Crash Course: Quick & Dirty Portraits

ATTENTION: This class will be offered as scheduled, but we will start the class using an online, live-streaming platform. This will allow us to do full LIVE teaching, with realtime interaction and a thru-the-lens camera view for demonstrations. We are excited to offer this class at a discount in response to challenges faced by the health emergency.

Description

Making a great portrait doesn't necessarily require expensive gear.  Take for example one of the most famous portraits of all time, Steve McCurry's Afghan Girl, shot for the cover of National Geographic in 1985 using only a 35mm camera and natural light.  It's not the tools themselves that do the job, but rather the mind creating with them.  In this illuminating Crash Course we'll help you to observe, visualize and control natural light, demonstrating how light and shadow, as well as different focal lengths, affect the dimensions of the human face.  You'll get valuable practice photographing people and learn to put subjects at ease.  Make vivid portraits a part of your everyday.

COVID-19 UPDATE: Using live video demonstrations, guided feedback to exercises, screen-sharing for slides and illustrations, and submitted assignments, we’ll be able to translate the great majority of the content from this class to the online format, and develop exciting new content for the medium as well. We look forward to the challenge, and we hope you do too!

Who should take this class?

Anyone who wants to learn how to make surprisingly awesome portraits quickly, easily and without a lot of fancy equipment.

What to prepare?

Make sure to have a working laptop or desktop with a webcamera, or an tablet/smartphone, and a good internet connection.  We will send you an invite to join the class, along with instructions and a number you can call if you have technical issues.  You might want headphones.  Charge camera batteries and make space on your camera's memory card. 

Prerequisites

Understanding of manual exposure control.  It is recommended to take an intro class like Crash Course: Camera Basics, 1-Day Workout: Camera Warm-Up! or Digital Photo I: The Basics prior to taking this class.