We have recorded a series of foundation concepts videos that are available to view here at The Mindful Eye before attending the TME Inspirational Photography Weekend.  We encourage photographers of all skill levels who are attending the Weekend to watch this video series. But we especially encourage you to watch if you are a beginning photographer and are just coming to terms with your digital camera and basic concepts like setting your camera controls and understanding exposure. These tutorials lay a strong technical foundation for all of our other weekend presentations. In these videos Craig makes basic camera settings suggestions and demystifies the basics of exposure. Craig discusses and explains image quality shooting modes like camera RAW and JPEG, how to use and creatively work with your camera’s white balance settings, and makes suggestions for camera set up connected to basic settings that dramatically effect exposure. By putting this foundation information online for you to view and study before the weekend we are dramatically increasing the value of our Weekend events. Very advanced photographers who have a strong understanding of exposure and their camera don’t have to sit through a basic class that is all review. And by offering this information online at TME before the event we are able to share much more information with you while we are together on Saturday and Sunday.

 

From 8:00AM to 8:30AM on Saturday morning Craig will host a Q and A session for anyone who has questions about the concepts covered in this foundation video series. 

SATURDAY SCHEDULE

 

Craig starts the weekend with a condensed version of the presentation that has inspired thousands of photographers over the last fifteen years. Craig tells the story of how he chose photography as a career and shows you a selection of images from the beginning of his photographic journey. These beginner images juxtaposed with Craig’s best work from the professional part of his career make a simple but potentially very empowering point – its not where we are right now but how we are being right now and what we believe about ourselves that will determine what we can become.
 

Composition: Seeing and Designing Powerful Images 9:30 AM – 11:00 AM - Craig
 

In this visually rich portion of the weekend Craig shares his broad and deep knowledge on the subject of design and composition culled from twenty years of image design as a commercial photographer and studied over the last 15 years while critiquing thousands of student’s images. This class begins with Craig discussing the foundation concepts of design including the inherent visual weight inside of the blank frame, the hierarchy of the visual weight of our potential photographic subjects, working with positive and negative space, managing separations and mergers, working with implied movement of energy, color theory, and subject placement within the frame. This part of the presentation includes a discussion on quality of light - photography’s most important visual design element. In addition Craig looks at the individual elements of design like simplicity, repetition, mass, form, contrast, quality of line, texture and pattern. Craig also discusses more subtle levels of visual communication connected to the archetypes of universal shapes, symbols, and the psychology of color and gesture. Craig looks at practical techniques for managing design including quality of light, lens choice, camera position, depth of field, and stopped and implied motion. Craig finishes this exciting presentation with a suggested list of powerful forms of composition practice that can help any skill level photographer continue to grow their ability to see and create compelling and dynamic compositions.
 

Break: 11:00 AM -11:15 AM
 

 

At the heart of Craig’s work as a photographer for the last 20 years has been his passion for portraying a strong sense of place in his landscape photography. Craig will build a strong foundation in the first part of this class by teaching what he considers the essentials for landscape photographers - managing your day as a landscape photographer relative to quality of light, understanding exposure and its relationship to dynamic range and basic image design choices. One of Craig’s specialties as a commercial landscape photographer is working with super wide lenses to convey a sense of place. Craig demystifies the process of working with super wide lenses to capture the strength, space, depth and classic beauty of grand scale locations. This class includes an in depth discussion on three of the most important filters in nature photography – the polarizer and both neutral and split neutral density filters.
 

 

The Magic of Digital Night Photography 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM
 

After a short overview of the equipment used for night photography, Craig jumps right into a variety of amazing digital techniques that will turn your DSLR into a powerful tool for seeing and creating stunning images in very low light. Craig explains a simple but powerful technique for determining the best exposure in even the lowest of light. Twilight, moonlight, star light and star trails, car trails, city lights, and skylines, painting with light, combining on camera flash with long exposures, and working in extremely low light will all be covered. This is a visually rich presentation with over 100 hundred inspiring examples of the techniques being presented.

 

 

Participant Image Critique 3:45 PM – 5:15 PM - Craig
 

Each participant attending the Inspirational Weekend may submit one image for the Participant Image Critique session. The image should be submitted on a Compact Flash Card or a jump drive. The Compact Flash Cards and jump drives must be marked with the participant's name. Compact Flash Cards must not be enclosed in the plastic case in which they come when purchased.
 

Images submitted should be prepared by creating a JPEG image with a ppi of 72. The longest side of the image should be 1100 pixels. This will allow the images to load quickly and be projected at a good size for all to see.

 

SUNDAY SCHEDULE
 

Creating Expressive Photographs of People 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM - Craig
 

In this information packed class Craig starts with confidence building techniques for overcoming fears that photographers may have about approaching and directing people as a subject. Next Craig looks at some basic but very important equipment considerations for photographing people. Craig then explores essential people photography concepts such as lens choice, subject distance, camera position, managing backgrounds and posing. Light is the key ingredient to all great photography and Craig takes participants on a journey from easy natural light set ups and on camera fill flash to more advanced lighting techniques. Craig’s inspiring examples for this class include outdoor and indoor locations, impromptu portraits and street photography, formal portraits, pets, and small to large groups.
 

Break: 11:00 AM -11:15 AM
 

Seeing Beyond… 11:15 AM – 12:45 PM – Marti
 

In this exciting presentation, Marti discusses various creative techniques that can be used to capture the world in ways other than those associated with traditional photography. Marti walks you through the process of creating less literal photographs that portray moods and feelings, allowing the viewer to create their own stories about the images and take more of a personal journey as they experience your work. Motion blurring, extreme selective focus, out of focus and working with pieces and parts of your subject are just some of the techniques that Marti will be sharing that can help you go from an ordinary subject to an extraordinary final image.
 

 

 

This presentation is about Craig lifting the curtain on his entire creative process. Craig features a selection of his all time favorite images since he made the switch to digital capture. The images chosen for this presentation include both personal and commercial work. Craig walks you through the entire process of creation including everything from conceptualizing the image, equipment choices and field techniques. Photography has always been a two part process which includes both capture and the darkroom. In one of the most powerful parts of this presentation Craig shows you step by step the digital darkroom work he executed to finish these images. This presentation will show you how Craig works with Adobe Photoshop and other image editing programs to complete the photographic creative process.

 

Break: 3:30 PM –3:45 PM
 

The Next Step: The Artist’s Journey 3:45 PM – 5:15 PM - Craig
 

This presentation draws heavily on Craig and Mart’s highly acclaimed Next Step workshop series. While learning to effectively use your camera and learning to see reality relative to your camera are very important aspects of growing as a photographer, the most important part of the creative mix is how we are being behind the camera. Every great image we have ever made is created seeing through the same filter – the filter of our beliefs about the creative process. Through a series of inspiring and uplifting stories Craig shares practical suggestions for peeling away fear and getting more of your heart and more of who you want to become as an artist into your work.