We started off the morning with class time…

Then after lunch, headed off to get our studio strobe lighting on!  Once again, had gorgeous weather!  We hear it’s really rare for Phoenix to have clouds and thanks to the storms the day before, we had white, puffy, awesome clouds!!

We start off with us demonstrating how we do our lighting…

All of the images you’ll see have no Photoshop done to them.  The look that you see is achieved IN-CAMERA.

Same set up but using the neutral density filter… fun stuff!

And then we split off into 3 groups so everyone gets a chance to actually do their own lighting set up!

Here is me (Jody) with one of the groups. (Thanks Stacy for the images!).

Mike getting his metering on! :)

(you can see in the above shot what the natural light looked like when we shot the below images of Stacy!… Oooh the power of one strobe!)

A little behind-the-scenes fun :)

Joe, below, in the same lighting setup using a different lighting ratio.

Thanks Joe for rockin it out for us!

More fab images!

Here we have our fab assistant for the day, Wendy Roe being our human lightstand! :) Thanks for your help!!!!!!

Attendee Matt, getting his shoot on!

Near the end of the shoot, if we have time, we like to do a lighting setup adding a speedlight to the shot.  Everyone gathering around…

The result…

Zach showing everyone…

Everyone getting a chance to shoot!

Love this shot of Neezar :)

And finally, the group!

Thanks to Stacy, Jennifer & Gina & Joe for rocking it out for all of us and modeling!

And here is us with the oh-so-awesome Stacy & Joe :)  THANK-YOU BOTH FOR EVERYTHING!!

Again, such a great day, you all took AMAZING images and we can’t wait to see them all on your blogs!!!!!!!!!

Here’s to the next workshop stops!  We can’t wait to hit up the rest of the cities on the tour.  SEVEN of the days are completely SOLD OUT, so make sure to snag your seat before the rest of them go!  IN-CAMERA: Workshop Website.

We look forward to the future stops!!!!

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Each workshop day always begins with class time – teaching the concepts that we will later be putting into practice during the shoot time.

(Thanks to Stacy and Joe for taking some of these photos for us!)

Time for a little hands-on practicing with exposure and color using the Expo Disc!

After a lunch break, it’s time for the shooting portion!!  We initially started as one big group right outside Joe & Stacy’s home because we actually had some sun (it had hailed only 2 hours before and rain was in the forecast for later!) and we wanted to take advantage of the light while we had it!  So we got the adorable Joe & Stacy to pop in :)

After lunch and at the ASU campus, we split up into two groups and tackled the tips and techniques for getting phenomenal images right IN-CAMERA.  By this time we still had sun and we were able to shoot in a variety of natural light situations!!  Love it!  Thank God!

These photos were all shot like this same color, exposure, lighting and contrast IN-CAMERA! So awesome :)

Giving feedback!

Getting some awesome flair shots! :)

At one point we all gathered together to shoot one of our models using two reflectors…

Thanks to Joe Kokes & Wendy Roe for assisting us that day!!

Final image shot in some pretty dark and dismal light, but with the reflector it came out awesome!

The below shot was actually taken in some direct sunlight, and we demonstrated how using a diffusion panel to change the direction of the sunlight, can soften the light and create a killer portrait with no post-needed!

Our models Via & Jennifer were absolutely AMAZING!!  Thanks ladies!!!!!!

The last 15 minutes of the shooting time the rain came back with some heavy winds!!!!!!!  It was crazy walking back to the parking garage!!!  Many laughs were had… lol.

Then, the day ends with 2 hours of us going through our organization, culling, editing, and exporting process in Lightroom!

(photo compliments of the lovely iphone :)

We seriously, had such a great time with you all and feel like we gained new friends.  SO glad all of you came out and we look forward to seeing you again!!

We want to give a big shout-out to Amy Demos, pictured on the bottom row just left of Zach, for purchasing the very last seat of the workshop! The proceeds of that last seat sold, if we have a sell-out, go directly to Thirst Relief!!

Thirst Relief gives clean water to third-world countries and has saved the lives of thousands of children around the globe, and because of Amy buying that seat, we were able to give 150 people clean water for 25 years!! Want to get involved but don’t have a ton of cash to burn?? Go purchase a Thirst Relief t-shirt and save a life!!

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So, enjoy the video and then decide for yourself if the upgrade is worth it for you! If you are currently in Lightroom version 4, then the upgrade price has dropped down to only $79 which is really nice. You can check out Lightroom 4 HERE and grab it the download! If you are still using Photoshop to edit, then stop as fast as you can and start using Lightroom!! :) See you all next week!!

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At these events we are going to be sharing our 3 Steps To Cost Free Marketing. Each of these talks will be held at local photography groups in the below listed cites and are open to anyone and everyone! First up, is Phoenix THIS coming Thursday the 15th!

Where: Image Industry Photography & Design Studio - 7034 E Indian School Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85251

When: March 15th from 6:30 – 9:30pm

RSVP: PUG Facebook Event Page

Want to see what other cities we will be in with all the details?  Click HERE to go straight to our workshops page and click on Free Evening Event to see all the info! Be sure to sign RSVP to make sure that you can get a spot!!

Other Free & Open events:

Seattle, WA on 4/19

Atlanta, GA on 5/03

Destin, FL on 5/17

Vancouver, BC on 5/31

New York, New York on 6/14

We can’t wait to see you there!!

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Only those who are subscribed to our photography newsletter get to register FIRST.  They have 24 hours before registration opens on Wednesday to the public.

Make sure you’re signed up!

We are coming to:

PHOENIX, AZ

NASHVILLE, TN

SEATTLE, WA

CHARLOTTE, NC

ATLANTA, GA

DESTIN, FL

VANCOUVER, CANADA

NEW YORK, NY

It’s great to learn and better your photography, hang out and meet new photographers, but what if we told you that by attending our workshops YOU could actually make a difference in someone else’s life?

For those of you who may not be aware, since 2011 we have partnered our workshops with  Thirst Relief International.

Thirst Relief was started by a photographer, Jim Davis Hicks, who simply has a passion to help those that need help the most. Those who don’t have something as simple as clean water. One of the biggest causes of disease and death in third world countries, especially among children, is water-born illness. Children in these countries drink unclean water, get sick, and their fragile bodies can’t fight it off. Jim Davis realized that he could do something about this problem by bringing in sand filters that are easy to maintain by the locals and easy to use, and thus was born Thirst Relief. Every filter can last for up to 25 years and can help a community live longer lives by having clean water to drink, and they have now helped thousands around the world fix this problem! How cool is that?!

As we have been out speaking and meeting so many amazing photographers around the country, we have been asking the question, “do you want your life to be about something bigger than yourself?” And we have heard a resounding YES; all of us do!! We want our lives to impact others and help others. Nothing in life is more fulfilling than when you take your resources and help those that can’t help themselves. That can be anything from an encouraging word, loving someone who is hard to love, helping someone get treatment for drug or alcohol addiction, or simply giving a cup of clean water to a dying child. So, we ask you again. Do you want your life to be about something bigger than yourself? It can be!

One way that we are getting involved is through a brand new initiative from Thirst Relief called PLUS ONE.

Here is how it works. We have opened up one extra seat in all of our workshops that are the PLUS ONE Seats. If we sell all 16 seats for the workshop, then that final 16th seat is donated directly to Thirst Relief! It takes exactly $5 to give one person clean water for 25 years, and every time we sell that PLUS ONE seat we give $600 directly to Thirst Relief which in turn can help 120 children get the clean water they need! So, no matter what seat you may buy to one of our workshops, you are getting us closer to the goal of helping someone else!

This workshop tour has the potential to give almost TWO THOUSAND people (1,917 to be exact :) clean water for LIFE!  Be a part of the change that you want to see in the world!

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