Space is Limited. In the interest of quality learning, all PhotoTrainer classes have a low instructor-to-student ratio and are led by a professional working photographer (That's Me, Tom Upton!).
Workshops are held at PhotoTrainer World Headquarters
Jumpstart DSLR
at 616 Ramona Street, Suite 20 in downtown Palo Alto.
Jumpstart DSLR Deluxe
Jumpstart DSLR Explore
Lightroom Jumpstart 101
Point-n-Shoot Jumpstart
Digital Photography Camp for TeensConvert your digital camera from Pandora’s box to Your Camera Companion. This workshop is for anyone with a DSLR they want to know more about. Whether you are new to your camera or you've been avoiding each other for years, you can improve your understanding of digital photography and how your camera can serve your vision and needs with this workshop.
Here’s What We Do
~ Review key elements found quality great photographs.
~ Associate these qualities of good photos to the menus, buttons, dials, and thingies in and on your camera.
~ We map these many camera functions to your manual for quick and easy reference.
~ We provide a custom Jumpstart booklet so you can take pictures to learn instead of notes!
~1 to 4 instructor to student ratio (maximum of 8 students per class)Benefits
~ You become more comfortable with your camera.
~ You benefit from your camera's display features to learn as you go and to avoid or correct mistakes while you are shooting.
~ Your manual becomes an effective learning reference that’s oriented to you and your photographs, not just the camera.
~ You can look at a photograph you’ve taken and decide which key element needs attention and quickly find the remedy in the manual.
~ You can learn at your own pace from your camera, your manual, and the class booklet included in the workshop.$150 Back to the top or see dates
This class is in response to our students who want more time with their camera. It is the Jumpstart class described above but expanded to a six hours of instruction offered in one full day. This class is a result of our surveys and is offered to support those students who want more time to learn these concepts.
~1 to 4 instructor to student ratio (maximum of 8 students per class)
$225 Back to the top or see datesMost Requested! - DSLR Explore
We have surveyed and listened to our PhotoTrainer students and are proud to announce the DSLR Explore workshop. By far the most requested class is an all-day, hands-on lots-of-photography class. We literally take choice assignments from the Jumpstart course book chapters (Good Exposure, Good Color, Sharp Photos) and walk you through them. In the morning we quickly review good shooting habits, compositional concepts and then we go out and shoot photos concentrating on light quality and good exposures. We walk you through the settings and methods, whys and wherefores. We look over your shoulders and micro-manage. (Hey, it's got to be fun for us too!) We come back and review the images together.
We then buy you lunch.
And we come back to shoot more this time concentrating on sharp images and dynamics of focus. We also get into using WB settings and the color of light, with urban outdoor subjects and indoor natural light portrait demos. We even open the Pandora's Box of on camera flash fill. Then we look at images again together.
This class is designed for people who have taken the DSLR Jumpstart class previously OR for those who:
~ are comfortable with their cameras in [M] anual and [P] rogram modes.
~ have a basic understanding of the relationship between aperture and shutter speed.
~ want to gain experience with the full range of the modern DSLR cameras functions.If you have NOT taken the DSLR Jumpstart class, that is OK but I do want to interview you briefly prior to signup to ensure you will get the most from this class.
~1 to 3 instructor to student ratio (maximum of 6 students per class)
$315 Back to the top or see dates
NEW! - The San Francisco DSLR Explore
See the San Francisco the tourists do not. In this DSLR tour of the City we will visit murals on building walls and in churches, find the real crookedest street in SF. We will continue to practice the Way to Shoot for digital cameras and see how metadata, light and histograms work. We shall explore the part of the city thast did not burn I the great Quake of 1906.
~ Lunch is included ~
In the afternoon we will explore more interesting places off the beaten track, we will see Golden Gate bridge vistas that are less common. We will see how shoot panoramas that can be stitched together later.
This class will have a follow up evening for three hours on the Wednesday after the workshop. Everyone will bring 12 images from the Explore day’s photography and we will discuss them.
$375 Back to the top or see dates
NEW! - The Coastal DSLR Explore
We will start the day at Fiddler’s Cove on the south end of Pescadero State beach and shoot among the Rocks tide pools and what ever La Mer serves up to us in the morning. We will use tripods for good compositions and great depth of field. We will continue to practice the Way to Shoot for digital cameras and see how light and histograms work. We will also have time for mucho macro photography where many small creatures lurk in the tidepools.
~ Lunch at the world famous Duart’s Restaurant is included ~
Then we wend our way back through the redwood forest at Huddart Park. We will take on another aspect of nature photography, seeing how the deep forest modifies light and how to approach extreme ranges in contrast in a given scene.
This class will have a follow up evening for three hours on the Wednesday after the workshop. Everyone will bring 12 images from the Explore day’s photography and we will discuss them.
$375 Back to the top or see dates
PHOTOTRAINER SIGN-UP POLICY
Many dates sell out and I want to make sure you can get in. Please CHECK WITH ME FIRST to see if there is room in the class you want to take.
When you sign up for a class all sales are final. You will receive PhotoTrainer credit for any class you are unable to attend and have paid for.
I guarantee my workshop: if you are dissatisfied with the workshop, I will refund your money.
Remember CHECK WITH ME FIRST to see if there is room in the class.
9:00 AM to 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
9:00 AM to 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
9:00 AM to 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
9:00 AM to 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
9:00 AM to 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
(with Lunch)
(with Lunch)
Saturday March 27, 2010 -- 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
(with Wednesday evening followup)
Thursday April 22 (Earth Day!) -- 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
(with Wednesday evening followup)
9:00 AM to 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
See You Soon!
It's Back! - Point-n-Shoot Camera Jumpstart
Join us for our quarterly Point-n-Shoot Jumpstart. If you have a digital camera that has a permanently fixed lens, you have a point and shoot! These little critters are neither fish nor fowl in the Digital Photography world and can prove to be rather frustrating. Let us help you wade through the intimidating interface with all those Icons and Numbers. Let us separate the menu items from the buttons and dials and things on the outside. We will teach you how to move images from the camera to the computer using Picasa, iPhoto. How to format your memory cards, get your images organized, and show you some light editing techniques in Photoshop Elements. And we will throw in some good solid photography basics along the way.
$150 Back to the top or see dates
NEW! - Lightroom Jumpstart 101
Learn the basics of Adobe’s Photoshop Lightroom program. We have tested and tried many image organization and processing programs and we think Lightroom is a winner. Learn how to manage your photographs from the camera into the future. We will walk you through about how to edit, how to use the Library and Develop modules to get you and your images organized and looking great. We will demonstrate many of the features that make Lightroom unique and a must have program. Slide shows, web galleries, and printing.
$200 Back to the top or see dates
Photography Camp With a Pro
3 Day Workshop for Teens
This photography intensive is not your normal teen camp! Tom has created a class relevant for teens, serious about photography.
Based on the popular JumpStart DSLR workshop, this is an opportunity for your teenager to get 18 hours with a real professional and his assistant. In three days, rock solid, street fundamentals of camera work and printing in today's digital world are covered. We teach the "Way to Shoot", rooted in the fundamentals of photography: good exposure, strong composition, precise sharpness, and accurate color. This is a stop-and-get-off-the-bus tour of the digital camera.
In Adobe PhotoShop Elements 6, we also cover photo editing techniques for slideshows, prints, and more. We teach basic printmaking using common household color printers, as well as high-end, professional printers. Your teen creates a 10-image, 8x10 portfolio (yes, of your teen’s photos) and gets to be the hero on the yearbook staff or with those semester-end project presentations. We will also have some plain old fun with the joy of photography.
Lunches, snacks, course booklet and portfolio are included.
Space is limited to six students, ages 13-19. (Sorry, grown-ups, we'll offer this class for you, later in the year!)
Requirements: Students are required to bring a good laptop and Adobe PhotoShop Elements 6 (available for approximately $80 at Fry’s or Costco) for this class. Also required is at least a point and shoot camera. A DSLR camera is preferable. Although there are excellent uses for both point and shoot cameras and DSLR cameras, the better the camera your student has, the more your student will learn for future use.
~1 to 3 instructor to student ratio
(minimum of 3 and maximum of 6 students per class) Call a friend!
