchrom Ranger Quadras.

Elinchrom's range of lighting modifiers works on the Ranger Quadras although some need an adaptor to fit. Nevertheless, it means that studio quality lighting can be easily applied on location for fashion, wedding photograph, portraiture, editorial - whatever. We here at Creative Photo Workshops love them and highly recommend them.

Last night's event was hard work - as these things always are for us - but it was a lot of fun. It was windy and we were wet and cold. Sand was getting into everything. I even lost my car keys at one point - something I have a proclivity for. But it was sooooo worthwhile. Running a photography workshops business is not an easy thing, but it is enjoyable and very rewarding. I now know what three decades of shooting everything conceivable was leading to. They were leading me here.

Our Natural Light People Photography Workshops

2011-02-17T01:07:00.002+11:00

Just a few images from last Saturday's workshop with Roy and Kelly Jean which once again manifest my love for a long lens with a wide aperture. In this case, I used the Tamron 70-200 f2.8. This wonderful lens is less than half the price of the Nikon or Canon equivalents and yet proves its worth in its ability to really capture a sharp image. I am not a lens snob, using Nikon lenses because I have a Nikon camera. I love Nikon lenses and I have my share of them. But I have others also, most of which are Tamron - and I love them. I will use whatever works, whatever I have on hand, whatever lets me get the picture. In this case, it happened to be my Tamron 70-200.

Old Places, New Eyes...

2011-02-10T21:19:00.001+11:00

Model: Roy Gaskin

Model: Kelly Jean

Creative Photo Workshops is a business that deals with the love of photography. In so doing, we believe that the essential principles of photographic technique need to be taught. That is what we do at our workshops. Photographers cannot succeed without a solid understanding of the fundamentals. But we also love to throw an event. Last night was one of those. It was a walk through Melbourne. We were joined by musician/model Roy Gaskin and the lovely Kelly Jean.

I have learned that there are two main reasons photographers put their cameras down for extended periods of time, perhaps even for good. One of them is disappointment. The other can often be the simple lack of inspiration, an apparent lack of things to photograph. The latter is rather difficult to believe, but I know that many who take up photography expect a life of inspiration, adventure and creative satisfaction. As the About Me page in my blog indicates, this has certainly been the case with me. Photography has granted me a life beyond my expectations - and there is much more to come. I also know, however, that my experience is not the norm. Rather, it has been the exception. For many, their surroundings have become too common, too 'everyday' to be inspirational. The people they know, the places they travel past, the architecture that surrounds them - all of these are common and uninteresting. That is until you bring in a pair of fresh eyes. Conversely, you can orchestrate opportunities for yourself that are interesting, individual, creative. All it takes is an idea and a bit of planning. This is where we come in. Its what we do.

Creative Photo Workshops enjoys offering our customers events in which they can bring their cameras and, with our assistance if needed, create wonderful, interesting or dynamic images that grant them the experience they expected from photography. Last night we simply gathered a group of photographers together and walked them through the evening streets of Melbourne. It was a lesson about new eyes on a familiar location. '

I have learned from running workshops interstate and internationally that often we tend to forget the interest that surrounds us daily - even in the suburbs and towns where we may have spent the majority of our lives. When you choose to renew your vision through the camera, new and interesting aspects of your daily life become more interesting and captivating. Learning to create opportunities within familiar contexts is also part of keeping your passion alive. That's why we do what we do. So far, our events have included a pinup shoot with a WWII bomber, an emerging nymph shoot featuring Top Model Sophie Van Den Akker, an abandoned homestead, Trash the Dress and many more.

What about you? Are you considering putting your camera down? Is photography becoming a disappointing exercise, a frustration? Is it less than you thought it would be for you? Then you have a problem. However, that problem is essentially...you. Some of the greatest photographers in history have been those who have captured their surroundings. They have never thought of life around them as uninteresting or lacking in inspirational content. Photographers like Henri Cartier Bresson and Joel Meyerowitz found themselves capturing moments that pass most of us by each day and in so doing make images that are timeless in their message and composition. If you live in a suburb or even a street, you have a world before your lens to capture. Want some ideas? Try this website.

Have you considered either of the two options mentioned above? Have you walked around your area with 'new eyes' looking for opportunities to create? Or, have you put some planning into a photo event for yourself and your photofriends? The world around you is filled with potential images. You only need to get interested in it, see it with the purpose of taking photographs and being creative. You will find it a particularly rewarding experience.

One Singular Illumination

2011-02-05T19:05:00.004+11:00

The interplay of highlight and shadow is one of the most powerful tools a photographer has to play with. This interplay is a fine balance sometimes, but it is often at the heart of some of our most interesting and compelling images. Where many photographers often fail is in keeping this at the forefront of their lighting layout, remembering that both are needed to create the notions of texture and form in a two-dimensional image. In fact, where some photographers get this wrong is in their tendency to overlight. What do I mean by this? Its quite simple. There is often the tendency to believe that one light is too few and the technique too simple for anything dramatic or truly photographic to emerge. It is a fallacious tendency that often ruins the best of creative intentions. Just because a technique is simple it does not mean that it lacks creativity or impact. Keeping it simple is the difference between B.B. King and Yngwie Malmsteen. Both are very talented, but BB only plays four notes to Malmsteen's four hundred. That said, I could listen to BB for hours.

Yesterday found me once again out on a Creative Photo Workshops shoot. This time our model was Kelly Jean, a model with whom I had not worked since my original workshops some time back. Our location was yet another abandoned, ruined old structure somewhere in the middle of nowhere, the whereabouts of which I cannot divulge. Glynn - my partner in crime - and I saw this old armchair in the rubble and moved it smack bang into the middle of a concrete slab on this property. The starkness of the scene and the presence of some rather wonderful clouds gave us an idea to create the images you see here. You will see me blogging quite a bit about shoots such as these now that we have a new magazine in the planning and video tutorials to create for our new website. More on that to come...

The real light on the day

Most of what I do for myself and teach our customers at photography workshops in terms of off camera flash is all based around using one flash, one single point of illumination. And why not? The entire planet is lit by one main light source by day. This one light source creates enough shadow and highlight in the world around us that we can with our own eyes tell shape, form and texture. Why not keep this same lighting principle in our photographs - at least as a starting point?
The images you see in this blog post were all created using one small handheld flashgun connected to FlashWave III triggers and receivers. Using simple guide number calculations that we teach at our Creative Flash Photography workshops, we can quickly establish the aperture for our exposure. Its a simple matter then of selecting the corresponding shutter speed to either match the ambient, or underexpose it. I usually opt to underexpose it to further highlight the subject. In this way, you are able to produce dramatic images straight from the camera. As you can see from the behind the scenes photographs taken by Natasha from Black Tulip Photography, the reality looks very different to the end product. Nevertheless, the images from the camera were very different due to the added flash and the choice of exposure for the ambient. Sure, each of these images has clearly seen a few minutes of PhotoShop. But the images out of the camera needed to be what they were in order for these finished products to have emerged.

It is quite evident in these images that one light was enough to create the desired, ethereal effect. No additional lighting was required. In fact, it wasn't even really considered, which is odd, seeing as we brought six or seven flashguns with us. I always start with one light, adding more only if they are needed. I may modify that light with a Honl grid or some other accessory, but I find that usually I start and finish with one. One light is always my starting point in the studio too. Where many photographers who are learning studio lighting techniques err is in their enthusiasm for turning on every flashhead in the place to see what happens. A word to the wise if you don't mind. Turn on one light and then see where you need another one - if you do. Keeping it simple is usually the key to success in terms of lighting.God did.It works.

Shooting and Teaching.

2011-02-02T20:56:00.002+11:00

This coming year will see some interesting and wonderful developments for Creative Photo Workshops. Our team is dedicated to producing a new e-Magazine, a new tutorial website and an internet TV channel - all with the aim of educating the passionate photographer. We are aligning ourselves with the best businesses and people to make all of this happen. I will keep you posted here with details in the next couple of days.

With these plans comes the need to keep shooting. In order to remain fresh and inspired, the CPW team (of which I am proudly a part) keeps organising shoots. Last Friday we met in an abandoned factory compound in Kensington and had the joyous experience of once again shooting with the lovely Lauren Busacca. Lauren is a beautiful young dancer, model and makeup artist with whom it is always a pleasure to work. She will be joining us soon for our City Walk event.

This particular shoot was organised to align itself with the lead article in our upcoming e-Magazine. More on that later too. The lead article will be discussing the use of grids in our off camera flash photography. The tutorial we are creating will be a perfect companion to round out the lead article, revealing the simple benefits of using grids and the techniques behind the creation of dynamic strobist images. Here are just a few images from the day.

She's a Winner

2011-01-27T10:50:00.004+11:00

Francine Cain

A few months ago, a lovely young woman by the name of Francine Cain won the Rob Guest Endowment 2010 award. Francine is a lovely young woman whose talents will soon be very evident as she plays Regina in Rock of Ages. I am sure that will prove to be the beginning of a long and wonderful career for her. Among her many prizes as winner of the Rob Guest award was a day having her photographs taken by Shelton Muller, Photographer. Second prize was two days.

Sorry folks. Its an oldie but a goodie. It was there. I had to use it.

ANZ Trustees, for whom I do my fair share of commercial work, made my photography part of the package she so deservedly won. There are times when doing photography for a bank can be somewhat...mundane. Not that we ever take our work opportunities for granted, but its true. However, I was really looking forward to this creative opportunity, and the chance to be one of the photographers who helps someone along a the outset of their illustrious career. It also means that I might score some tickets to the show. Maybe even a backstage pass!

Well, one can hope...

Anyway...after months of trying to synchronise our schedules, Francine and I were finally able to meet in the city for a shoot. She had been to New York (where she bought that leopard print coat!) and was now back, so we got a few free hours together. We met in the old city square for coffee and then started our shoot in and around Hosier Lane in Melbourne. Photographers in our fair city know this lane well. It is perhaps the most colourful place in the entire city, with building walls filled with artful graffiti that is constantly updated and encouraged. I thought it a perfect match for Francine's colourful personality and her ideas for some 'different' photographs to the ones she already had.

Francine had already had some very beautiful studio photographs taken and so we thought we would do some location stuff - a little bit 'street' with a few variations on a theme. I kept it simple, using single off camera flash techniques and available light. Francine brought a few different outfits and we had some fun together for a few hours, laughing through each setup and telling passing Chinese tourists that Francine was a famous singer. Clamouring to be photographed with her, they passed their cameras to me and posed for their snaps with a celebrity.

Well, Francine is not quite world famous yet. But as my friend Glynn Lavender says - its not lying.

Its 'futurespeak'.

I wish you every success Francine. It couldn't happen to a nicer person.

Simple Light

2011-01-18T01:03:00.001+11:00

Model: Sarah Hardy

Of all the photography workshops I have the pleasure to run, our Natural Light People Photography Workshop is my favourite.As much as I love to create light, I think I prefer working with the light I am given. Perhaps it is for this reason that I in the process of writing an e-Book on the subject. More on that in weeks to come.

Available light is a challenge for the imagination and the eye. It provides the photographer with the challenge of spontaneous creativity, forcing his or her mind to see light and create from it. Studio lighting has the advantage of being completely created and tweaked. Available light provides the photographer with much fewer options.

It is also beautiful for its single-light simplicity. This portrait of young model, Sarah Hardy, bears that out. One window was all we used to demonstrate the beauty of available light at our workshop on Saturday. That simple light combined with the vision of an 85mm 1.8 Nikkor is enough to create a beautiful portrait.

For me it is a reminder - a reminder not keep it simple. One light is often enough for beautiful portraits. Actually, often it is simply perfect.

Making Love in a Church

2011-01-11T10:49:00.001+11:00

Sorting through hundreds of discs the other day, I found this image from a shoot I did a few years ago. It was a moment of capture that I remember for two reasons. Yes, I am pleased with the image, but it has even greater meaning to me than that. Its all about making love in a church.

Please. Allow me to explain.

I was excited to have been commissioned by the ABC to photograph a training session for young and upcoming conductors. An Italian maestro had been invited to Australia to run a series of workshops for these young men and women. Their toolbox was the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, renowned worldwide as being among the orchestras of choice. I had the privilege of standing right smack bang in the middle of this world famous orchestra and listen to several renditions of a Mozart piece - the name of which eludes me now. Its rather well known and rather beautiful, but I can't remember its name. I like Mozart. He was an interesting dude. His is a very sad story, the ending of which is even sadder. Genius is not always a blessing.

Anyway, what surprised me was the difference in the response to each conductor by the orchestra. Sometimes the orchestra responded with such an audible glow that I was taken upwards by it. At other times, it was just...played. Between conductors I asked members of the orchestra why they responded differently, even though the notes on the paper were the same. It was all about the manifest passion of the conductor. In the end, the maestro took control, leading the orchestra without a single movement of his hands. By his face alone, he made them play that piece better than any of those whose hands had waved about in fervent endeavour like Robbie the Robot.

In the image above, I distinctly remember the Italian maestro becoming so frustrated by this young conductor's rather academic approach to the music that it became impossible for him to contain it. Sure, the young man knew the piece, he knew the notes, he knew the timing. But he lacked feeling. In this image the maestro is trying everything to make this young man feel the piece, not just know it.

"Feel it! Feel it! Pretend you are....making love! You are making love....in a church!" he pleaded with this young conductor. Alas, it made little difference. Even I could hear that all his pleadings were falling on someone who needed more experience...in life. There is no replacement for that.

Without doubt, photographers are conductors also. They conduct orchestras of their own and the instruments are the elements within the frame. It is irrelevant whether they be the elements within a landscape or still life, the bridal party at a wedding or the corporate leader whose portrait needs updating for an annual report. Without passion applied to each, the music will change. Sure, the little black notes will be the same, but the feel will be different.

I once knew a young man who played the violin. He knew the notes very well, but his instrument sounded like a strangled cat. He knew the notes, not the intention. By all means, learn the little black notes that belong to each image you create, but get in touch with the reason for the image, the message within it, the desired result. Apply your head to its science, but your heart to its creation. If you have to, pretend you are making love in a church.

California, Here I Come!

2011-01-05T13:44:00.002+11:00

There are times you wonder if you have made the right choices in life, realising that there is little you can do about some of them if indeed you even wanted to. Time takes care of them. But there are others that you never regret or feel differently about in any way. For me, one of those decisions was to build my secular and creative life with a camera in hand. And, as a result, another 'once in a lifetime' opportunity has again come my way. I have been invited to travel with my old friend, Ian Rolfe and legendary Australian landscape and commercial photographer, Peter Walton, to run a photo tour through some of California's most incredible locations. This tour will run in May, 2012 and I have to admit - I can't wait.

Now, I am not a landscape photographer as such, but its not because I don't know my way around them. I actually do, and I am very proud of the landscape images I have created over many years of traveling and running photo tours. Our recent Creative Photo Workshops MeaWannaShootaLotta tour in New Zealand in 2010 was just one of those. For me, being primarily a people photographer is a creative choice and a personality based one at that. I am a people person. I enjoy connecting with people even more than I do the earth. That said, I have stood in awe and watched the sun rise and set over some of the most incredible places this beautiful planet has to offer. I have breathed those moments in and realised that I was experiencing something so wonderful it could not be put into words. More than that, I have created some of my most memorable images ever in those moments. So, perhaps my contribution to this tour will be different to the other two gentlemen of note. I imagine I will be adding some 'people elements' into those locations. Then again, I imagine I will also have my own experience in the landscape to offer. Thirty two years with a camera in hand has taught me much about each photographic opportunity. Much of my landscape and travel work is on my website - Shelton Muller, Photographer

Ian Rolfe and I have been friends for over 25 years. We have photographed and traveled together many times and photographed the same places from different perspectives on many occasions. I have known of Peter Walton's work from a time even before I knew Ian. It was some 30 years ago that I came across the work of Peter Walton in an issue of Minolta Mirror, a now defunct annual photographic publication that was a must have in its day. Peter's commercial work was amazing, but his love for the landscape is reflected in his work. I had the honour of being on the same lecture bill with him in Auckland at a photographic convention a few years ago. A nicer fellow would be hard to find and I am looking forward to traveling with him very much.

For information about our Californian Wonder Photo Tour, click the image posted above left.. If you are interested in coming along, contact Ian Rolfe in an email. Click here for that.

As per usual, Creative Photo Workshops has many events planned for 2011, one of which is our photo tour through Egypt, which is also now in the planning. I will keep you posted very soon about the details on that incredible event also! I have been to Egypt twice, and it is a land of intrigue, history and photo opportunity that is simply mesmerizing and unforgettable.

Shelton Muller

A View to a Shoot

2010-12-13T15:29:00.001+11:00

Its a kind of 'Captain Obvious' thing to say when you declare that PhotoShop has changed photography irreversibly. No matter who you are, what kind of photography you do or how long you have been doing it, PhotoShop inevitably alters your shooting style and your end result at some time in your life as a photographer. There are some shoots wherein I intend little if any post processing. Then there are others in which I intend the image to actually be made possible by the utilisation of a PhotoShop process. The images I took on Saturday were definitely in that category. It was just the place I was in that day. I saw everything I shot as the end process, and then shot accordingly.

This is not the norm for me. I love PhotoShop, don't get me wrong. Lightroom too, for that matter. But my process is to create all that is possible in the camera. It always has been, and it is what I continue to teach at the workshops I run. I suppose I did the same thing on Saturday but I have to admit that my head was in a different creative space. After all, there was only so much I could do in camera. The rest had to be a post capture process. The images I saw in my head were simply not possible in the camera alone. But that is still the best place to start. I am not a believer in fixing images in PhotoShop, only enhancing or completing them. Its certainly not a new approach either. The great Ansel Adams is only one of the many photographers I could name who prepared his images at capture for the darkroom process. His metering and negative chemical process were all arranged with one final process in mind - printing. These days, PhotoShop is the darkroom of choice for the overwhelming majority of us. But the images themselves still require the process to be correct at time of capture. Fixing photographs is not what photographers do. We take them and complete them where necessary later.

Glynn and I found ourselves without a workshop to run on Saturday, so we organised a model, the funny and lovely Maeva, and drove to Victoria's Goldfields region for a shoot. We had already scouted the area and knew that our first port of call was going to be the apparent birthplace of AFL legend, Ron Barassi. This old stone home is now in ruins and is such a wonderful backdrop for some really creative photography. Blessed by clouds and good weather, Glynn and I were able to work through some dynamic images in preparation for a workshop event we have planned for that area in the first weekend in March 2011. Stay tuned for an announcement on our photography workshops website.

Shelton Muller

How the West was Won

2010-11-29T12:07:00.004+11:00

Model: Samantha Shvetsova

No folks, I am not speaking of the classic western of the same name. In truth, I am speaking of the recent Creative Photo Workshops events in Perth and Bunbury in Western Australia. Perhaps it is a presumptuous title for this blog, but I have to tell you that I feel rather positive about how everything went over there! This was our first time in Perth and the fact that everything went so well was, to be honest, a bit surprising. Our workshops were well supported, we met some wonderful and lovely people and had a great time. To me, it was a victory - over perhaps my own concerns that our first time in Perth and Bunbury would be only an introduction of ourselves to the photographic community there and not actually contain filled events. After all, CPW has never been there before. I was in Perth a few years ago working for Kodak and photographing the Crusty Demons, but that has been about it. This was our first time there as a workshops company. So I have reason to feel victorious I suppose. I don't get to do as much photography as I would like at these events because its all about our customers. But here are a few images from the six days we spent in the wild wild West.

Glynn and I have been in discussions with the fabulous people at Camera Electronics for some time. Without doubt they are the best photo retailer in that part of the world. A very active business that is all about photography. They organise workshops and seminars on a regular basis and we felt that our business would fit perfectly with theirs. We met owners, Saul and Frank, at PMA in Anaheim, California, earlier this year and immediately felt a synergy and built a rapport. It didn't take much to get workshops organised with them. They are very switched on in this regard and their business is built on the passion that photographers feel for their craft and not on selling boxes filled with black plastic things. For me, this has always been and will always be the secret to successful photo retail - especially in these days of grey imports, internet bargains and online shopping. For photo retail to survive, an atmosphere of photography needs to be built within the bricks and mortar. It needs to be a place where people go to feel more than just a need to haggle a price or ask how many pixels this camera has when compared to another. Why do people prefer one bar or pub over another? Its rarely about the beer. The same is true with photo retail. Cameras can be bought anywhere, but you can't feel the fun and passion of photography clicking a mouse and buying a bit of plastic online. Because our business is all about the fun and passion of photography, our philosophy and theirs were immediately on the same page.

Model: Keshia Menasse

We ran 5 workshops and one evening event while we were there- two Natural Light People Photography workshops, one beach event complete with sax players and swimsuit models, a Creative Flash Workshop and our Creative Wedding Photography workshop. During the course of those few wonderful and busy days we met some great people. I would like to thank all those who attended, most of whom had never heard of us! Our models were wonderful also. Thanks to Tahlia, Kate, Samantha, Caitlin and Keshia, all of whom were great sports and willing to take a bit of teasing. For our models, that is a necessary quality. Good looks come a distant third to personality and a good sense of humour. Admittedly not all of our models have the first two. Thanks also to WA surfing photographer, Russell Ord, who not only came to three workshops but even posed as our groom for the wedding workshop on the final day. Russell even hired a suit to do so! Apart from his surfing photography, Russell also shoots a few weddings.. It is this part of his business that he wants to develop. He felt that by being a groom, he would understand how to direct people. At the end of the day he candidly told the entire group that he had learned much about direction by being photographed. For a people photographer, this is an excellent lesson. His testimonial about the workshops is even more candid than that. And..I quote....

'Stale' is the word I used today when describing my photography work, which basically means it is not fresh, pleasant, new or exciting to me anymore.It has come to a point where I am not enjoying my work like I have in the past, just going through the motions and not challenging myself. That has all changed with a couple of creative photography workshops with Glynn Lavender and Shelton Muller - two guys I could not thank enough for restoring passion back into what I love – photography.

I walked into Camera Electronics on Friday just to get some cameras cleaned and dream a little while walking the shop floor. Saul, the owner, suggested I go along to a natural light portrait workshop. Alarm bells went off in the head immediately. All I could imagine was some stereotypical photography nerd boring me to death with technical jargon, reading word for word from the latest wondrous instruction manual. If I did not sink five double shot coffees before morning tea washed down with sugar coated chocolate donuts I would be in a coma, snoring my head off. But he convinced me otherwise and I reluctantly went. After all, I could do with a good relaxing sleep on a Sunday morning. Within the 20 minutes I knew I couldn’t get enough of the exceptional information provided. Glynn and Shelton would have to the best instructors, trainers, tutors, comedians, people etc etc I have ever come across. They never once lose your attention and they know their work inside and out. Yes, don’t worry about some great big dirty manual on the front desk for reference.They are both walking books of knowledge and they problem solve at speed. My photography improved in an instant and as a professional surf photographer I was not expecting that at all. Four days later I have just finished my third workshop. They were all brilliant and having driven three hours back home to Margaret River, all I want to do now is go shoot some photos. Stale? I am not stale. I just didn’t have the tools in the kit bag. I can’t thank the lads from Creative Workshops enough!

Cheers Glynn and Shelton, see you in Melbourne.

Cheers again

Russell Ord – improved surf photographer.

That is perhaps one of the highest compliments I have ever been paid, and I know that Glynn would feel the same. Thanks Russell. To reignite a passion for your art is indeed an honour. Thank you WA! It was fun!

Shelton Muller

Brisbane Workshops - Again!

2010-11-12T17:32:00.002+11:00

The lovely and ever reliable Eve Hendrickse

Ok! Ok! I know. Its been at least ten days since I came here to care for this blog and its contents. And I am sorry. I really am. But its been a very busy ten days..and I gotta tell ya - hotel internet isn't what it should be. But here I am. There are still stories to be told about our US workshop too, and don't think I won't be getting back there very soon. For now, just a few words about our recent Brisbane photography workshops.

You are always a little unsure when you set about organising an event interstate. You commit yourself hoping that the response is enough to justify the expenses and the planning. I have to say that our recent Brisbane workshops were a complete success. We had a wonderful response from photographers, some of whom traveled great distances to be there. Some came from the Gold Coast, Hamilton Island, Byron Bay, and Cairns. The lovely Robyn (aka Brian - its a long story) came from some small town in the back of somewhere I can hardly remember. Glynn and I feel very honoured when we know that we are not the only ones who do the traveling. After all, we have to be there!

Model: Cassandra

Model: Daniel Cohen

First of all, Creative Photo Workshops would not have been able to run these events as successfully as we did without the wonderful assistance of PhotoContinental, who hosted the event in their building. We are very grateful to this very switched on photo retailer and its manager - our good friend Mark Schleicher.

We arrived a day early to do a personal workshop with Debbie, a photographer who has attended our workshops before but wanted some two-on-one time to sort out specific issues she is having in her studio. She provided two wonderful models -Daniel and Cassandra - and we had a great day. I think we sorted her problems out. I hope so anyway!

Model: Eve Hendrickse

The next day was a long one. We ran our wedding photography workshop and our Film Noir event in the one day. That's a big day. The problem that immediately faced us was the typical CPW weather. That is also a long story. It was raining, and so another location was needed. We were directed to the Breakfast Creek Hotel, whose welcome and kindness was overwhelming. It was a great location that enabled us to shelter from any rain when it fell and still use outdoor light. The lovely Eve Hendrickse was our bride. She is such a pleasure to work with and with a little work could be a very successful model. Rob Bampton was our groom. For our Film Noir event that night, the lovely Melanie Surplice offered us the foyer area of her residence in the beautifully renovated old woolsheds where she lives. We were accompanied by Emma Boucher, Felicity Allman and Rob Bampton as models for that event and they played their parts well. Much of that is the simple yet arduous task of standing still while a group of photographers works itself around the many angles and options for each setup.

The next day was our workshop was our Creative Flash Photography workshop. I won't even mention the model with whom we worked as she was not particularly talented and her promises to be at our next few days of workshops turned out to be disingenuous to say the least. Lesson to models: Don't make life difficult for the photographers you are working with. They are often your lifeline to future work. I will not only never work with this model again but I will dissuade other photographers from doing so. Her utter silence since she left our workshop is deafening in its disrespect and indifference. The workshop itself went well, however, and once again proved that anywhere is a great location with the right light. Our 'paradise' for this shoot was the loading zone of a local supermarket. From there we went to a very ordinary park to continue our off camera flash lessons.

Model: Anesu

Our Studio Essentials Workshop was our next event. It is always a challenge because patience is required from all who attend to avoid the tendency to take photographs between changes in lighting and the establishment of different lighting setups. But it never fails to astound our customers just how straightforward the principles of core studio work is. Beginning with just one light and building from there, we reduce the alleged complexities of studio work to that which is essential for the creation of beautiful portraits, evocative maternity photographs or basic product or still life work. Our customers appreciate the disassembling of images as the very thought of studio photography frightens so many who really want to give it a try but are apprehensive to begin.

We were accompanied once again by Eve and were joined by models Gavin Hain (left) and Anesu (above). Being stunningly African, Anesu provided us with a different look and complexion that offered a different perspective on lighting. Eve was her very pretty self and Gavin gave the girls a bit of fun with his somewhat well put together physique, but I take this moment to remind all that we run family friendly events...ok? But seriously, I do enjoy running this workshop very much as it enables me to control light rather than be at the mercy of that which is given.

Model: Nicole Payne

Our Natural Light Portrait Workshop came next, and this workshop never fails to amaze our customers as we often choose the most unlikely areas and locations to prove that light is everything and location matters little. Our location was the parking lot of PhotoContinental. It proved to be perfect for proving our point. We used every trashy and ordinary corner of that place. Because the aforementioned model did not turn up, Rob Bampton found one for us at last minute. Nicole Payne (above left) was lovely to work with and we are very grateful for her assistance at the last minute. Thanks Nicole! Thanks Rob!

Our last day was our Advanced Flash Photography workshop in which we bring out the Honl gels and grids, the Fotobestway softboxes and other modifiers to show what can be done with a little ingenuity and some imagination. Everything from quick, convenient studio setups are established right through to outdoor multiple flash setups that either alter or enhance reality. Rob (right) once again played it up for the ladies when we created a 'shaft of light with a simple stobe and a Honl grid. Apart from that, this is also a difficult workshop requiring patience from all, but the learning curve is a pretty cool one indeed. Rob's chest became enough distraction between setups for a little while at least...

For myself, I want to thank the wonderful photographers and friends who came, many to each event, for making our time in Brisbane so enjoyable and our photography workshops such a complete success. Thank you so very much.

Shelton Muller

Day 7 - And on the Seventh Day, they...worked their butts off...

2010-11-02T08:57:00.000+11:00

In Allentown, Pennsylvania there is a fabulous photo retailer - Dan's Camera City . Dan's is one of the most forward thinking and customer oriented photo retail outlets I have ever known. It even has its own 'University' where classes are regularly programmed to teach their customers the principles, techniques and processes connected with so many aspects of their photography. For this reason, Creative Photo Workshops became a part of the scenery. Yes, Glynn and I found ourselves, of all places, in Allentown, Pennsylvania. We were there to run three separate workshops. They became four before we left. More on that later. The first of them was our Creative Wedding Photography workshop.

The wedding workshop is perhaps the most difficult for us in some ways. In fact, it can even become a little awkward at times. It is difficult because there is always a keenness to shoot the setups Glynn and I establish - which is fine - except that there has to be time for explanation too and this workshop requires a little more patience than some other workshops. It is also difficult because there is an expectation on our part that our customers have already attained a certain level of prowess and knowledge in their photography before they take on the responsibilities of wedding photography. Glynn and I have never run a wedding workshop in which at least some of those who have attended have returned for our Understanding Your Camera workshop so that they can learn about shutter speeds and apertures. For us, this is a real eye opener. And, once again, it proved to be the case in Allentown among some of those who attended. For some, a basic understanding of metering was not present, and so much of the time was simply spent establishing shots in which lessons on proper incident or spot metering techniques were necessary. Unfortunately, that is time taken from the more specific aspects of wedding photography, such as posing and managing the shoot. This is not a criticism of our customers. Rather, it is an education for us, alerting us to some of the misconceptions about modern photography. The whole "take 4000 pictures on Auto and hope for the best' mentality is somewhat pervasive within that aspirational new collective of neophyte wedding photographers. It is an entirely inappropriate and unprofessional approach to the couple's Day of Days, but that is the fault of the industry, not entirely the photographers themselves Every time we run our wedding photography workshop it is adapted for those specifically in attendance, which is fine, but wedding photography has unique difficulties and challenges associated with it that we prefer to spend more time addressing. I never get to actually shoot much at a wedding workshop, which in this case was ashame as Mike, the owner of Dan's Camera City, had arranged for a wonderful location with some beautiful lighting opportunities and I would have loved to gone a little ballistic, I have to tell you....

If becoming a wedding photographer is something you aspire to, become proficient with your camera manually. No racing driver has only an automatic licence for his car, and it could be said that wedding photography is the Speed Racing equivalent of professional photography.

Shelton Muller

A workshop in the Otways

2010-11-01T14:52:00.003+11:00

7th Generation owner, Tom Dennis, models reluctantly for our workshop

Ok. Lets take a break from this America thing for just a moment. Don't worry, I will return to that subject. But there is much more to tell. The problem is that there are so many other exciting things happening in life at the moment that I can't blog it all without missing something. But...the weekend just passed was an enjoyable one and I suppose I just wanted to tell you about it.

A few weeks ago I received a call from Lindy at Otways Tourism with a request to come and speak for their Otways in Focus event, a photography event for the local region. Of course I made the date free, and asked if Glynn and his wife and daughter could come also. It was agreed, and our accommodation and workshop location at the fabulous Tarndwarncoort homestead near Colac were confirmed. Fabulous.Tarndwarncoort was built in 1848 and it is a wonderful retreat for you and a group of friends or family. We intend on returning to run more photography workshops there next year. It still remains with the descendants of the original family. In fact, Tom Dennis, one of the sons of the current owners, Wendy and David Dennis, was so friendly (and handsome!) that we even asked him to model for us. He obliged with a typically country sense of humour and willingness and then roped in his friend Ross also.. We were also joined by the lovely Gayle who wore a great combination of jean jacket and oriental style dress. Love it. What was great about these three wonderful souls is that not one of them had modeled before, leaving us and our customers with the real experience of photographing real people and not experienced models. It is somewhat disingenuous to hire experienced models who provide a great experience through their knowledge of posing and light, only to leave our customers believing that this is how every wedding photography or portrait session will actually succeed. Gayle, Tom and Ross were all very real and easy going people who were certainly good looking enough for our cameras and also real enough that we could teach real lessons. Perhaps the most experienced model for the day was Emily Lavender, Glynn's 3-year old daughter who poses for the camera with such delight and expertise you would think that the cover of Marie Claire awaits her.

Experienced model, Emily Lavender
assists with the
pre-workshop establishment
shots...

Ah, the iPhone. Every handy...

After a restful morning spent having coffee and a well earned break in the homestead, our official duties began on Saturday when Glynn and I spoke at COPAC on the subject of Travel Photography. We discussed the need for a photographer to assess whether he is a photographer who travels, or simply a traveler who photographs. The images and opportunities that result manifes themselves in the images. To prove the point , I showed two video slide shows of my travel images and together we spoke about some of the necessary techniques and philosophies behind successful travel imaging. One of the videos is included here..

Sunday morning we were prepared for the 20 or so customers who had paid the princely sum of $10 to come along and learn some techniques. We intended to do about two hours of setups and explanations, realising that there would be less chance for those who attended to actually shoot, or at the very least achieve the best vantage points for each shot. But for $10 they certainly got their money's worth as once again Glynn and I explained the benefits of finding light and metering for it. I am constantly astounded at how little of this is actually understood by those who attend our workshops before they come. I am also thankful as without it, Glynn and I would not have been able to assist as many as we have over the past two years. Even with the rain, the shoot went very well, and everyone learned something worthwhile. At the very least they had a giggle. That is an essential part of every workshop we run. Without the fun, we don't want to do it!

Ok, there you have it. A deviation from the America narrative and one I hope you didn't mind. I will be back on the subject of our US tour very, very soon. We are also off to Brisbane this week to run a series of workshops there. So there is much to tell. See you soon!

Shelton Muller

Day 6 - The Road Less Traveled - to Allentown.

2010-10-29T09:16:00.004+11:00

I gotta tell ya. I was tired. After a huge day hoofing it 'round New York, these legs of mine were feeling it. Glynn felt a bit the same. We felt like two satisfied veterans as we got packed and ready to leave Newark for the drive south into Pennsylvania. We had breakfast, checked out and picked up the rental.

Our first port of call would be Harlem. We both felt the need to check it out. Driving through Harlem was certainly interesting, and we found ourselves asking whether it was safer to take our Lowe Pro ProRollers out of the car and bring them with us, or leave them in the car. We opted to bring our gear with us, even though, to be quite honest, I wasn't in the zone. Perhaps what I needed was a day off...like, really...off. Today was going to be that day.

As we walked through Harlem, we were approached by a local. He told us that he knew that we were "location scouts" for Hollywood, looking for places to film. We replied with firm "G'day mate' and let him know we were just two Aussie photographers. He showed us around a little, told us where all the movies had been shot in that street and gave us the heads up on where the best food is. And of course we took his picture. Not inclined to reveal the nature of our LowePro cases, we just opted for using our Ricoh GRD III's. I love that little beastie. Have I told you that yet?

Two tired dudes leave New York behind...

The drive to Pennsylvania from there is pretty easy - if you want to just settle for taking the Pennsylvania TurnPike. To some degree you have little option. But where possible we would get off that thing and grab a back road. The lady in the little box who kept giving us directions was very patient with us. All she kept saying was "recalculating" and trying to get us out of wherever the hell it was that we were. She never once got angry or annoyed.

Even though it was raining and there wasn't much chance for photography it was still a beautiful drive, especially if you take the road less traveled. The forests in New York and Pennsylvania are verdant and lush, even in some of the outer suburban areas. It is punctuated with abandoned mills and buildings that date back to the War of Independence. It is quite fascinating and in some parts it is absolutely beautiful. I think I could very happily find a place in that part of the world and enjoy being there for quite some time. But for now, we were headed for Allentown. Yes, its the Allentown Billy Joel wrote that song about. Technically, Allentown never had any real steel mills. Nearby Bethlehem did. But there is one thing Allentown does have that Bethlehem doesn't. Dan's Camera City. Glynn and I were booked in there to run three days of workshops.

Dan's Camera City is similar to Paul's Photo in LA with regard to one very important aspect of photo retail that only a few understand - their customers want to learn and they want to shoot something! If photo retailers supply both of those things they will have a better chance of surviving while still holding on to their bricks and mortar. Over the next few days Glynn and I would add our unique brand of Australian photo workshops to their rather conservative mix. I will be back...

Shelton Muller

A Walk Through New York. Day 5

2010-10-27T23:38:00.000+11:00

Me in Times Square. Photo: Glynn Lavender

So where did Day 4 go, you ask? Well, that's easy. It was spent trying to get through security in LA airport, followed by a long flight to New York, followed by dinner with one of Glynn's old friends, Heidi, in a restaurant in Newark. Ok? See. Nothing there to excite you too much. We did have a good giggle with Heidi, however! She is a laugh. We'd been used to Bonni's unique sense of humour in LA so it was time for a change. Thanks Heidi! After a long day managing airports, security, public transport and a long flight, you were great company.

But Day 5 had been long scheduled as our 'day off'. And how do photographers spend their day off? Taking photographs, of course! But I have to tell you that when the alarm went off at 6am I was not pleased. Aren't you supposed to sleep in on your day off? Apparently not. To top it off, we would spend the next 14 or 15 hours walking through New York, a LowePro ProRoller between us, carrying the lenses and cameras we would both need. In the end, we probably could have done most of our photography with our trusty little street camera - the Ricoh GRDIII. Have I said how much I love that little beastie? Oh well. Rolling the LowePro wasn't too difficult considering we were taking turns anyway. Travelling without the ProRoller would be so difficult. How did I ever travel without that thing? Anyhoooo.....

The view from the Empire State towards the Statue of Liberty

After a motel breakfast, Glynn and I caught a crowded subway into town, getting out at Madison Square Garden. Yep, I was finally in New York. Stepping out from the station I felt that familiar rush of being in a new place, a new city, somewhere I had never been before. Glynn had been there before, but this was my first taste at the Big Apple. I planned on taking as big a bite as I could in the one day we had. It would turn out to be an exhausting day off, but one I won't forget. First on the agenda was a morning shot of New York from the top of the Empire State Building. Glynn is acrophobic so I went up alone....with a thousand other tourists. But its all worth the wait when you finally get to the top. Ok. That box? Ticked.

A dancer poses for some quick photographs in Central Park

Donnie

After that, much of our day was actually spent in conversation with complete strangers. There was Donnie in Central Park, who regaled us with stories of his battle with alcohol. And then there was Ed who played the fiddle for passersby. After asking an older couple seated geometrically on a park bench if I could photograph them, Glynn and I spent quite some time with them after having been given a polite 'No'. Its fabulous what a conversation can do. They acquiesced after a while and even 'made out' for the camera! I have since even received an email from the gentleman who apparently wants the photograph now. You see, it was all just a matter of trust. This is where the photographer needs to gather skills that have little to do with the art of taking photographs. Conversation is just one of them. For Glynn and I it proved a worthy tool in our street photography toolset. Without the ability to engage our subjects in banter and manifest an interest in them as people, we would have simply gone nowhere. More than that, we would not have had the joy of meeting new and interesting people in our walk through New York. Photography offers more to your life than the joy of images. It also adds another dimension that is not expected.

Donnie

Making our way through the acreage that is Central Park, on through Strawberry Fields and then back through town, we found ourselves in Times Square for a a well earned pizza before heading home. It had been a long day and we were very tired. But here's the thing people often get wrong about New York, at least in my limited experience.The people are friendlier than you expect. At least that's we found.

The couple who said 'No'...

Glynn in Times Square

It was around 10pm and we were wondering how we were going to get back to our motel near Newark airport. Oh yeah, we stay in all the ritzy joints. Glynn pulled out a map to get our bearings and as he did so a young woman passed by. Realising that we were a little lost she stopped, turned around and asked "Are you guys ok?" After we explained our plight she gave us all the directions we needed for finding the perfect bus back. I was impressed. That kind of interest in others isn't supposed to happen in the Big Apple, is it? But this kind of thing had happened to us all day. We had encountered all manner of friendly people. I had been told that New Yorkers are rude. Maybe they are. I don't know. I must have only met the friendly ones.
Well, I made it. And,as the old song says 'if you can make it there, you'll make it anywhere'. Thank you, New York, New York. It was fun. See you again in May 2011.

Strawberry Fields, forever...

Shelton Muller

Getting Cheap and Flashy in Los Angeles. Day Three.

2010-10-27T10:51:00.000+11:00

Our LA Model, Bonni Mircovich

Our final workshop in LA this time around was our Advanced Flash Photography workshop. This was arranged so that those who attended our Creative Flash Photography workshop when we were there a few months ago could attend and further their knowledge and prowess with flash. So, there were some familiar faces, as per our cunning plan for world domination, and some new ones too! Oh, and there was Bonni, our lovely model. She seemed to be enjoying herself too much and kept coming back for more teasing and insults from the Aussies. Its just our way...

Once again we gathered at the Palos Verdes Motel in Torrance, a rather ordinary venue it might seem, and yet the very kind of ordinariness that makes our workshops unique. We are NOT about location. This venue had also served us well for our Film Noir event and we were happy to be back.

Our Advanced Flash Photography workshop takes the next step forward from basic flash, teaching flash modifiers, basic studio techniques, multiple flash and coloured gels. For most of this we use Honl strobist equipment, which never fails to impress. Honl Grids, softboxes, gels and gobos are all available in this range. FlashWave III triggers and receivers were brought from Australia to distribute to our attendees to use.

Even our customers model for us!

It is rather surprising to see the effect of this photography workshop on those who attend. We deliberately use simple flash equipment and Honl modifiers to achieve some rather wonderful images. Keeping the equipment simple is also at the heart of our workshops because we have no intention of promulgating the notion that there is a need to spend unnecessary thousands in the pursuit of great images. We have customers arriving at our photography workshops with cameras and lenses that make me salivate - only to learn that they have no idea how to use them. This is not intended as an insult, just an observation that comes from years of teaching others how to produce images from their cameras and not their computers. It appears that there are many photographers who are either told or simply believe that the more expensive their equipment, the better their images will be. Nothing could be further from the truth, except Christmas. But that's another story.

It was surprising to our Californian contingent that such wonderful images were being produced using cheap generic flashguns. We had taken our FotoBestway strobist kit with us. It contains two generic flashguns, two stands and two shoot through brollies. As mentioned earlier in this blog, we also had our Honl gear. All of this stuff is inexpensive, yet very, very effective. I love being able to show what you can do with some generic gear, some knowledge and a little imagination. This is why photography workshops actually save you money!

Shelton Muller

Where the Light Is - Day Two of the US Workshops Tour

2010-10-26T11:02:00.001+11:00

Model, Bonni Mircovich, photographed in a parking lot

Mark Comon using a white backdrop as a reflector
in the parking lot behind Paul's Photo

Our Natural Light Creative People Photography workshop has been a real eye opener for almost every customer who has attended it in past years. Its profound ability to reveal the omnipresence of workable light and the potential within it has left our customers truly astounded sometimes. Such was the case with this event for Paul's Photo in Torrance, California.

Summer had eluded LA this year,...until we arrived. Suddenly the California sun decided to break out in a rebellious and somewhat last minute manifestation of its true character the very day we arrived. It was well and truly out for the Fullerton Photographics event, and even moreso for this workshop the day after. It seems that our acronym – CPW – can also stand for Can Produce Weather.

Matt on Black, using only window light

What this meant is that we couldn't have people standing outside for the whole afternoon. Sure, Californians are used to heat and sunshine, but the parking lot at Paul's is not exactly an idyll for any photographer. And yes, that was our intended location for the shooting part of the workshop.

So, once again, Glynn and I are compelled to pull stuff out of our collective hat. The sun being what it was, we decided to stay inside at the back of Paul's Photo and run our workshop to a large degree in there. Mark Comon, who owns and runs Paul's Photo, is a true believer in education and runs a lot of events and workshops himself. Having set aside a special area at the back of his store for seminars and presentations, he also gave us a place to work.

Matt on white, using only window light

Using a simple fold out backdrop – white on one side and black on the other – we were able to teach the varying potential and nature of window light, metering and camera to subject relationships. We were in that back room for the first three hours of the afternoon, teaching high key and low key techniques as well as the need for a photographer to walk the arc, something we teach again and again at this workshop. You will need to come along to this workshop to find out what I mean. Sorry...I can only offer so much free stuff here...hehe....

However, part of this workshop compels us to take it outside sooner or later, no matter the light. You see, our entire premise is that there is no such thing as bad light, only the poor use of it. Another premise is that locations are irrelevant. Hmm, that can sometimes be a difficult one that forces us to put our money where our mouth is. For this workshop, Mark offered us his parking lot. Now, let me tell ya, this is no paradise. But, true to form, we were able to place our fabulous models, Matt and Bonni in some wonderful light and produce some rather impressive portraits. Once again our customers were amazed by what can be achieved when you simply 'find the light and put 'em in it.'

Come along to the next of these Natural Light Portrait workshops to find out what we mean. You won't be disappointed...even if I say so myself. I have to admit that this has probably been the most profound lesson of my photographic career and I am so happy to see its effect on others as it is paid forward. Its an epiphany that changes how you see light. That's a rather worthwhile epiphany for a photographer, don't you think?

Bonni on white, using window light

Shelton Muller

US Workshops Tour, Day 1

2010-10-25T10:43:00.000+11:00

Being invited to come to a country like the US to run photography workshops is both daunting and exciting at the same time. There is the initial excitement of the chance to travel, to meet wonderful people, to teach and to tick a couple more boxes in your personal bucket list. For me, all of this happened during our recent Creative Photo Workshops tour. The daunting part is hoping that you live up to the expectations that surround the arrival of two photographers who have been invited from Australia to run workshops that some might consider possible for any local photographer to run. As you can imagine, we were met with that curiosity from so many who came to our workshops in the US. Why these guys? Why not a local photographer? However, I believe that Glynn and I form a team that is greater than the sum of its parts. That's not ego talking, although we both have our share. Its just something I believe in when it comes to what he and I bring. We believe in education, passion and fun for our photographers. We are also from that mysterious land down under, where women glow and men plunder, apparently. You better run, you better take cover.

Glynn gets a little excited about our workshops...

No wonder Glynn has a bad back...

Glynn and I were invited to run a series of workshops for Fullerton Photographics in Fullerton and Paul's Photo in Torrance, Los Angeles, California. It was our second time around for Paul's Photo and our first chance to do our thing for Fullerton Photos. After making our mark on these two retailers, we were booked to head for Allentown, Pennsylvania where we had been cordially invited by Dan's Cameras to run a series of workshops for them. Having been as busy as we were, I wasn't able to blog. So, come back to the blog and I will keep you up to date on what we were doing and the madness that ensued. Lets start with our first day, shall we?

Fullerton Photo is run by Gaby Mullinax, a very smart and rather lovely woman I had the pleasure of meeting at PMA in Anaheim earlier this year. Glynn had already pitched the idea of workshops to her and now his pitch had come to fruition. So, off we were to run the “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” workshop for her customers.

The day arrived and Glynn and I found ourselves surrounded by about 20 Orange County Women, each with a different level of photographic experience and equipment. That being the case, we adapted on the spot, trying to get the girls to come to grips with their cameras and the basic functions that make for great photographs. After that, it was time to do some actual cool stuff. Out came the models and our chance to set up some photographs. It was then that we realised the value of the lessons we had presented in the first couple of hours.

Gaby had cleverly named the workshop as she did and the theme “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” gave Glynn and I the chance to run it as we saw it, as long as they had a giggle and learned something too. To be honest, it is our ability to instantly adapt to situations that has often made the difference between a successful workshop and a disaster. Our combined experience with people and our years in the industry mean that we can sometimes pull a workshop out of our hat, instantly adapting from what we had planned to do to that which is necessary for the customers who have come along. While that is never our intention, we are often compelled to do so in order to cater for a workshop group that is unique in its expectations or experience. Such was definitely the case with our first day back in Los Angeles. It is a rewarding afternoon indeed when you can prove that a red t-shirt against a green garage door can produce some wonderful images. It was a giggle, and Glynn and I learned something also. We learned that our new Fedoras look awesome on us!

Model: Bonni Mircovich

LA ...not so Confidential

Our Film Noir workshops in Melbourne have been very well received, and its reputation as a photographic event preceded us all the way to Torrance, California. Mark Comon, all round great guy who owns Paul's Photo, insisted that we run that event for him as our 'kick-off' for the series of workshops we were running for him. I love that event, and I love shooting in that style. Mark had ensured that he'd purchased a fog machine, so we were set - except for the pistol prop. We had not brought ours from Australia. I have heard its not a good idea to travel with things that look like guns. Hmmm, wonder why. Mark Comon had bought these piddly little plastic pistols that looked small in a child's hand, let alone look real for the event. Glynn drove around in vain from camera store to camera store looking for a plastic pistol that was relatively life size. No go. Apparently, while real guns are sold over the shop counter in LA, trying to get a plastic replica is too dangerous. Go figger. In the end we had to settle for the anachronistically unsound air pistols that a customer's husband dropped by. At least they were big enough!

Our customers loving every minute...

Image straight from Ricoh GRDIII

So, we were set to go. A ProMaster lighting kit and the costumes we brought from Australia were all we needed to establish the event. Models arrived, and it all happened. Well, most of the models arrived. Nicole and Bonni Mircovich were right on time, and she looked fabulous. Bonni worked with us for every workshop in LA and she never let us down. A beautiful girl with a beautiful spirit. I would work with her anytime. However, our male model was nowhere to be found! What is Film Noir without a private eye in a Fedora and trenchcoat?

Bellboy to the rescue. Yes, that's right. During the course of the evening, one of the young bellboys who had been helping us with power and access to various parts of the Hotel stepped up to fill in the void. Being tall and slim made him perfect for the part and he was happy to spend his evening doing something very different from his usual occupation. So, the evening's shoot went very well, and we were happy to have our first official workshop day over. I was very pleased with many of the images straight from my Ricoh GRDIII actually. Damn I love that camera! Now...to bed to sleep and wake to run yet another workshop in the morning. Stay tuned....

Mark Comon 'shoots' with model, Nicole

Serious Fun

2010-10-19T17:48:00.000+11:00

I spent this morning working at a function for the ANZ bank, taking photographs at a function they were holding for the Australian Women Donors Network. It was an interesting morning learning about the means by which women can be empowered and empower the community through acts of financial philanthropy. It was a very interesting series of presentations. Toward the end of the shoot I was asked by one of the women who had spoken if it is possible to make a living from photography. She had always wanted to spend her life in the pursuit of her passions but had considered it inviable as a means to making ends meet.

It is an interesting question, and I responded with one. I asked her what she meant by 'a living'. I don't drive a Maserati. I don't own racehorses. But I have never gone without, and I live comfortably. Conversely, I have crawled through ancient pyramids, watched the sun rise over Angkor Wat, Machu Picchu, The Himalayas, the Andes and the Rocky Mountains. I have held the skulls of ancient rulers, seen the piles of bones in the Killing Fields, laughed with Muslims and Monks and been chased for the kill by angry wild animals. I have touched the Taj Mahal and the Tombs of the Nobles, eaten guinea pig and used the smeared bodies of dead Amazonian ants to repel mosquitoes. I could go on, but I think you get the point. Because of photography, I have had a life - a very interesting life. In fact, there is a part of my website dedicated to this aspect of my life - the adventure that photography has brought to it.

Which brings me to yesterday's shoot. Glynn and I decided to spend another day with our American friend, David Honl. We invited our good friend and fellow Creative Photo Workshops team member, David Oakley to join us also. We organised a model and spent the day in Melbourne taking photographs. Why? Because we could. Because we wanted to.

Photography is a wonderful and empowering passion that has the potential to take each day in your life and add to it by the simple act of creating from those moments, many of which would be considered rather everyday or common. But the photographer has the option to make an image, to place something within a frame, to write with light, to capture a moment. Yesterday was the result of a decision made to have a day in which our photography was not about our customers or clients. It was not a quick shot to ensure the image works for our workshop customers. It was simply a day we could use to take the photographs we wanted to take.

So, David Oakley, Glynn and I met in town. Before meeting with David Honl we had a very informal CPW meeting over bacon and eggs to discuss the workshops we plan for 2011. We have much to prepare for and many workshops ahead of us, don't you worry!

Then we met David Honl in the lobby of his hotel and walked to Southbank to meet up with Jasmina Basic, our model. Ready and charged were two Elinchrom Ranger heads and a bunch of FlashWave III triggers and receivers. In our cases were Canons and Nikons, a range of Tamron lenses, and a whole lot of card space. Yeah, it was going to be a great day. We were intent on having fun. Serious fun.

Working together to create images, debating the techniques, laughing and exchanging insults, as men do, we enjoyed our day of photography together. I find it refreshing that what I choose to do on my day off is to take photographs. I could never imagine myself loathing the thought of photography and opting not to take my cameras with me. I have known and spoken with renowned photographers who don't take their cameras with them on holidays unless it is only for family snapshots. There is nothing wrong with family snapshots, but there is a problem when a photographer makes a conscious choice to 'rest' from his photography. When we lose the passion to do it, the chance of killing our creativity in our profession is very high indeed. I never want to be in that place. Photography has granted me a living, true. But more importantly it has enhanced my life in ways I never dreamed possible. Why would I want that to ever change?

Shelton Muller

Working with David Honl

2010-10-17T19:01:00.000+11:00

Well Hello Blog! Its been a while. My sincere apologies, but I have been a little busy. More on that in the next few posts...ok? I am sure you are keen to hear about our American sojourn and you will. All in good time.

In the meantime, I have to tell you about the distinct pleasure it has been to run a flash workshop recently with David Honl, well known photographer and inventor of the Honl range of strobist equipment. Glynn and I met David and his wife, Claudia, when we were in Anaheim, California earlier this year. We then did a shoot with him in Los Angeles a few months later. Now, he and Claudia were in Melbourne. So we took the opportunity by the ears and asked him to do a flash workshop with us. And as you now know, he said 'Yes!'

So, we advertised it on our workshops website and it was very well received indeed! I know that for many who attended it was a chance for them to meet the man who was responsible for a lot of inspiration and for the flash modifiers that had enabled many of their strobist images. Our models Sarah Hardy and Joana Sibinoska arrived, and we were off and running!

It was interesting to see how David approached each image he was creating with us on the day. He knew the image from the outset, disassembled it in his head, and step by step, put it back together for us all, explaining each step along the way. I always enjoy hearing that process from fellow photographers. It is inspiring, educational and encouraging all at the same time. Being able to create the most dynamic images from the most ordinary circumstances is at the heart of strobist imaging. I love it!

Having spent that day with David, it was difficult for me to keep things a little simpler for those who attended our Creative Flash Photography workshop at Abbottsford Convent yesterday. Our Creative Flash Photography workshop starts with on-camera flash lessons and finishes with some funky off camera stuff that really excites our customers. Little do they know that by the end of the day we have only just dug beneath the thin surface. So many options and opportunities present themselves when you have a working knowledge of your strobist lighting options. Tomorrow, Glynn, David Honl, David Oakley and myself spend a day together shooting...just for fun. Our model, Jasmina, is going to get some great images. And so are we!

We even get our customers to model for us sometimes!

EchucaPalooza 2.5 - the return of the return!

2010-09-15T13:04:00.000+10:00

Charlotte in Canola with off camera flash

Charlotte in the mist, Mathoura.
Off camera flash.

As I mentioned in my previous post, our Creative Photo Workshops EchucaPalooza event was so popular last year that we decided to run it twice this year. I am so glad we did. It was yet another wonderful weekend. Watch the video here!

One of the things I love about being involved with CPW is the diversity of each event. Although we have creative photography workshops that we repeat due to the demand and the skills they nurture, each one proves to be its own animal in the end. The differences come with the models who attend, the students who come along and even the location and weather. These things contribute to the 'vice' of each of our workshops and events to the degree where one is never the same as the other, even if it is essentially the same workshop being repeated.

EchucaPalooza 2.5 was exactly that. While most of the locations were repeated, the models, the weather and light and the people themselves all made for a different event. Not better necessarily, just different. For me, that is a relief. I love diversity, and life has its way of becoming repetitive. So even while our workshops come under the same name, there are often enough variations within each event to keep them interesting. One of the most destructive elements to the creative process is repetition. Boredom sets in and creativity gets lost. This can often happen to working photographers who limit themselves within one particular genre of photography. As the opening sequence to my website's home page indicates, I have never wanted to remain within one particular arena.

Jenae and the old tip truck, off camera flash

For our second whack at Echuca and Moama 2010, we had models Jenae, Charlotte, Joyce and Vish. Each of these wonderful people made the weekend event even more special by adding their lovely character and attractiveness to our photographs. Charlotte brought her unique styling and costume to our shoots on Saturday. She is only 16 and very very sweet. Vish came up with us from Melbourne and was there for the entire weekend. Jenae was a young local girl whose beautiful face and open personality made Sunday even more wonderful, and Joyce was also quite adorable as the second of our two brides in the old wool shed we have used each time we have been there. And then there was our crazy French Canadian, Yves, who couldn't resist when the ladies asked him to remove his shirt. Oh well. What can you do when the lunatics begin running the asylum? It goes without saying that Glynn and I can't provide that level of entertainment. We just aren't built for it!

All in all, a great time was had by all and there was a seriously evident learning curve present within the group. Even though EchucaPalooza was not a workshop per se', it is still our job to see to it that people take home new lessons and inspirations. Its one thing to set up photographs. Its another to enable our customers to continue to be able to set them up for themselves when we are not around. That is the entire point of a photographic workshops company. That is what we are. We were joined by Echuca photographer, Tamara Cadd, who found the lovely Jenae for us and was invited to join in the fun. She had a great time and wants us to hold more events up there. Well, that is certainly possible! Tamara indicated that she had attended expensive workshops prior to popping along to our event and found that she had not before been exposed to the level of transparency we provide. However, teaching is all about transparency. There is little point showing someone the photograph that is possible in that location, in that light or in that moment without helping them to know how it is achieved. If a photographer who runs workshops is too precious about himself to actually reveal the techniques, we say 'find another job!' Don't say you run 'photography workshops' and then continue to leave your students in the dark. A good teacher is never afraid to impart information. Indeed, that is one of his jobs.

Now that EchucaPalooza 2 and 2.5 are over, its time to get over this head cold and prepare and pack for our Workshops tour of the United States. Glynn and I are once again headed for more workshops in LA, but we will also be stopping in to see New York and then run more workshops in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Yes, its that Allentown. But I am told its not quite so depressing as Billy Joel made it out to be. I might even write a photographic parody of that song just to make it up to our good friends at Dans Camera Store there. Either way, look out America! Those crazy Aussie photographers are coming!

EchucaPalooza II - The Return to Palooza

2010-09-08T12:25:00.001+10:00

Its been 12 months since Creative Photo Workshops ran its first location based event. This time last year, we found ourselves in Echuca in northern Victoria and had a fabulous weekend of photography. It was so popular we decided to run it again! Actually, we decided to run it two weekends in a row...

But, what is it with us and flooding rains? When we were in New Zealand running our MeaWannaShootalotta event, Queenstown decided to flood for the first time in decades. The same thing happened in Echuca. The weather reports indicated that the area was to receive about 150mm of rain over the weekend. I don't know how many millimetres actually fell, but all day Saturday saw us dodging some heavy rain and our sunrise shoot was a washout. It seems we are like that Crowded House song. Yes, we always bring the weather with us. Although it was perfectly sunny when we left Melbourne! What's with that?

Nonetheless, we managed to help our group of wonderful friends and fellow photographers achieve some creative images by using an old dilapidated and abandoned schoolhouse in Mathoura. It was a lifesaver, as were our models, Meg and Maria. Meg is a local Echuca girl and a crazy redhead with colourful clothing and personality. Maria is a young Vivien's model who is just starting out on what I hope will be a long and wonderful modelling career. The combination of these two lovely models, some off camera flash and our CPW smoke machine allowed all to create images that they hadn't planned on. Neither had we, actually! When the weather gets in the way of your plans, you have to come up with new ideas for your customers - and quickly!

Photography is much about problem solving. Any experienced photographer will tell you that. Rarely does everything go to plan and when it doesn't you have to come up with other options. Wedding photographers know this only too well. Landscape photographers will camp out in a location for long periods of time waiting for the right light to adorn the scene that they have wanted to capture. Without the right conditions, they either have to change their vision, or wait it out. We didn't have that kind of time, so we simply changed our vision. Its a good lesson for all photographers to learn. When things don't go as you plan, change the plan.

Sunday morning gave us a warm welcome with a rain-free sunrise. We headed for the old Port of Echuca and enjoyed photographing its beautifully restored and empty streets. It was a relief to be finally free of the rain and the day ahead was beautiful. We were able to stick to much of our Sunday itinerary, finishing off our weekend's shoot in the same abandoned shearing shed we used last year. What a great location this is! The light in this building is wonderful and its textures and warm timber tones are a dream location. I would love to photograph a real wedding here. If I were an Echuca based wedding photographer I would try and use that location as often as possible! As it was , we had a 'bride' along with us. Actually, we were accompanied by our two models, plus a couple of local identities who brought their wonderful faces along for our lenses. There was Chris, a local timberman who has a great face and runs the local sawmill and Todd, a local who donned an Akubra and a Drizabone and posed wonderfully in the shearing shed. We even had Marge the Dog model for us. She proved to be a rather popular subject!

Due to popular demand, this coming weekend will see us running the same event again, aptly named EchucaPalooza 2.5 . There are still a couple of places left if you are interested! Click here if you think you might like to come!

Building a new website...

2010-08-31T22:48:00.001+10:00

At the moment I am putting the finishing touches to my new website. It has been built using the templates and hosting services of PhotoMerchant, an Australian company specifically oriented for constructing websites for photographers in Australia. The above is the video I intent to have running on the front page. I will keep you posted as it progresses. I am creating a few customised aspects to the site. If I wasn't adding these personal touches, PhotoMerchant makes it so easy that it would be done already!

One of the great things about the PhotoMerchant setup is that they are aligned with Australia's premiere professional print lab, Nulab. This means that you can set up your site to sell prints directly. The order is placed on the site and sent directly to Nulab. They print it, pack it and send it straight to your customer. All you do is collect the money. So while you are out having coffee or watching a movie, you can be selling portraits or wedding prints and making more profit.

I am very happy with the site so far...and I am not finished. Adding images is a simple case of drag and drop, and making changes to the look of the site is very easy. So, the question must be asked...will I ever be finished?

Probably not. But at least the ride will be an easy one!

Advanced, but Simple....

2010-08-22T10:50:00.000+10:00

I might be doing myself in with the title of this blog entry. After all, how am I supposed to convince anyone to come to future Advanced Flash Photography workshops if I admit to them being simple? Or, perhaps, is that the attraction? I mean, life is hard enough as it is, isn't it?

Anything is simple when you know how, so they say. Usually, once the principles are established, most people are able to build, adapt, alter and interconnect all their tools from that point forward. So, in essence, our Advanced Flash Photography workshop is exactly that.

Yesterday's workshop was a flow on from CPW's Creative Flash Photography workshop. It takes the photographer from a basic understanding of flash exposure, on and off camera flash techniques and a new love of flash to the use of two, three and more flashguns, Honl flash modifiers, strobist style studio portraiture and other funky stuff. And, once the principles are established, it is only up to the photographer's imagination to take it from there.

Creative Photo Workshops is not the place where you are told you need the most expensive equipment or that you can only stand and watch while we take photographs and indulge ourselves at your expense. Far from it. In fact, the tutors at each workshop don't get to take many photographs at all. We need to get a handful for our promotions and blogs, Facebook and personal satisfaction, but we prefer our customers do the bulk of the shooting. We are only there to establish and explain the images they will take.

We are, as I said, also dead against the idea of expensive equipment if it is not necessary. Our flash workshops promote the use of generic flashguns such as the FotoBestway strobist kit. We also prefer to use FlashWave III triggers, which are much cheaper than PocketWizards and have never let a customer down at a workshop. By teaching principles of photography we educate our customers in a way that does not rely upon technology but rather their own intelligence to solve problems and use generic equipment. Yesterday's workshop relied upon this approach, compelling one of our customers to express his gratitude for saving him a lot of money that he was about to spend on more technologically advanced (but unnecessary) equipment. Now that he knows the principles, he can save a serious amount of money. That makes coming to our photography workshops a serious money saving exercise, doesn't it?

Sorry for the shameless plug folks...

Saved by my Ricoh...

2010-08-04T12:11:00.000+10:00

Models: Taisen Blackwolf and Michelle Grace Hunder
Camera: Ricoh GRDIII

Our Creative Photo Workshops events are popular. We are often asked to repeat them - in the same city, and in different cities around the country and even around the world. Our Film Noir event is perhaps the most popular so far. It is even being copied, so I hear, by friends in other cities. That's ok. Imitation is the best compliment after all.

Last week, we repeated our Film Noir event - for one person. Yes, folks, one of our customers had been unable to attend either of our two Melbourne Film Noir shoots and so she booked us to run the thing for her. In the end, she brought a friend along. So, Glynn, David Oakley and I spent the evening at Abbottsford Convent once again setting up the lights and the fog machine, dressing up our models and teaching our two customers not to be afraid of the dark. After all, darkness is what Film Noir is all about.

It was a perfect night for Film Noir. It was actually dark and stormy. Don't all the movie narrations and gangster novels start that way? So, I wasn't complaining at all. The scene was set! Arriving at the Convent, I realised that I had left my gadget bag and all my DSLR equipment at home. Silly me! I was all dressed up with no place to go. Or was I? You see, I don't really need my equipment at a workshop, other than to perhaps shoot for fun and blogging and lead by example. But we usually get a base shot and then hand over to our customers. It would appear that I couldn't even do that. At first I considered that I have done this event twice before and it really didn't matter too much. Secondly, I could devote my time and thoughts to the process of exclusively assisting our two customers that night. Glynn and I are very hands on at our workshops, making sure that the group is looked after as an entity, but also that each person's needs are met to the best of our abilities. Perhaps tonight was going to be a chance for me to just teach and not shoot. I was just going to have to settle for that.

However, I did have one back up. I carry my Ricoh GRDIII with me pretty much everywhere. I love that thing. To me, it is the perfect compact camera for the DSLR shooter. I believe it has been designed specifically for that very purpose and place within the market. It is ruggedly built, has a 28mm (equiv) f 1.9 fixed lens, complete manual override (with dials, not menu options) and a 10 MP sensor. It shoots in Adobe DNG RAW also, and so the possibilities for quality are seriously improved. It is well designed for the DSLR user and the images it produces are wonderful. Because the lens is fixed, it has no need for optical compromises. Also, because the camera is compact and has an f1.9 lens, you can hand hold the little beastie in very dimly lit conditions without having to raise the ISO.

The great thing about being limited in this way - not having my DSLR and my bevy of lenses - is that you are compelled to previsualise in one particular way. You have only one focal length to work with and it therefore simplifies your choices. You know where you need to stand. You know how you need to compose. You know what you can do, and what you can't. That is what I love about fixed focal length lenses. They teach you to see because they offer you only one option. I would suggest that every photographer try their hand at using lenses that cannot zoom. Knowing how a lens sees and having to use your feet to move backward and forward, positioning yourself in the right place for the right composition has been a valuable lesson for me. While I do love my zoom lenses, I know that it is not my place to simply stand anywhere I like and zoom in and out for my own convenience. I realise that I need to select the focal length first and then position myself according to it, and not the other way around. For this reason, I often use my zooms at their extremities. Funny, that.

Wedding Photography Workshop

2010-07-26T10:51:00.000+10:00

Models: Dave Nelson and Brooke Boslem

In 1996, my life changed dramatically when I took on the role of editor of a magazine I had proposed to a publishing company. It was known as PhotoMaster. It was also known as Better Pictures, which was the corporate version distributed by Camera House. From that moment on I was no longer a freelance gypsy with a camera. I suddenly became some kind of authority on photography. I was being asked to speak at camera clubs and societies, conventions and seminars. And then, I started running photography workshops. Since that time I have thoroughly enjoyed that role and I do not tire of it. Our recent Wedding Photography workshop was a prime example of that.

Creative Photo Workshops runs a variety of educational and enjoyable events. Most of the time, they are educational. Sometimes they are put together for a simultaneous combination of fun and learning. Case in point, our recent Film Noir workshops. Our Wedding Photography workshop has an entirely different potential however. Its very nature can alter the path of someone's secular life.

An overstatement? No. It is a workshop designed to teach ground level principles for overcoming some of the difficulties that the newcomer to wedding photography encounters. Most of those who attend are perfectly adept at taking the basics - family group photographs, candid images and even some lovely portraits and formals. However, for the photographer, a wedding is usually a case of producing extraordinary images in ordinary circumstances with everyday people. There are so models in $10, 000 dresses in ancient French castles here. Most weddings take place in suburbia, or in everyday situations. What we teach is the ability to create beautiful images - in camera - that impress on the day, and even more in the album once the finishing touches have been applied. Our workshops promote the idea of creating the image in camera - for two essential reasons. The camera is the primary capture tool and it can - believe it or not - create beautiful images all on its own. It is also a much more powerful business tool on location if the images you show your client as they are shot are already near perfect. Lightroom and PhotoShop are wonderful tools, and I love them both. However, they are there to enhance and create only those aspects of the digital image that cannot be created in camera. They should not exist for the photographer for the labour of constant and consistent repair.

The first part of the workshop happens all in the very room in which we hold our initial two hour lecture. Using basic window light, basic backdrops and basic metering techniques we prove that any location that has light can be used. Our customers left our workshop on the first day without having hardly left the room. And yet each of them was surprised with the images they themselves created. Using the camera manually, metering for the highlights and posing the subjects for the light are simple processes that have the power to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Our second day is more complex. We began at the home of a friend who offered us a livingroom to prove that what we learned the day before works in most people's homes. Then, its off to various locations to find the light and put them in it. And, if the light is not what you want, we create it.

On and Off camera flash techniques were something that our customers asked us to explain and show from the outset. So, we did. Creating light when the light you want is not with you is a powerful addition to any photographer's toolbox. It has been the difference between mediocre and extraordinary at many of the weddings I have photographed, and the images that result in camera are enough to convince any dubious couple of your abilities or the images you are producing. After that, they are putty in your hands, willing models who are suddenly getting all funky for ya.

Our customers leave the workshop with skills that enable them to see light, meter for it and create images at their weddings - weddings that happen in our own surroundings. We want the couples who don't look like Brad and Angelina and who don't hold their receptions in ancient castles or mansions to still have the most beautiful images possible. That honours our process and our place as photographers. It also honours their wedding day and their love for each other.

Film Noir Workshop - Black Gets Blacker

2010-07-21T16:50:00.000+10:00

Azra and Alister go retro. Camera: Ricoh GRDII

Recently, and by popular demand, the Creative Photo Workshops Film Noir event was once again organised for our customers who missed out the first time. This time we called it Film Noir - Black Gets Blacker. We thought Back in Black might have worked but apparently some Aussie rock band had taken that one. I'll have to look into that.

Our models were Azra Dedic and Alister LeToille. These two young people were wonderful to work with, but I wonder if either of them had ever even heard of Film Noir. Well, now they have. Funnily enough, they missed out on the first round of this event and after seeing the images posted on Facebook of our replacements, Natasha and Taisen, made sure that they were not going to miss out modelling for the second round. For a bit of spice, we added another model, Miss Carly, fired up our fog machine, loaded our plastic pistol and we were set to go.

I love this genre. I have to admit it. This lighting genre is about 'not light'. Its about what you don't light, as against what you do. And that is a great lesson for photographers to learn. The mystery that darkness creates is what this genre was all about and it was created for those low life, dingy gangster tragedies of the 30's through to the 50's, although it had been pioneered in the silent cinema era.

Now, this might sound simple, but when you 'don't light' something, what you 'do light', and how, is very important. Because you are only lighting a select portion of the frame or the subject, your selection is rather important. Then, how you meter it is also very important. Essentially, this is about metering for the highlights, and for our customers it demands that they put their cameras into manual mode, ensure the correct exposure and fire away. No amount of fiddling about in Program Mode is going to work here. It is a great workshop for those who believe that cameras know what they are pointing at. They don't.

We also ask our attendees to set their jpeg settings to monochrome and shoot in black and white. Yes, they could convert the images at home, but we want them to learn to see in black and white when they shoot and become accustomed to the style.

But the satisfaction of that process is palpable. Images that come straight out of camera are the most satisfying of all. Achieving a powerful, dynamic, artistic image in camera is an Everest for the neophyte photographer. It is a moment not soon forgotten. Film Noir shooting demands that attention be given to metering above all. There is usually little work required in terms of post processing when our customers return home. Some may choose to add vignettes, or perhaps do some retouching. But really, the images are perfectly acceptable and viable straight out of camera. Ya gotta love that.

Interested? Well it won't be the last time we run this event. Check here for details of our Brisbane Film Noir...

Studio Essentials

2010-07-20T15:16:00.000+10:00

Model: Hailee Forde

I have often wondered if photography is truly teachable. In other words, can one photographer teach another how to take photographs? I suppose the answers "yes" and "no" are both true. Certainly there are techniques, guidelines and sciences that one should learn. But right and wrong is a matter of perspective and opinion where an artform is involved. Art is such a personal thing that its very difficult to say that one approach is wrong and another is correct. It is for these reasons that I no longer accept invitations to judge competitions at camera clubs. Rarely anyway. I believe that such a process only reinforces one photographer's idea of creativity over an other's and I wonder if anyone has that right.
Another workshop was integrated into our repertoire over the weekend. Our 'Studio Essentials' Workshop was designed to teach our customers exactly that - studio essentials - the starting point for their own journey in that arena. We were graced by the company of Taisen Blackwolf, Hailee Ford and Kelly Kooper as our models as well as many of the CPW crew who came along to assist with the running of the whole show. It was a sea of Team CPW shirts...and it was a beautiful thing.

I get to see quite a bit of work from photographers at all levels. Much of it I aspire toward, hoping that I achieve that level of technical and/or creative brilliance myself one day. But I also believe that too many photographers jump into studio lighting and studio photography too quickly. The evidence is seen in the fact that so many of the 'studio essentials' are missing. What are these, you ask? Highlight vs Shadow. Contrast control. Background separation. Light positioning. Specular vs diffused, or the combinations of both....and much more. Naturally it takes much study and hard work to become a master of any or all of these. I am not a master, but I have been on the road much longer than many.

The workshop was designed to highlight and examine the principles of lighting, whether it be portrait or product. Once they are established and understood, a photographer of average experience and intelligence can take that ball and run with it, using his or her own imagination, creativity and aquired tool set to build on that and create their own style. Naturally you can't teach everything in one class. For that matter, I think it would take a lifetime to teach everything possible in the studio, the same as it takes a lifetime to work through the almost endless variations of light, ratio, positioning, composition and posing. A seven hour workshop can only teach some principles and hope that those who attend see the infinite possibilities that lie before them in their own time. Admittedly, that is the best any workshop can hope for. Now its up to each of those who attended to take what they have learned and make it theirs.That is the best I can hope for.

A Bomber and a Bombshell!

2010-07-08T14:56:00.002+10:00

Last night's 40's Pin Up event came as the result of an off hand comment I made while I was in LA with Glynn. He was recording me with his Kodak Zi8 as I was looking at a retro calender in a shop window. I said something like "We should do a 40's Pin Up Workshop". When the video played on our website, the thought of it became a reality when so many people put their hands up and said 'Yeah! I would come to that!' . Thus, a passing comment became another event for Creative Photo Workshops to run as part of our Winter Series. Sometimes its good to think out loud!

We found a WWII Liberator bomber under restoration in a hangar in Werribee, and the owners were kind enough to let us in and do our thing. So, last night, in we went. Looking after the needs of the group, Glynn and I don't get to shoot much, but here are a couple of images I had fun with in PhotoShop.
Thanks to our brave and beautiful models - Rebecca, Brooke and Darci for braving the cold and for making the evening possible. Thanks to John and Judi for making us all welcome in their beloved hangar. Thanks to Gordon for bringing that fabulous jeep and to Monika Brecht and Josey DeVito for doing the model's hair and makeup. Thanks also to all our friends who attended and brought their cameras and a sense of fun. It was a great night and another successful event.

Natural Light People Photography Workshop

2010-07-08T11:19:00.000+10:00

Model: Emily Reardon

A few days ago, Creative Photo Workshops ran yet another one of our People Photography workshops. This workshop is among our most popular and teaches those who attend the value in all kinds of light, the context of it and the methods of its use. It also highlights the fact that great 'people pictures' are found anywhere that light can be found and used. Our old 'find the light and put them in it' mantra really comes to the fore here, and our customers learn how to see light, place the subject within it, pose them for it and meter for it. Sometimes a dozen or more different kinds of images can be made from the same shaft of light. We don't believe that great locations or supermodels are the makings of great photographs. The simple art of 'writing with light' takes care of that.

The other aspect of this workshop is that we like to use models who are not necessarily going to make life easy for our customers by doing everything for them. Certainly they are attractive and need to be friendly and personable, but one of our greatest issues is getting people to interact with our models. So, we use models who don't necessarily have years of experience working with photographers. This forces our students to direct them, even as they would the every day people in their own lives who become the subjects for their own lenses in their own time. There are some serious spankings dished out to the silent photographers who just stand there and focus. Seriously though, there is nothing more frustrating for anyone who is being photographed than not knowing whether or not they look their best, or that they are meeting the photographer's vision. Give your models clear direction and they will not only respond, they will be relieved.

On Broadway

2010-07-04T11:20:00.000+10:00

Well, I am back from LA, and having had a very bad back since I returned, I have been somewhat incapacitated. But I am on the mend now and finally able to sit at my desk and catch up with you all. Especially with regard to what happened on the last two days of our time in LA, which, incidentally, is probably about the time I did my back in.

Glynn and I were set to leave LA on Sunday night. We had a lunch appointment with David Honl and his wife, actress Claudia Christian. Glynn and I met David at PMA in Anaheim in February and enjoyed meeting his wife at a cocktail party in Hollywood we were then kindly invited to. Since then, Creative Photo Workshops has partnered with David to promote his unique and very functional range of Honl strobist equipment, which, I have to say, I really enjoy working with. Apart from being very practical stuff, its easy to use and does not require you to glue anything or attach anything to your flash that won't easily come off. Its all done with Velcro, folks. Cool. If you want to know where to get this stuff in Australia, just ask me.

Over lunch that Saturday, Glynn and I discussed doing a shoot before we left town and asked if they wanted to be a part of it. We mentioned that we had fallen in love with the old theatre district in downtown LA and wanted to do a shoot there. Claudia sourced some fabulous models in retro clothing and David volunteered some Honl gear. Suddenly, we were set to go. So, after a lovely dinner and a giggle with cable TV personality and fellow photographer, Erin Manning that night (aren't we the social butterflies!) we awoke to a new day, our last day in LA and a great shoot to look forward to.

The area that we fell in love with is unfortunately rather run down now, as is much of LA to be honest. In its heyday however, it would have been the hot spot of LA, the place you'd get all dressed up just to walk through, and the place where classic films would have been played to enthralled audiences. We wanted to recreate the era if we could. The area itself is now very run down and neglected, which is rather sad considering how beautiful these theatres would once have been. It is such a shame. I believe that LA could redeem some of its former status if just this area alone were to be restored.

Arriving at David and Claudia's home the next day we found Claudia herself, all dressed up in a pin striped suit and sporting a Fedora. Fabulous! Now we had two models and a Hollywood actress to photograph. More than that, we were going to have a renowned photographer as our assistant. Within minutes, our two models - Jayde and Sabrina - arrived and we were headed for Broadway and Hill in downtown LA.

It was midday in LA at the beginning of summer. Our light was not in any way sweet or complimentary, and so we often sought shade where we could so that we could use off camera flash, modified by grids and softboxes as supplied by David. David's new softbox is surprisingly effective and we used it for almost every image in which we used off camera flash. Having run a Creative Flash Photography workshop for Mark Comon at Paul's Photo in Torrance the weekend before, we had all the triggers and flashguns we needed. We were just a little short on for Honl gear. Thank heavens for Dave!

David Honl assist Glynn to get the light just right...

I haven't used the Honl PhotoTraveler 8 Softbox all that much, seeing as it is a relatively new product and I haven't had it very long. Also, I have never been a believer in on flash diffusers. The manufacturers try to tell you that these things perform on camera flash miracles, but I have never been a witness to any of them. However, I would have to say that I was surprised at the nature of the light that this beautiful and very portable little light shaper produces.I think I am probably going to default to its use for much more of my off camera flash photography.

The PhotoTraveler 8 Softbox at work on my Velbon 730 Carbon Fibre tripod

Claudia has a way...

The first part of our shoot was to photograph Claudia. She had asked us for some updates and wanted to be a part of the fun. Who were we to say no to our gracious host, an attractive Hollywood actress and the lady who had organised our models? Certainly not us! But we would have done it anyway, no matter who she was or what she'd done. She looked fabulous and knows how to work a camera. After all, she has been in front of one for a long time and her husband lives behind one. Claudia is so much fun to work with. A fabulous sense of humour, confidence to the max and a way of looking down a lens that makes life so very easy. Since marrying David, she has taken an interest in photography herself - as you do. So, when we were finished with her, she turned my camera on me! I am not one for having my photo taken, but fair is fair I suppose....Hmmmm....

Claudia and David couldn't stay all afternoon, and left after about an hour or so, leaving Glynn and I to focus on Jayde and Sabrina. Jayde runs a retro clothing store in LA and had access to some wonderful clothes for herself and Sabrina.Their makeup and hair were impeccable and Glynn and I were just having too much fun. For another two hours we trawled these run down streets looking for locations and angles to avoid unnecessary anachronisms. For much of the time it meant keeping it simple, or rolling on the ground and shooting upwards. That's where and how I did my back. A long flight home to Australia that night didn't help either!

Photo of me by Claudia Christian

Thanks to David and Claudia for being so hospitable and helpful, Jayde and Sabrina for being such wonderful models and LA for not knocking down these beautiful old theatres!

In the Valley of Fire

2010-06-26T04:39:00.000+10:00

Model, Chrissy, poses for our cameras in the Valley of Fire outside Las Vegas

While its true that I am in Las Vegas for the IPI Convention, I could not for one minute think it possible to leave Nevada without heading into the surrounding desert to do a shoot of some kind. Glynn and I were given many suggestions for locations in and around Vegas, but the Valley of Fire had everything going for it in the end - proximity, availability and aesthetics. Its a fantastic place for photography.

Now, I can shoot my way around a landscape, but I would rather put a person in the landscape than just shoot it on its own. Enter Chrissy. Chrissy was the only model on Model Mayhem who responded to our casting call to shoot, and so she won the chance for some great photographs and we were given a person to put into this fabulous landscape. So, she, her big brother and chaperon, Mike, Tom the ex-Homicide detective and 'murder tour guide', Julie from Dan's Camera, Glynn and I all headed into the Valley of Fire for an afternoon and evening of photography.

Chrissy is a very young model with hopes. Being only 17, she has much to learn but we really appreciated her efforts and her hard work. A model needs to have some element of physical dynamic, but only maturity and experience can build the things that need to happen in the heart of a model to make her truly photogenic. Chrissy worked hard along with us to make the images happen and her brother was a fantastic help. He held flashguns and reflectors, and acted as chauffeur to his little sister. It was hot and dry and the afternoon sun was heavy on the rocks. But the key to working with that kind of light is exactly that - work with it, not against it. So we started with images that highlighted the color of the rocks and the hardness of the light. As the sun fell into the horizon, we finished off with our usual bevy of off camera flash techniques.

Thank you Tom for being our driver and 'murder tour guide' of the Nevada desert, Julie for being the brunt of our threats and 'short' jokes, Mike for being a good big brother and Chrissy for being our model. It was a great shoot and gave us the chance to photograph in the Valley of Fire.

A Walk in Durban..

2010-06-23T04:32:00.002+10:00

My final morning in South Africa was perhaps the most memorable moment of all. While I thoroughly enjoyed being at the Australia/Germany game and breathing in the atmosphere of all that was going on, there is nothing like a 'photo walk' through foreign city streets. The joy of that experience is twofold at least. Firstly, there is the joy I find always in taking photographs. Secondly, there is the memorable connection you make with a stranger, a moment with a person you meet and whose company you enjoy. I am a gregarious person by nature, and the joy of photographing that person is accompanied by the chance to interact with someone of another mindset, another culture, another language or location. Walking with Madlen, Shem and Teymur through the streets of Durban on our final morning in South Africa proved to be just that kind of experience.

There would be many who would not recommend it at all. In fact, there were. Our driver, Earnest, was not keen at all. When we mentioned our desire to be dropped off in down town Durban, you could tell by his reserved but manifest concern that he did not like the idea at all. But, we were not going to be walking alone and we were there in broad daylight. Not only that, but Teymur is a pretty big fella, so I know I felt safe enough! It didn't matter that he probably wouldn't hurt a fly. But I am not one to live my life in a box. I believe that people take bigger risks in every day life. I also believe that there is a balance to be found. I would not, for instance, do this on my own. Neither would I recommend it. Downtown Durban is a rough place. But, it sure was interesting.

Stopping a group of young men headed for the beach was our first social experiment. Madlen, knowing that I run a photography workshops business that educates photographers around the world, asked me for a lesson in photography and so I got into the zone. A white wall upon which the South African sun was pouring all of its unforgiving contents was to be our backdrop. Madlen was keen to know what could be done with it. Kismet would dictate that just at that moment, a group of young men would pass by and grant us an opportunity to prove what a white wall could do. All we needed to do was ask. That was perhaps the hard part. After all,what would their response be?

They were shy at first, and not at all rough or intimidating. Rather, they were happy to pose against the wall and in the end came up with some ideas of their own. They laughed as we showed them the images we were taking and I was reminded that they had probably never had a formal photo session in their lives. These handsome young men were very friendly and obliged us with anything we asked.

"Yoobie keffle witt dem kemrez, eh!"

Turning into a crossing street, a man in a hat came out into the street to meet us. "Yoobie keffle witt dem kemrez, eh?" he said in a very South African accent, obviously concerned that the tens of thousands of dollars of camera gear we were carrying would find its way into the hands of members of the local community. Immediately I asked him if he would pose for a portrait against the plain blue wall of his gambling establishment. He was happy to do so, but only after shaking all our hands and offering us his name. Philip. He once again stated his concern for us, knowing that we were from out of town. Then, pulling down his shirt across his right shoulder he was proud to reveal his 'war wound', a scar resulting from a stab wound he received in that very street. I, in turn was happy to photograph him doing so.

The morning proved to be like that again and again. Interaction upon interaction, image upon image. For me, it is a perfect way to begin and/or end my time in any city. It gives me my own feel for the place, my own memories and my own perspective. It allows me the chance to assess for myself what a community or culture is like, based upon my own personal experience. I understand that the experience and the resulting assessment of it is not based upon extensive research or weeks of time spent, but it is nonetheless untainted in the same way. A few hours of pleasant interaction and engagement coupled with the joy of taking photographs is a perfect and far more pleasant means by which I get to remember my travels and the cultures and communities I encounter. I don't care if its accurate. I don't even care if its a mite quixotic. I probably actually prefer it that way.

Memorable Moments in South Africa

2010-06-15T06:16:00.002+10:00

Well, I am finally doing something serious about my blog while I am here in South Africa. Its been a busy time while I've been here and so please forgive my tardiness! I have had some internet issues too, but enough of the excuses.

Why am I here? Well, I was invited to be a part of Memorable Moments South Africa 2010, a project that required the presence of a group of photographers and bloggers from different countries to capture all of the atmosphere surrounding the events that are happening in South Africa as we speak. I would mention them by name but Kodak have suggested that we refrain due to potential legal issues. You see, they are not an official sponsor. But you know the events of which I write.

Its a wonderful honour to be here for Kodak Australia. Unlike the other representatives, I was apparently chosen to be here without having to enter a competition to do so. I was simply told by the two lovely ladies at Kodak with whom I deal that they knew who they wanted to come and be part of this project. Wow. Thank you both.

I don't want to bore you with the details of each day's events but rather speak of the project itself. As I have mentioned, its about the creation and enjoyment of 'memorable moments' and Kodak's long term connection with that idea. We are all familiar with George Eastman's original slogan, "You take the pictures, we do the rest", a slogan that kept Kodak alive for over a century, at least in terms of its basic philosophy. So, we have simply been taking photographs with the Kodak Slice and our own DSLR cameras and capturing video with the Kodak Playsport. With everything going on in this country at the moment it is easy to take some wonderful photographs and capture memorable footage. If you have not seen the Kodak Playsport at work, you should really have a look at this fabulous little piece of hardware. I love mine. We have used its predecessor, the Zi8, to make videos of our workshops that have been such an asset to our Creative Photo Workshops website and indeed, our business.

As I write this, I am sitting in my hotel room with fellow photographers Teymur Madjderey and Shem Compion, as well as Madlen Niclaus from Kodak in London. We are chomping on some rather ordinary pizza and doing what we are here to do - report on the atmosphere surrounding the events here and use our photographs on the internet to promote the notion of Memorable Moments. So, we are Facebooking, Flickring, Tweeting and blogging about the events thus far. We have each been asked to submit for Kodak's 1000 Word blog also, and I have already submitted my entry. I awoke early one morning with an editorial epiphany and just had to write it down over a coffee...or two. Look out for it at the blog...

South Africa is a lively place at the moment, as you can imagine. There is a buzz here that is, I would hazard a guess, a different atmosphere to what this country has known in decades past. Being here at this time is a wonderful experience. There are thousands of visitors from so many countries and the South Africans have gone all out to make us all feel so welcome. I flew on a plane from Johannesburg to Durban that was filled to the brim with Germans and Australians. They all would have turned up at the game that evening having been made very welcome. Even the friendly competition that arises between the 'representatives' of each nation is worth experiencing. It is a friendly rivalry that rarely means more than just a chance to jibe and to be proud. South Africa is is indeed a country that has seen some serious interracial healing, and it is now on display for the world. Its willingness to hold these events at such great cost is perhaps a reminder to the world that it is no longer caught in the anachronism that was Apartheid. It is a beautiful country, and one can only hope that conditions here will improve to balance the economy between the classes.

The images in this blog entry are from the various events Kodak has taken us to and involved us in over the last few days. Because our brief is to capture the atmosphere of this country at this time, we are quite free to photograph it as we see fit. Therefore, whatever we encounter is up to us to choose to capture. How we do it, if we do it, is our decision. All Kodak want is to have a selection of images and videos that capture the memorable moments that we have had, and that this country is also experiencing. For mine, I must admit, I am more than happy to oblige.

In South Africa for that thing I am not allowed to talk about...

2010-06-14T01:26:00.001+10:00

Well, if you have been following my movements on Facebook, you will know that I am in South Africa for Kodak, capturing the atmosphere for that World Famous event I am not allowed to talk about. At this moment I am sitting in my hotel room in Durban getting ready for that game that is happening tonight that I am not allowed to officially refer to.

Kodak Australia have asked me to blog, Twitter, Facebook etc while I am here, and I am really enjoying it. I have met some great people from other countries who are also here as part of the Kodak Team, and I am really enjoying meeting some wonderful South Africans too, as you can tell from the photograph above. These girls are the very ones who checked me in to this wonderful hotel. This one was simply grabbed with my new Kodak Slice camera. I am loving my new Playsport too!

I will do what I can to keep you up to date as I travel. But for now, I have to get my gear together. There is a game tonight...apparently...

Film Noir Workshop

2010-06-10T10:30:00.002+10:00

Little did I know that she had brought two friends with her...Smith, and Wesson....

"It was a dark and stormy night. I had a date with destiny and her name was Trouble. I got in my car and headed for the station. I was there to meet a dame - the kind of dame that takes a man's heart and breaks it like a toy. The kind of dame that makes you come back so she can break it again and you feel something for a change. It doesn't matter that it burns your insides up worse than cheap Scotch.

She loomed through the fog like a dream that becomes a man's worst nightmare. I was waiting for her. Little did I know she'd brought two friends with her - friends by the name of Smith and Wesson..."

Ok, ok ok...enough of me waxing dime novel lyrical. I'll stick to photography, shall I? Ah, but last night's Creative Photo Workshop Film Noir event was wonderful, even if I say so myself. Glynn and I were on our game last night, and our models Taisen Blackwolf and Natasha Humble could not have been better chosen for their roles. Donned in the getup of the 40's film noir movies and lit by two continuous FotoBestway heads, they looked the part in the mist generated by our recently acquired fog machine.
The first order of the day was to instruct everyone to set their jpegs in the camera to monochrome. If they were going to shoot in RAW as well, they would have a colour image to boot. But learning to shoot and see in black and white was a serious part of what Glynn and I wanted to convey last night. It is a wonderful and eye-opening thing to learn.

As our customers also learned, Film Noir is one of those photo genres where what you don't light is more important than what you do. Its about creating mystery with darkness, and allowing the imagination to wander therein. For photographers, its about metering for the highlights and using the camera in manual mode. For our customers it was about learning, and enjoyment - the two essential parts of every workshop we run.

Abbottsford Convent was the perfect venue for this shoot because of it arches, collonades and textures. Its classic staircase also made an accurate setting for our opening setup, and after that we did not need to wander far to create a diversity of Film Noir images. We use the Abbottsford Convent for the majority of our Melbourne events, but last night it came into its own.

I have to say that I enjoyed last night's event very much. I always enjoy running our events, but some more than others, I have to say. Last night was one of those. It was very satisfying. I am pleased that our customers went home with images straight out of their cameras, images that didn't need PhotoShop or Lightroom to make them happen. That should be the way of it as often as possible. Composing and metering in camera to create an image to the degree possible while on location is at the heart of the satisfied photographer. There is something about looking at a complete image on the back of your camera and realising that you have created a masterpiece, right there, right then. At the very heart of all we teach lies that very principle. We hope you can come along sometime to see how possible it is, and how very satisfying.

A Digital Life

2010-06-08T11:31:00.004+10:00

TEAM CPW
Back Row Left to Right: Richard Ingram, Casey Hamblin, Kerry Sumner, Tamara Bodor, Adam Davidson, "Aunty" Jan Hannasky, "Guru" David Oakley, the fabulous Nathan Muller. Front Row, Left to Right: Shelton Muller, Glynn Lavender, Natasha Humble, Amanda Anderson, Keith Anderson.Absent: Bruce Williams, Meryn Pratt, Kellie Webster

Thank you to ALL of you!
Photo: Richard Annable

The past weekend was so incredibly busy, and so incredibly rewarding at the same time. The annual PMA photographic industry Expo was held in Melbourne and Creative Photo Workshops was there. We worked solidly from Thursday to Sunday, setting up our stand and then catering for the thousands who thronged towards it.

To give you some background, I have been pitching the idea of having photography opportunities at the Expo for some years. Each year I have watched as members of the public turn up for the Expo with cameras in hand - and nothing to photograph. I have wanted for so long to give them that experience. This year, it happened. And it happened BIG.

Me on Radio 3AW at the Expo

PMA Australia gave Creative Photo Workshops a 6x19 metre stand and a carte blanche chance to make it work. They gave us furniture, and we supplied the rest. It was a great opportunity and we were not going to miss the chance to show the industry what exactly is needed to perpetuate itself - people taking photographs, and loving it.

If not for our wonderful friends, Glynn and I simply could not have managed. Once our studio was setup and the speakers sounded out the invitation to come and take some photographs, hundreds of people at a time would visit the stand. Without the wonderful assistance of Meryn Pratt, David Oakley, Kerry Sumner, Adam Davidson, Jan Hannasky, Natasha Humble, Richard Ingram, Richard Fryberg, Bruce Williams, Tamara Bodor , Kellie Webster and my fabulous son, Nathan, we simply would have fallen apart. And I am still overwhelmed with gratitude that these lovely people gave up so much of their time to be a part of what we were doing.

Each day had three mini workshop sessions in rotation, and each were as popular as the next. People surrounded our demonstration studio area to learn and to take photographs for themselves. It was wonderful, and I have to admit feeling a strong sense of validation about my desires to have an event like this finally take place at the annual photographic expo. Some of the photographs that people were taking were simply beautiful, thanks to the lighting provided by FotoBestway and the tuition of our CPW Team. A special thanks also to our models, two of whom have experienced CPW madness before and decided to come back for more, namely Sarah Hardy and Taisen Blackwolf. Thanks also to Jessica, Chloe, Emily, Danny, Deanne who came along for the fun and provided great faces for our customers.

If you want a taste of the madness and fun that ensued, have a look at the videos that our mulitmedia Guru, David Oakley, has put together for us....just to give you an idea...

My son, Nathan had his own experience at PMA, having won the PMA Young Achiever of the Year award for Victoria. I am so proud of my son simply for being the person he is. But it is wonderful to see him rewarded for his qualities and for his secular potential from key figures and businesses within the photographic industry. He was so gracious in defeat when he missed out on the National Award that it made me even more proud to be his father. I also know that he lost by a very, very small margin. At his young age he is earning the respect and admiration he deserves. As photo industry marketing Guru, Bill McCurry said to me "Give that boy a microphone and he has the room in the palm of his hands.Three of him and I could retire to the life I want to become accustomed to.."

All in all, this year's PMA Expo was an incredible success. I am exhausted, I have to tell you. But I am excited. It was an incredibly rewarding experience at a profound personal level.

Studio Lighting Workshop, Winter Series

2010-05-30T11:00:00.007+10:00

Model: Anthea Langenbacher

Model: Davjis Andonov

There is more to being a photographer than just the constant learning. There has to be fun. There has to be an experience. There have to be images. For this reason part of the business that I run with Glynn Lavender is about creating opportunities for photographers to have those things. EchucaPalooza was our first among these and we are repeating it this year. But our Summer Series and Winter Series have proven very popular as they are evening events that provide photographers with a learning and creative experience. Last Wednesday evening was our Studio Night, an evening in which Creative Photo Workshops provided an opportunity to shoot and learn the basics of studio lighting.

Rather than hire a well appointed studio for this event, Glynn and I simply hired the Yellow Room at Abbottsford Convent. That way, no one gets the feeling that studio lighting is beyond them. We are saying in reality that anyone can do it, provided you have a little bit of space. So, we set up a portable backdrop and three FotoBestWay continuous lighting heads with shoot through umbrellas. Starting with one light and working up to three, we highlighted the value of shadow in a portrait, as well as separation from the background using rim and hair lighting. Our models were Anthea Langenbacher and Davjis Andonov. The contrast between Anthea's sweet young face and Davjis' silent masculinity added to the lighting experience, highlighting the different approaches needed not only between male and female portraiture but also in the atmosphere, feel and texture needed for each individual. Those who attended enjoyed the difference, learned much and got a chance to create images that otherwise may have eluded them.

These events arise as a result of my own reflections on learning my craft, remembering the journey that photography has been for me. I was 16 when I bought my first SLR camera - a Minolta SRT 101. Even though it was it was about 10 or 12 years old, I was so excited. It was a heavy, clunking metallic masterpiece that I loved. It gave me no automatic options and it taught me much, but it simultaneously represented the potential of an exciting future filled with creative opportunities and adventures. That part has come true for me in ways I could never have imagined and there is still more to come. But I also understand that my own desires at that time are the same as those who buy DSLR cameras today. We are all looking for something to photograph, an opportunity within which to create wonderful images. Creative Photo Workshops is as much about that as we are about teaching. Without the fun, what is the point after all?

Brisbane and Gold Coast Workshops

2010-05-29T09:53:00.001+10:00

Well, I am back from Queensland. Phew! What a week that was! Glynn and I are tired, but excited. It was a wonderful week of workshops, photography, friends and frustrations. The problem with returning from a week of workshops is having to catch up with everything you would have been doing while you were away, plus the work you have to do, and a strong desire to update your blog. And if you don't update your blog relatively soon, then the whole exercise of updating it is moot. The very news you want to write about gets stale. So, dear readers, forgive me for not having updated sooner.

But, yes, I am back from Brisbane and the Gold Coast, having run Creative Photo Workshops events with Glynn in both those places. Ah, Queensland. Beautiful one day, raining the next. At least that's what it was for us. I suppose you have to give it some credit. It is winter after all. What was funny (if that's what you want to call it) is that when we wanted sun for our workshops, we got clouds. When we wanted clouds, we got sunshine. Oh well....that's ok. We make it work. After all, photographers need to adapt to the prevailing conditions. It doesn't work the other way round.

Glynn and I went north to run our Natural Light People Photography workshops, our Creative Flash Photography workshops and our Emerging Nymph evening sessions, complete with fire spinners, models in swimsuits, a lawyer in a tuxedo playing a cello in the ocean and a very handsome male model standing in the incoming tide complete with his guitar. Yeah, you had to be there.

Our week was fraught with one recurring problem - models who believe that its ok to leave a business in the lurch. With rare exception each model who had agreed to be a part of our workshops cancelled - one by one, day by day. Having to locate a model for a workshop one half hour before you begin is not something you plan for. The lack of professional behaviour on the part of some of these young men and women was incredibly frustrating. We are very grateful to those models whose word was good. Rob, Kristina and Emily - thank you. Thank you to Anthony, Karleigh, Pirate, Rebecca, Jenaye, and FireTrybe Nation for making our events possible with your presence and your performances. To all the rest of you who think its ok to leave a business in the lurch - No thank you. Not ever again. If I were a lesser person there would be comments on your Model Mayhem pages that would not be complimentary.

On the other hand, our customers (aka Friends of CPW!) were wonderful! Not only did they make our entire adventure possible, they made it fun and friendly. When our models failed to show, they knew people who knew people, and models were rounded up. They helped us out with lighting stands and helped carry gear. They learned and participated with eagerness and open minds and made our time there simply wonderful. We thank you so much for your kindness and support. And, we look forward to returning for more madness before the year is out.

Every workshop we run is different. It may have a recurring theme and its educational principles will remain unchanged, but the locations, models, lighting, images and atmosphere change every time. When we tour with workshops, we are compelled to pull rabbits out of hats sometimes, utilising unfamiliar locations, looking for light, coming up with ideas for images so that the techniques we teach can be created and shown. This was certainly the case with our workshops in Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Me? I don't mind a bit. What is comforting is knowing that the principles we endeavour to sound down - that great images can be seen and created everywhere - are true. Our workshops are proof of that. From Los Angeles parking lots to Convents, motel courtyards and average homes, our workshops prove that with the right understanding of light, composition and exposure, wonderful images are everywhere to be seen and created. If you are not sure of what I mean, well, ....looks like you need to come along sometime....

Creative Flash Photography Workshop using Flash Wave III

2010-05-18T14:47:00.000+10:00

One of our most popular workshops was held at Abbottsford Convent on Saturday. Our Creative Flash Photography workshop is designed to help people understand flash from the ground up. In fact, it is designed to do more than that. It helps photographers see that flash is a powerful lighting tool that can transform their vision and their photographs.

The morning presentation is about the technicalities of flash - understanding guide numbers and calculating exposures, seeing the potential of flash both on and off camera and utilising it to transform their photographs into lighting masterpieces. We deal with the technicalities and principles of flash in a way that I do not believe many others would. First of all, we talk about Guide Numbers, a concept largely forgotten in a TTL photography world. But understanding how it is used to calculate flash exposure is vital if you are going to be versatile as a photographer and enabled to use any flash in any situation. Once understood, it enables any photographer to buy a generic flash and calculate the correct f-stop settings and ratios for any flash unit. Our lovely model for the day was Azra Dedic and her surprisingly willing boyfriend, Alister.

Recently, Creative Photo Workshops has started using Flash Wave III remote triggers and receivers for our workshops. These units are very reliable and very well built and a set of them will cost you about one third of the price of two PocketWizards. Like PocketWizards, they can also be used to fire your camera remotely. They are also a little smarter than PocketWizards because the receiver has a hotshoe mount built into it, meaning that the flash can actually sit on the receiver. With Pocket Wizards, your flash needs to have a PC connection from which it can dangle quite precariously. They are new to Australia but they can be bought here and here. Contact me if you wish to know more about them. Better yet, come to one of our Creative Flash Photography workshops or our Advanced Flash Photography workshops and use them yourself!

MeaWannaShootaLotta - Day 5

2010-05-14T16:01:00.002+10:00

Ok..So that I can get on with other news, allow me to finish blogging about our wonderful time in and around Queenstown. Where are we? Oh, yeah. Day 5.

Well, day 5 started with a handful of us deciding that it was our last morning, so no matter the weather, we were all up for some sunrise landscapes. Would there be a sunrise, per se'? Well it didn't really matter. We knew there would be light, and that is all you need to create an image. The rest is just adaptability. As you can imagine, the lake was now very full. Queenstown had been all over the New Zealand news with fears of flooding, and there we were, right smack bang in the middle of all that commotion trying to run a workshop. But, as I have said, 'advantage through adversity' is what we learned and I believe that we gained more from it than what we would have had the weather situation been bright and sunny. So, Mike, Brett, Greg and I headed out in the early morning drizzle to find some foreground interest. And we did. We found it, we moved it into place, we made it happen.

After our brief but successful shoot, We met the well rested others who were already into their first coffee at Joe's Garage. The day ahead was looking very unpredictable. The weather was not looking like it was going to improve.

Thankfully, Glynn had arranged with one of the interesting venues where we had eaten for us to return and do some photography there. It was an interesting bar with great light and interesting options. So, after picking up our models, we made our way there. We immediately set about establishing some off camera flash photographs, while a small group went with Mike for a walk around town. There were floods to photograph after all!

After lunch we made our way to the ruins. I had arranged for Nicky Bodle, one of the models from a previous day, to join us at the ruins that afternoon complete with her wedding dress. You see, I had an idea for some photographs. Nicky came, complete with bridal dress and a flower in her hair.

By the time she arrived we had established a strobe setup that gave us some wonderful rim lighting within the ruins. Working with German model, Claudia Pommer, we were very quickly taking some beautiful images. I was very excited. Its not every day you have a beautiful model in an old ruin creating some beautiful back lit images. I do love my rimlighting....When Nicky arrived, we were ready for her also. It was a great shoot and some of my favourite images from the tour were taken in that final hour of the entire week of workshops.

Our workshop officially ended at 5pm, but we all decided to go to the top of the mountain overlooking Queenstown. So, we boarded the Gondola and braved the cold. Reaching the viewpoint, we set up our tripods and waited for the changing light, the setting sun and the twinkling of city lights. We were cold and slightly crazy, but we were having a great time.

MeAWannaShootaLotta was a great trip. It was fraught with exhausting demands, especially on Mike, Glynn and myself, but we were rewarded for our efforts. For those of us staying on, we still had Milford Sound and the drive to Christchurch to go. But the tour itself was wonderful. I am looking very much forward to the same time next year when we can go back and repeat the madness. This time, I won't be hoping for anything in terms of the weather. I know what can be done in that part of the world, no matter what gets served up.