The Transformative Power of Photography Workshops: Boosting Your Photography Skills and Business Through Workshops

If you subscribe or if you attempted to download last week's episode , when you did there was probably an annoying ticking sound in the background which just made listening impossible . I apologize for that . I inadvertently uploaded the wrong version of last week's episode .

That version had been deleted and re-recorded with that sound removed , but I uploaded the incorrect version . Anyway , that episode has been taken down and the re-recorded episode that is much less disturbing is now up . If you want to catch last week's episode , please go into where we subscribe to get your podcast and you'll see it there .

Okay , let's move on to this week's episode . Today we're going to be talking about workshops , in particular , the transformative power of workshops . Now , if you've been listening for a while , you know I am heavy into continuing education for photographers . You never stop learning . You simply can't .

In this week's episode we're going to talk about the value and the power of transformative workshops that influence and actually change and they should change the way you work . You also know that in my discussions about education for photographers .

I've talked about the problems that many of us have , that we dedicate our time , effort and our money to attending conferences and workshops and then you know , when it's all over , we actually question was this a smart move ?

So in today's episode , we're going to talk about that , and we're going to talk about the rapidly evolving world of photography and how workshops should keep you relevant and should help you hone in your skills as a photographer while keeping you current . Let's get started . Welcome to Clued Up with Maria B , the behind the scenes photography podcast .

Clued Up is your insider's view to building successful magazine style photo shoots . We talk design and concept , fashion and style , tech , social media and , of course , business , plus so much more , including how to avoid common photography pitfalls . You'll also meet some special guests who work behind the camera and in front of the lens .

Whether you're an aspiring photographer , a portrait photographer , thinking about starting your own business , or you just have an interest in what it takes to plan and execute professional shoots , you've come to the right place . I'm your host , maria B .

Now let's get you Clued Up , okay , so let's start with the fact that , in this rapidly evolving world of photography , staying relevant and honing in on your skills is paramount to your success and to your business .

In today's world , anyone with a couple of dollars in the bank , anyone with a major credit card , can walk into the store , purchase a high priced camera , purchase a really good lens or a couple of lenses and poof .

They're calling themselves a professional photographer , but we know that what separates a true pro from someone who can simply afford expensive gear is the education and the understanding , both in the art and in the science of photography .

Among the self study programs and the online tutorials that we all do and most of which we tend not to complete , attending workshops is an invaluable experience that can easily easily elevate and inspire your craft as well as your career , raising the quality of your work as a photographer .

Workshops , in particular , should be immersive learning experiences that offer photographers a unique opportunity to gain insights , exchange ideas , as well as foster sense of community . In this episode , we're going to talk more about that experience .

We're going to explore the importance of attending workshops for photographers and see how these transformational experiences can shape your artistic journey and improve your business . So there are a few things that I kind of consider these the foundations of a good workshop in terms of their structure or what they should accomplish .

So the first thing is knowledge expansion . Workshops provide a concentrated , structured learning environment , or they should .

Workshops allow you , the photographer , to delve deep into various aspects of your crafts , especially when these workshops are led by seasoned professionals and industry experts who share their wealth of knowledge , their tips , their tricks and , probably the most important thing , their experiences .

Through workshops , you , as a photographer , should gain hands on and yeah , hands on experience in new techniques , in cutting edge equipment , and you should explore , or attending a workshop can potentially provide you the experience of exploring different genres of photography . Notice before I said hands on experience .

You should not attend a workshop if that means that you are sitting around watching and then you get up to take a photo of the subject that's being photographed , so that you and every other attendee end up having the same photo .

A workshop should be an immersive experience and it should be hands on , and you're going to hear me say that a lot in this episode .

If you're attending a conference and part of that conference happens to be workshops , I'd be a little bit leery , because a workshop and a conference , they should be structured differently , and when workshops are part of a conference , I sort of question if you are getting the true value out of that workshop , but I'm going to talk more about that later as well .

Getting back to the point about knowledge expansion , workshops should open your mind and it should . Workshop should expand your creativity and your techniques . The best workshops change your approach to photography . The second thing that a workshop should do it should widen your network and it should provide you with the opportunity for collaboration .

Workshops bring together like-minded individuals . Attendees tend to share that same passion for photography .

You develop camaraderie and you develop connections during these workshops and this can lead to fruitful collaborations after the workshop is over , and in some cases it can lead to friendships or photography friendships , basically because you're meeting people who are the same point in their photography career as you are .

Workshops allow you to interact with your fellow photographers , with your instructor , instructors and even potential clients , because once you know photographers , when you need a photo taken of yourself , your business , who are you going to go to ? Obviously someone who you know , and you get to experience the quality of their work .

So workshops again provide interaction with your fellow photographers , with your instructors , and provide potential for clients . Workshops expand your professional network and it can open the door to new projects and ventures , collaborations and even getting your new portrait or your new head shot taken by a fellow photographer .

When workshops are small , well organized and well structured , you also have the opportunity to speak with instructors one on one . Listen , not everyone likes to get up in front of the room and ask a question or make a comment . Workshops tend to be more conducive to those who are intimidated by crowds or who may just be shy .

Often you can just speak to an instructor on the side . You can ask them a question directly . But what I found is that people who don't like to speak up generally have some great ideas or ask some really interesting questions .

So when you get your instructor off to the side and in your low tone , almost shy voice , you ask this brilliant question , usually whoever's running the class says you know that's a great question , and then they talk to the class about what you asked and you get some re , some affirmation that your ideas are good ideas or that your questions or are good questions

. And probably what happens frequently is that that question is something that almost everybody else wanted to ask , but you're the one who went to the instructor , the person leading the class and asked it . So small , intimate workshops tend to provide an atmosphere more conducive to exchange of ideas , either between instructors and attendees or between photographers .

The other thing about workshops is that they provide creative inspiration , or they should . The collective energy of a workshop environment can , and should , spark your creativity .

When you're interacting with diverse perspectives , the perspectives of your fellow attendees , and you see their work , it can give you a fresh inside a fresh perspective , and it can give you inspiration , and that can cause you to break away from your regular routine of doing things .

In other words , it'll cause you to step out of that self restricted comfort zone that you've been living in for quite some time , and this can lead to break breakthroughs in your artistic expression and help you develop your unique photographic style .

So here's the next thing that you should get from an immersive , well structured photography workshop you should get constructive criticism and feedback . The best workshops include review sessions , where attendees can receive constructive criticism on their work , not only from the instructor , but also from fellow attendees .

Honest feedback from instructors and your peers will help you to identify your strengths as well as areas that you need to improve . Embracing feedback with an open mind can accelerate your growth and fine tune your artistic vision .

The last workshop I was in , the instructor , as well as my peers , criticized constructively the difficult time I have in giving direction and asking for expression . Now , this is a problem I've often had in the past and it continues to be a problem and it continues to be something that I work at .

And this is personality related because I'm the type of person who , instead of asking , I'll always do myself , and I think that sort of translates when it comes to asking people to pose or asking them to give me a certain expression as they're in front of my camera .

I'm not someone who is totally comfortable in asking people to do things and unfortunately for me , that can transpire into my photography until I am totally , am totally comfortable with that person .

So I accepted their criticism and , knowing that it's a problem that I already have , I was actually kind of glad to hear someone else observe that in me because I know it in myself . But the fact that other people can see it just raised my level of awareness even more .

In addition to the criticism , of course , you also want to point out the positives and one of the things that the both the instructor and other attendees talked about was the quality of my work , and that's just a sign of validation that you know I am getting that right . And it's not a matter of getting it right oh , I'm good at it .

It's a matter of I get that right . I need to maintain getting it right and I need to even take it up another notch , because you can always improve , even with the things that you do well .

Superior workshops not only provide feedback from the instructors to the attendees , but , as I said a little while ago and it's worth noting here you also should get feedback from your peers .

You should critique each other's work , offering observations about their strong points and their areas of weakness , because that's the only way that , or it's one of the ways that we grow . The best workshops don't stop there . These workshops want to know what they got right , where and how they can improve the workshop for future attendees .

And they also want to know if , knowing what you , the attendee , knowing what you know at the end of the workshop , would you have still signed up for it , would you have still attended , would you attend another workshop offered by that person or that or those people , and what would you do differently if you ran the workshop .

If you ever attend a workshop and you have the opportunity to give feedback , please do , because that's the only way things change . It's only when people know that something needs to be changed will they change it . Your perspective , your feedback , is an invaluable asset to the instructors and to the planners of the workshop .

Be honest about what you liked and what you did not like . Let them know where you think improvement can be made and let them know what's done so well . Just keep it . Don't touch it , because that happens too .

If you attend a workshop or a conference and there's no opportunity to provide feedback , I'd seriously consider that a red flag because on some level , it's showing that the people who give the workshop they don't really care what you thought about it and they're just going to repeat the same thing and there isn't going to be any improvement or any changes .

And that's another thing . It doesn't always necessarily have to be an improvement . It can be something logistic , like break time , lunch time , doing something in the morning session versus doing it in the afternoon , those types of things . So any little bit of feedback that you can give to the instructor or to the people who plan a photography workshop .

Take the opportunity to do so and , as a matter of fact , even if they don't formally ask for your feedback , there's nothing wrong with sending an email thanking them for the workshop and just gently making some suggestions . If you think there is something that needs to be changed or improved , okay .

Next , the next thing that a workshop should do and we've kind of beat around the bush about this a little bit that is , a workshop should provide personal growth and boost your confidence as a photographer . Attending workshops should and will encourage you to confront challenges and to push your boundaries . Most of those boundaries are self-imposed .

The act of learning in a supportive and nurturing environment will build your confidence and foster your personal growth . This newfound assurance that you're going to feel , that you're going to find it's going to be reflected in your work and , ultimately , it should elevate the quality of your photography .

Consider taking workshops and things that are outside of your comfort zone , things you're interested in but you kind of don't know exactly where to start . So , for example , let's say you're a portrait photographer but you'd like to branch into Boudoir .

Or let's say you were a portrait photographer and people have asked you to do wedding photography and you keep saying no , I know this well because this is me . Take a workshop in wedding photography . It doesn't mean you're necessarily going to do it , but you've got nothing to lose if it's a well-run , well-structured workshop .

You're going to learn and whatever you learn it's going to be applicable to what you already do and you may find that once you've done a lot of work , you may find that once you've done a workshop , you may have the courage to then become a second shooter for a wedding photographer , and once you really get your feet wet , you may just want to try this out

on your own , anything that's of interest to you , given how many workshops are made available to photographers .

But just make sure it is well-structured , it's got good reviews , or even if you can speak to someone who attended classes given by that particular instructor , that particular photographer , and find out if they enjoyed it , if they learned , if they thought it was worth both their time and their money .

And this is how you can constructively branch out and gain confidence and personal growth in a new genre or a new aspect of your photography , a new area of your photography . Next , workshops are a great place to keep pace with industry trends . As I said in the beginning . We all know how quickly the world of photography changes . Right .

There are evolving trends , advancements in technology . Workshops often cover a lot of these latest developments and a lot of emerging techniques in a given genre . This helps you to either stay with or stay ahead in what is arguably a competitive field . Adapting new trends ensures that your work remains relevant and that it resonates with a contemporary audience .

So , having said that , you should always make any trend your own and not just follow what that trend is during a given time , because trends are just that trends , and some of them fall out of favor after a certain amount of time . So when something is trending , don't just do it because it's what everybody else is doing .

Learn to put your unique spin on it and make it your own . So , while at the workshop , you may learn the nuts and bolts , you want to take what you've learned and apply it to your particular photography style . So here's an example . When I started photographing portraits , I kept to the guidelines of the person who I was following online .

The pose is extremely beautiful , very professional and , I would say , very traditional . When I started looking closely at other photographers whether it was on Facebook or Instagram , or you start following someone and then you go to their website , it kind of became obvious that many of us were following the same person because the poses they all looked alike .

And a workshop is a great place to explore the non-traditional . Again , it's an expansion , it's a growth in a way . So , while there are elements of traditional posing that will always be pleasing to the eye , you see this with younger photographers that they explore more . They stay away from that old portrait type of look . Their portraits are indeed more modern .

So one of the things about a workshop , again , is that it is a great place to keep up with trends and break out of the traditional , if you can , all right .

So some of the things I'm going to talk about next have to do with the types of workshops you should avoid , or elements of a workshop that I would think would just make you question whether or not you want to invest your time and your money .

As I've said numerous times , like many of you , I've attended workshops and questioned both the expense and the time that I've invested , or time and money that I've lost . You consider it a loss if you don't perceive you've gained a true value from this , from attending a workshop .

So over time I've come up with what I now consider red flags when it comes to workshops . These are not absolutes , they're just based on my personal experience .

If you're attending conferences to be in that setting , you know the big conference , hundreds of people , sort of like an expo , with a lot of businesses , a lot of vendors making stuff available to you for purchase . That is one experience . Workshops are another experience . Workshops are for what I call deep learning .

So you want to avoid or I try to avoid workshops that are parts of conferences , because usually you have hundreds of people and okay , so hundreds may be an exaggeration , but the workshops tend to have a lot of people . So there's that lack of intimacy , there's that lack of one-on-one , one-to-one interaction with your instructor .

You lose all of that once a workshop is passed a certain number of students . So if you're going to a conference , go to a conference . Please , don't go to a conference for the sake of attending a workshop , because it's really rare that that's going to work . There are too many distractions for you to really get the value that you're looking for .

The amount of education you can receive from a conference or I don't know , a mega conference tends to be associated with the number of people attending , and the truth of the matter is that it's an indirect relationship . Again , the bigger , the larger the number of participants , the actual less learning occurs .

There's little one-on-one attention to you or your specific needs or your specific questions .

And even if you happen to grab someone's attention , they're usually in a hurry to get to their next speaking engagement or to answer the question of the person waiting behind you , or they simply cannot give you the attention that you are looking for to properly answer the questions that you have . And that's not to . That Doesn't matter what the venue is .

Once you have a lot of people in a room , the noise itself is a major distraction . One-on-one conversations work better in quiet places Two people speaking with dozens , hundreds of people walking by . There's a loss in connection .

And at this point , when you attend a conference , what is your true comprehension when you've listened to three , four , five speakers in one day ? Really , I'm going to talk about this a little bit more in just a few moments . First , I want to avoid when attending workshops or workshops that are part of conferences .

I want to avoid a situation and I mean this now and I'm going to give you the reason why in a little bit . I want to avoid a situation where , as I've said before , you have one person speaking for a very long time and then everyone gets up with their camera to take the same photo of the same model wearing the same outfit .

We all essentially walk away with the same photo . Avoid workshops in which the person leading the workshop demonstrates something , takes some photos of the subject , the model , and then everyone attending the workshop now gets up and essentially takes the same photo .

Avoid workshops or avoid conferences that offer quote unquote portfolio building , in which you walk up to an area where you have a model , the settings for your camera are posted . Yes , you can give that model directions , but the person behind you is going to do the same thing that you did .

They're gonna walk up there , they're gonna get those settings for their camera , they're gonna have the model pose and you do this over like three minutes or two minutes or five minutes , whatever the amount of time and the person behind her . You get my point and you did the same thing as the person who was in front of you . That's not portfolio building .

When you build your portfolio , you design your concept , your use of colors , your use of mood , your use of lighting , the position of your lights hard lights , soft light , angled light , lights from overhead , side light , hair light , rim light that's portfolio building . Portfolio building reflects your style , your unique style as a photographer .

If I walk up to a particular station and I take a photo of a model and the person before me did the same thing and the person after me , how are we , as artists , building a portfolio when potential clients will see the same types of photos on various websites From both conferences and workshops that offer this type of portfolio building ?

These are point and shoot experiences . Use them for what they are , but you're not building a portfolio when you do this . Consider the cost Big conferences with so-called workshops they cost a lot . Your tickets tend to be anywhere from $1,000 , $1,500 and up , and that's before you get to travel expenses , hotels , renting a car or public transportation .

For the amount of money that you spend , you can attend workshops , probably for a significant amount of money less , for significantly less and instead explore and have an intimate learning experience that's well-planned , well-structured , allows for a lot of discussion and receive a lot of personal attention and critique of your work .

Consider your time when you attend large conferences , supposedly with workshops , or when you attend workshops and there are a lot of people you'd spend some amount of your time roaming through aisles reviewing what vendors have to offer , probably making some purchases that you would not have made had you not been there .

And if you're attending workshops and conferences for the sake of learning , why are you in a situation where , one , you're spending money more money than what you spent to get there and , two , you're kind of roaming up and down the aisles ? Yes , it's nice to see what's new . But if you're going to a conference for that , that's one thing .

Yes , go for that , there's nothing wrong with it . But again , if you're purpose in attending these educational modules , these educational events , is to learn to be a better photographer , having time to roam up and down the aisles , and all of this is strategically planned to get you to spend money . By the way , this is not mere coincidence , believe me .

When people put these events together , this has to do with psychological spending theory , whether it's before lunch , after lunch , giving people a certain amount of time in which they can freely roam through a venue to see what's available . All of this is planned out based on what we know about people spending habits .

There's a better chance you're going to spend money in the afternoon , after lunch , than when you first get up in the morning . That's why , when vendors set up , they tend to set up around lunchtime , because after lunch there's going to be enough time for you to explore before returning to class , before returning to your workshops .

All of this is structured and planned and , much like to say it , we tend to fall into the game , even though we know better . We tend to fall into the game . So , again , my point is if you're attending conferences for the sake of attending workshops and to really learn to be a better photographer , just be aware . None of this is wrong .

It just influences your mind and it takes away from your purpose of being there and , potentially , it takes away from you putting yourself in a position where learning is your primary focus .

The time spent walking through the venue and looking at all the vendors have to offer should be time dedicated to learning , but the plan is , while you're there , spend some money . So just please be aware . So , again , I'm not saying it's wrong to attend big conferences or workshops with a lot of attendees .

I'm just saying it's worth considering why you're going and if the reason is truly to improve your photography , smaller , intimate workshops may be a much better , a significantly better investment . All right , so as we start to wind down , I'm just going to give you a brief summary of what I consider the three best workshops I've ever attended .

The first was the Evolution Workshop in Venice in 2019 . This workshop was sponsored by Graphi Studio , and Graphi is the producer of all of my print products . Just as an aside and I know I've said this before any interaction with anyone from Graphi it is a one-on-one , a personal interaction much the way attending a workshop should be .

But you don't get put on the side and you don't get called back two days later . You get an immediate response . Even when you say you don't have to call me . You could just email that information .

I always get a call and I always speak to the same rep or I speak to other people in the company that I know , and it's very personal and I've said this before as well . Graphi does business with me and with other photographers , the way we should always do business with our clients .

It's a wonderful model , but just going on , this workshop really changed the way I saw photography , both as a photographer and as a business person , because I think it was the first time I actually saw the huge potential , not just in business , but in the effect that a photographer can have on the lives of their clients , how photography can change the way people

feel about themselves . How photography it's so weird to say , but it makes you value your family even more .

I Think the best way to put it is it makes you value the time with your family Even more , because your children are not who they were yesterday , you know , and they're not gonna be the same 10 years or 10 months or 10 days from now , and Photography just captures that moment .

And with graphy , their products are so remarkable it's it's Not turning this into an ad , but the quality of their work is such that it is one of the best ways to capture those precious moments with family or a particular event in your life or a celebration of yourself .

But this workshop in particular really strengthened my understanding of the power of photography . My second , or my other , one of my other favorite workshops was the fine art portraiture workshop in Milan , and that was in October of 2022 , and this was run by Sarah Edmonds and Dario Reghetto , and If you don't know Sarah Edmonds , please go find her .

She is an incredible artist . I can't even say she's a photographer . She's just an incredible artist . She makes artistry Out of photography , which I know it's its own art , but I I just see her as an artist . Her love of photography , it's certainly obvious and it's infectious . And this group there were four other attendees other than me .

I believe we were supposed to be 10 , but even 10 is not a lot of people . It was a very intimate setting . It was held at cross studio , milan , and it was just Intimate and I know I keep using that word , but it was as though you were the only person there . It was not a large group of people , people speaking over each other , you , you .

I actually felt like I was cared for , which is such a weird thing to say , right , but there was that sense that these people Recognized that you were there to learn and they provided you with every opportunity to do that .

So of course , there was Sarah , there was Dario Also in attendance , other than the attendees , were Jeff Gabriel , a gentleman from Canada , who was the videographer , and then we had models and the makeup artists , and it was a very relaxed , comfortable environment to be in .

It was well worth crossing the Atlantic and I I can't speak highly enough of that experience , both in terms of the detail in the details provided by Sarah as she guided us through Discussing her concepts , a lighting setup and a lot of time about post-production and just Elevating what an already outstanding photograph looked like and elevating that to fine art .

So that was definitely one of my favorite workshops . And then no discredit to the other two , but my my now favorite workshop of all time I attended in April of this year , 2023 , and and that was by Simone Diaz , and this workshop was held and I'm not kidding you seven minutes walking distance from my home .

So the story behind that , I think it was in March our friends of mine a photographer friend of mine called miss Orlet Pearson McCall of an excellent photographer in her own right . She called me about attending this workshop and my response to her was well , I'll think about it .

And that was because , you know , early in 2023 , most of us still trying to recover economically from the damage from COVID , the damage to our businesses from COVID and I had done the the trip to Milan in 2022 , october , so this was like less than six months from that . I Really was not looking for or looking to attend anything this year .

So I originally told or or let . I would think about . Once . I went to Simone Diaz's website and I saw his work . I was all in . Even if had been further away and it cost more , I would have found my way there . His work is absolutely amazing . There were four of us in this workshop . It was very casual , but I learned so much .

I Don't want to give away Simone's teaching plan , but I will say that was undoubtedly the most Educational based workshop I . You know . We had a short period on camera basics and we talked about color theory and developing a concept and strategy and so many other things , and this is what I mean by an immersive experience .

So we actually we , the four attendees we had to choose what our models would wear . We had to choose which models would wear what outfit . We had to choose the Appropriate backdrops for what the models would be wearing . We chose our own props or we brought our own props .

We decided on the best type of lighting depending on the mood that we were trying to convey . This is how you learn . You learn by doing . This was a complete immersion into portraiture , into studio portraiture . Again , each of us , each attendee , we ended up having our own selection of photos . No two attendees had the same photos . How could they ?

Because we all chose different outfits for our models and we chose different lighting and we chose different backdrops . This is portfolio building . This is portfolio building . So I walked away from this experience completely changed in terms of the level of detail in putting together a portrait shoot .

No other workshop had made me work as hard , but the level of satisfaction was beyond anything I had experienced before . This was a matter of learning how to produce professional portraits beyond what I had already been doing , and , dare I say I'm quite sure the other attendees would agree with that statement .

Because of this course , as I stated before , I started incorporating certain elements that I had not been using . I became more detailed in my planning and my conceptual conceptualization of photo shoots .

I started applying color theory , both in terms of moods and in terms of , you know , introducing certain colors and complementary colors and analogous colors into doing a photo shoot . I mean , I used to think about it before , but definitely not as deeply and not with as much detail as I now do , all because of that workshop .

So , whether it's this last workshop I attended , or Sarah Edmonds workshop , or workshops at Graphi particularly when there are not . You know a lot of people and you can maintain a more personal relationship both with your fellow attendees and with your instructors and the and planners .

That's valuable and I think the return on investment on those types of workshops are immense . So if you're considering attending a workshop , look for workshops that have those characteristics fully immersive , small in number of attendees , well structured like upfront , you can see what the plan is .

If you know other people who have taken the workshop that you're considering , get their their take on things , find out if you received feedback on your work . You know if the instructors provide you with feedback , if you're allowed to give feedback and structured criticism of the event , get your money's worth .

You know , I mean , I hate to say it that way , but yeah , get your money's worth . If you're going to put out the dollars , you should not walk away from a workshop and you should not work walk away from a conference questioning why did I spend so much money on this ?

Because what it really means is that you don't think you got the value for what you put out there . Okay , so just to sum up , attending workshops it's not a luxury , but it's a necessity for you as a photographer as you seek to continue improving your craft and improving the quality of your work . Your attendance at a workshop should increase your knowledge .

It should widen your network . It should provide you with creative inspiration . It should be transformative and , because it's transformative , it should propel you towards new heights of success as a photographer and as a business person . Try to embrace the opportunities that workshops offer in terms of your self discovery as an artist .

Workshops , again , they should be well structured , immersive and they should reshape your perspective on photography forever . The three workshops that I mentioned I'll be mentioning them five years , 10 years , whatever amount of time from now , because they stand out . Now . I've been to a lot of workshops . Okay , those are just three that I attended .

I've been to quite a lot , but I can honestly tell you that those three stand alone . There's no comparison with anything else I've ever been to , ever . So , whether you're a novice or a seasoned pro , investing in photography , workshops can influence and change you as a business person , but in particular and especially that they should change you as an artist .

Thank you for listening to this week's episode . Thank you .