Workshops
Back in September of 2017 I was gifted the chance to spend four days on Star Island on the Isle of Shoals with members of the NH Society of Photographic Artists. It was an amazing, awesome experience, and I wanted to share my story and some photographs that I made during that trip.
Read More
Oh, man, this is going to be awesome.
I've been asked to be the guest-photographer at this years Star Island Retreat put on by the New Hampshire Society of Photographic Artists. Star Island is part of the Isle of Shoals off the NH coast, and each year the NHSPA gets together to spend four days talking shop, sharing stories, experiences and shooting, and generally has a grand time making photographs and being surrounded and inspiring each other. Each year they have a "guest" photographer, and I've been invited to be the 2017 guest-photographer for this event! So awesome!
I'll be accessible for the four days on the Island; answering questions, shooting with others, and anything they need all while making photographs of my own.
I'm also going to dust off the "Portable Portrait" workshop, which has been on hiatus for a few years now. It will be a more condensed form of the workshop so I can fit a few of them in over the four days. I've never been on Star Island before, so I'm getting excited about being "off-the-grid" for the most part and photographing on a historical site.
The retreat is open to anyone - not just NHSPA members, so if you might be interested or what more information about the retreat, head over to the NH Society of Photographic Artists website, and check out their events page.
I gotta figure out what gear I want to bring! (note to self: don't bring ALL of it!)
I got a chance to do a private instruction/workshop back in September and I really really enjoyed it.
Usually my workshops consist of up to 8 attendees. I like keeping groups small. We usually go until sundown so I feel that people get a very good value for what they pay and feedback is always positive in that people are learning how to use their brains and figure stuff out so they can take control of their images. It's a good feeling helping people understand what they are doing.
Read MoreThe Portable Portrait workshop has always been about learning how to use your camera and affordable lighting gear to help improve your photography. It's about learning to use flash and not be scared of it. It's about learning to use your camera manually and to start taking control of your images rather than letting your camera do them for you.
And, during the June 21st 2014 workshop, it became about marriage proposals, and love, and tears and happiness.
Read More
Like a Phoenix rising from the Ashes, the Portable Portrait workshop returns for 2014.
Dates for the workshop has just gone live! They are:
Saturday, MAY 17th, 1pm
Saturday, JUNE 21st, 1pm - ALUMNI REUNION SPECIAL!
Saturday, JULY 26th, 1pm
Saturday, SEPTEMBER 20th, 1pm
Saturday, OCTOBER 4th, 1pm
All dates held at Sid Ceaser Photography Studios, Nashua NH.
Workshop starts at 1pm and goes until we fall down dead! We've had workshops to until midnight in the past.
Workshop price: $275.
There will be a special "Alumni" date on June 21st.
If you have taken the workshop in previous years and wish to take it again, please email me to reserve your spot on that special date at a special price!
WE'RE BACK!!!
Visit http://www.portableportrait.com/ for all the info!
To see examples from previous Portable Portrait workshops, CLICK HERE
I'm still getting caught up with things I want to blog about. Here are some sample images from the October 2012 Portable Portrait Workshop. I held back the Portable Portrait last year until October, and I'm still figuring out dates for 2013.
The lovely Sine was once again our workshop model, joined by her fabulous mother Cicek, who, it turns out, used to be a professional model! What are the chances! After learning that, we had to get some shots of Cicek and Sine together.
The Portable Portrait workshop is back!
Limited dates for fall of 2012 are now up for those looking for an introduction to off-camera lighting. An extensive hands-on workshop where you learn the fundamentals of off-camera flash to help you become more creative and more in control of your camera and artificial lighting. Workshop cost is $250.00
The dates for 2012 are:
Saturday September 15th
Saturday September 22nd (alumni date!)
Saturday October 6th
Saturday October 20th
Saturday October 27th (TBA Portsmouth NH location)
For more information and for how to register, please visit the Portable Portrait website at: www.portableportrait.com
Looking to find out how to work with artificial light? Looking to take your natural light shooting to the next level? Take a workshop with us and have some laughs doing it!
The July 2011 Portable Portrait workshop has come and gone, and despite the blistering heat, things went pretty well.
The number for this workshop was small, but each student came with the desire to understand both their manual camera settings and how to work and control off-camera flash.
We were wrestling with a very hot day. We did a few locations outside, and then Studio 99 graciously allowed us usage of their space (which had fantastic A/C!) and use of their piano for some portrait sessions.
Outside: 1st and 2nd locations:
Studio 99: 3rd Location:
Once the group started to shut down for the evening, I got a chance to work with Caitlin more 1 on 1. I shot Caitlin last year for her Yearbook photographs. I was hoping to get another chance to photograph Caitlin before she ventures off to Arizona State in the fall, and I finally got my chance!
I wanted to do some natural light images. I normally don't shoot natural light, but Caitlin is such a beautiful young woman I wanted to experiment a little outside of my comfort zone.
From there, we moved out into the hallway:
One of the underlying things I try to stress during the workshops is you can take your sessions organically and with minimal gear you can move around more. Ending up at Studio 99 proved just that; going from the Picker Building to the Nashua River area to Studio 99.
There are 2 more Portable Portrait workshops for 2011; one in August and one in October. If interested, visit the workshop website.
Cheers,
Sid
I've been falling behind on updating the blog in a timely manner (man, does wedding planning take up lots of time!!!) so I thought I'd do a brief recap of the first few workshops of 2011.
April 30, 2011
The first workshop of 2011 fell on April 30th 2011, and it started off with a bang! The lovely Sinehan was our model for the day, which was a lovely rain-free day. We did locations near the studio and Mines Falls Park, and then we took a walk a few blocks over to the Church of the Good Shepard where we had access to the chapel. We did some excellent examples of balancing ambient light with our artificial strobe lighting.
Outside of the church, we had a visitor who watched us during our shooting and got very brave approaching us. Unfortunately, we couldn't get him to model along with Sinehan. He was too shy for that.
------
May 14, 2011
The workshop then headed up to Exeter and the Seacoast Photographers Group. This lovely group of photographers brought me up last October and they enjoyed the workshop so much they asked me to come back for a new group of shooters, and we had just as much fun and shot just about as long as the October group. We started outside on location and then we ended up in the local Town House/Gallery space in the center of Exeter, where we practiced with the ambient of the buildings lights as well as worked with gridded lights. I think they want me to try to come back in the fall, which I'm all for! The lovely Kris, who I've known for about a decade, modeled for us. Kris and I go way back when we were both students at the New Hampshire Institute of Art.
-------
May 28, 2011
The most recent workshop was last Saturday, May 28th. This time we worked with Katrina, who I also know from NHIA and who's modeled for a few workshops in the past. We only got hit with ten minutes of rain out of the whole day, so the majority of the day was spent outside shooting near Mine Falls Park. After a very fantastic dinner break at Tacos Colima, we picked up shooting in an alley between two buildings a few blocks from the studio.
(above: after the sunlight went down and evening settled in, we broke out the grids and started to work with gridded light in the darkness.)
So far the workshops have been off to a good start. Feedback remains to be constantly positive as this workshop is structured to be hands-on for each member giving them a chance to shoot, interact with the model, move the light or change their shooting position and try to get as creative as they want.
If interested in attending one of the remaining 4 workshops for 2011 and want more information about it, please visit the website
Cheers, Sid
The 2011 dates for the Portable Portrait workshop are up!
There will be six Portable Portrait workshops for 2011. These workshops will be held here at my studio and surrounding areas for location shooting. I've been known to also take workshop attendees on small trips to other areas for location work as well, so make sure you have comfortable footwear if you attend.
All workshops will be held on a Saturday:
Saturday, April 30th Saturday, May 28th Saturday, June 18th Saturday, July 23 Saturday, August 13th Saturday, October 22nd
Each workshop will start at 1pmhere in my studio in Nashua NH. Usually the first 45 minutes or so we go over our camera's manual settings; we'll talk a little about shutter speed, aperture, flash-to-subject distance, ISO, and flash power. This is to make sure everyone is up-to-speed and on the same page. Then, after the technical refresher is done, we pack up and head outside! We'll have a model/subject with us and we'll spend the remainder of the day and evening putting what we went over inside during the refresher outside on the field.
The cost of the workshop is $200.00. I accept just about any form of payment: cash, check (personal or business), PayPal, and I accept credit cards here at the studio using Square.
For more information, check out the workshop's website here: http://www.portableportrait.com
I'm looking forward to having a great season of workshops!
Cheers, Sid
