An exclusive invitation to a beautiful part of our country…

 

 

 

San Francisco

 

 

 

“San Francisco is one of my favorite cities in the world … I would probably rank it at the top or near the top. It’s small but photogenic and has layers … You never have problems finding great angles that people have never done.” — Ang Lee, Academy Award-winning director 

 

The Golden Gate Bridge…Fisherman’s Wharf… Cable Cars… Steep Hills … Chinatown … Lombard Street (the curvy one)… Pacific Heights… Alcatraz … All these and more make up the distinct combination that is San Francisco –  a city of never-ending delights and photographic opportunities.  The “City by the Bay” is known for its cable cars traveling steep hills, a soaring “Golden Gate” that isn’t a “gate” but a red bridge,  a beautiful waterfront, and picturesque Victorian homes known as “Painted Ladies.”

 To travel through the streets of San Francisco is to travel through a diverse collection of cultures and communities.  From the elegant Victorians to Chinatown, Fisherman’s Wharf to Pacific Heights, and the Mission District to the prestigious Nob Hill, there’s plenty to experience and even more to photograph!  Architectural details, vibrant street life, and beautiful vistas featuring an expansive bay bookended by the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges will delight your eyes and give you a plethora of opportunities to capture your experience through the lens of your camera.

Then there’s the natural beauty of the Pacific Coast Highway, with cliffs and rushing waves, redwood forests and the Reyes Point National Seashore.

 

“It is a rich, lusty city, rippling with people, with movement, with girls in summer dresses, with flowers, with color; one of the great and wonderful cities of the world…” — James Marlow

 We’re excited to invite you to join us for a truly special experience … a getaway to iconic San Francisco area combined with an intimate, intensive, personalized, hands-on photography workshop. You’ll give yourself the wonderful opportunity to learn from my lifetime of shooting photographs while visiting one of our country’s top destinations.

 Are you ready to be inspired and challenged? You’ll photograph, eat, drink, play, explore, grow, bond and – I predict – above all else, be absolutely thrilled with how it will change your photography forever!

 You’ll gain the skills and confidence to take control of your camera. You’ll enjoy a memorable getaway and return home with those memories beautifully captured in the kind of photographs you’ve always dreamed of shooting. The kind that you’ll now be comfortable shooting consistently – photographs that will enrich your life and the lives of those you love.

Here’s What You Get:

A five-day, four-night immersive photography workshop in the world-renowned city of San Francisco and the diverse natural beauty of the Sonoma Valley Wine Country.

We’ll kick off the event with a welcome dinner and introductory photo slideshow and discussion on the first evening.  Take advantage of your free bonus session by coming early that day for your camera settings checkup with Nick. (Individual sessions are guaranteed to the first 5 registrants, and then available on a first-come, first-served basis to other attendees – individually or in a group by camera type, as time allows.) 

We’ll then spend the next days diving into lessons, assignments, photo shoots, reviews/critiques and editing. As always with photography, we’ll be working on mastering or reviewing your camera settings, lighting, composition, and many other specialized techniques and general tips.

We’ll shoot in various locations in San Francisco, as well as take an overnight trip to visit unique venues as we meander through the captivating Sonoma Valley.

Our schedule will include both lessons/discussions and in-the-field training.  We’re going to do our best to find optimum spots in the vicinity—not to mention optimum time of day and light conditions (calling all earlybirds!)—for viewing and photographing the area.  We’ll build in flexibility to adjust for whatever current weather, lighting and other conditions the days bring.

You’ll leave inspired and re-energized, with deeper photographic knowledge and skills, wonderful new photo-friends, a collection of photographs you’ll be proud of, and the confidence, creativity and control of your camera to consistently capture the photos you’ve always dreamed of shooting.

My San Francisco and Sonoma  Wine Country Photography Workshop is a magical event that will:

• Give you the confidence and skills to control your camera creatively in the daily situations that make for great photographs. 
• Improve your understanding of various lighting situations and techniques, ability to expose photographs properly, compositional thinking, storytelling tactics and your post-processing and editing skills.
• Establish new ways of thinking about your photography and the way you take pictures. You’ll relax more and feel empowered … you’ll see the results first-hand in your photos.
• Help you be aware of just what makes a photograph work…and what doesn’t. You’ll be guided by me and enjoy the support and feedback from a diverse group of photographers who share your passion.
• Give you a heart, head, and photo album filled with wonderful memories of a unique experience shared with what are surely to become lifetime friends. This is guaranteed to be unforgettable. 

PRE- WORKSHOP PREPARATION

Before the workshop begins you'll be asked to upload a set of ten photographs to give us a sense of who you are and where you are in your photographic journey. It could be a picture of your family and then your photographic greatest hits and/or mistakes! I'll review these with you in a private consultation call before the workshop and then we'll share them with the group in our opening night presentation, as we get to know each other and all share our photographic achievements, challenges, and goals.

MASTERING MANUAL MODE

We welcome a diversity of experience and skill levels among attendees. I know that we'll have students attending this weekend who could probably teach significant portions of it. On the other hand, we'll have people with expensive cameras who lack the understanding of how to take full advantage of all the bells and whistles.

To level the playing field, I want to make sure that all attendees are relatively comfortable with their camera settings before we get to the first day of shooting.  If anyone who’s attending wants to get on the phone with me before the workshop, I will be happy to walk you through your settings.

You'll be asked to watch (or review) my 60-minute "F-stops, Shutter Speeds, and ISO Made Easy" training in advance of the workshop.

Also, I will be available on location during the day on the first day for anyone who wants to be among the first to arrive so that I can sit down with you to demystify your camera settings. A basic knowledge of the exposure triangle and a rough understanding of how to take a light reading is going to go a long way here. (Time for these sessions is limited, so register and arrive early to take advantage of this bonus - the first 6 attendees to register for the workshop will be guaranteed an individual slot for these sessions.  All others will be held on a first-come, first-served basis individually or in groups by camera type as time allows.)

On the other hand, for some students, coming to grips with their cameras settings over the course of the weekend may be the huge personal milestone they’ve been dreaming of reaching. It’s all good, believe me. My point is this: I want to help you before the weekend really gets going so we can maximize our time shooting photographs and telling stories.

STORYTELLING

We shoot photographs to tell stories so we will spend time addressing this all-important topic.

We'll talk about the how to tell a story in a single image and how to shoot a collection of images that tell a story.  We'll focus on shooting photographs during this workshop that tell stories in a personal way…your way. I want you to go home with a set of pictures that was taken by a specific personality—you. That's, after all, what good storytelling is all about; it's the way the story is told and not the story itself.

I want your pictures to say something about how you feel about the world and the people you're with. That attitude is going to result in the very best family photos when you get home.

And we’ll discuss the difficult but necessary task of choosing which images to keep and which to delete. We'll discuss how cropping, editing, and converting to black and white can enhance your photos and the storyline.

Storytelling with a camera is an art and you will not leave the weekend having mastered it, believe me. But your ability to be a visual communicator will grow and flourish.

Essentially, we’re all going to photograph the same buildings, streets, vineyards, people and views but, as all great storytellers know, the story is in the telling.  This is a profound lesson to learn as a photographer. 

It's not about being self-centered, it’s actually the opposite. It’s about sharing your vision with the world. It’s what we photographers do.

FOLLOW UP WEBINAR PLUS VIDEO RECORDING

A couple of weeks or so after the workshop we'll have a follow-up session via webinar for a final overview of the weekend, review of your photos and editing lessons.

You'll be asked to evaluate and edit your collection of photographs during the week following the workshop and submit a sample of them for my review with the group. We'll discuss content, technique, composition, and storytelling and I'll demonstrate editing techniques in Lightroom.

You'll receive a recording of this session to download for review as needed—and as a keepsake of the group's greatest hits and our shared experiences together during this memorable workshop.

Our Hotel Headquarters

The city part of our workshop will be headquartered near the waterfront, with a location that can’t be beat…the popular Fisherman’s Wharf!  Just a few minutes’ walk from all that the wharf and Pier 39 have to offer, as well as other popular San Francisco attractions, we’ll take advantage of this wonderful central location to explore the city and its wonders.

Hotel accommodations can be booked on a double-occupancy basis—choose your own roommate or we’ll match you with one—or a limited number of private king rooms may also be available.

Accommodations are booked separately and attendees will receive more detailed information about reserving their rooms after registering for the workshop (see FAQ for details).

 Immerse yourself in this exclusive experience with Nick!

You deserve it!

 

There’s no doubt this is a significant investment.

It’s a commitment to yourself and your passion that will pay you back for the rest of your life.

However, some people prefer to work with me one-on-one rather than in a small group. You get the type of support from me that I’m offering in this workshop in an intimate way. I highly recommend this kind of learning experience, and I love watching a photographer as the light bulbs go off and they truly fall in love with their camera and photos! (And...I make you laugh, too.)

To work with me privately, the investment would be several thousand more. Basically, I give you all the same instruction as in this workshop, I just do it one-on-one with you. We have a few spots available, so if you prefer one-on-one instruction at this time, as opposed to a group, please contact [email protected].

Working with me in this exclusive small-group workshop, I offer you the same quality instruction and personalized critiques, while touching on camera basics, lighting highlights, composition do’s and don'ts, photography tips, and editing secrets, sprinkled with a whole lot of fun. Not to mention new photo friends!

The regular registration investment for our small-group workshops is $1,997 but in this case we're offering an amazing LAST MINUTE SPECIAL DEAL to save you $500!! To be clear, you’ll get the same individualized attention from me where you’ll master your camera and the art of taking great photos. You’ll be with others who love taking photos as much as you do, and you’ll share mistakes, successes, and stories along the way. If this kind of supportive, interactive instruction is for you, then click below to join us!

Giving yourself a memorable getaway under the experienced guidance of a renowned photographer, you will grow as a photographer in joyful and unexpected ways that will enrich your relationship with photography for as long as you live.

You're guaranteed to go home with some amazing photographs—and an amazing group of new photo-friends!

This is an opportunity you'll be grateful you experienced.