Tag: teaching

Live from the Road

JasonLeave a comment

Northern Lights Poster

Over the weekend I had the distinct pleasure of joining my colleague and good friend Kerry Garrison (who you probably know from Camera Dojo) out “in the wild” as we traveled to the Breezy Point Resort north of Brainerd MN (about three hours west and north if the twin cities) and spoke at their Northern Lights conference.  Through the coordination of our sponsor, Nations Photo Lab, and the conference hosts, MNNPA, we had a wonderful time.  Not only did the coordinators treat us like Rock Stars (we did give some autographs though), the attendees were quite engaging too.

The pre-conference sessions were set to start at 12, and our gig started at 5.  After a few of the logistical things were addressed that always come up with hosting conferences (they even had a live wedding going on one room next to us – what a great opportunity for a bride to get a wide range of photographers applying their trade), we got rolling.  A mere five minutes into our introduction, we paused to add even more tables and chairs to the room as more and more people started filing in.  For a regional conference to have a crowd this big during a pre-conference tech talk was quite surprising, but also very enjoyable.  So, what did we talk about?

The topic was none other than Lightroom 3!  We talked about how to navigate around, some of the benefits and tips and tricks of LR to soon realize that we are very fortunate to be in the position that we are.  It was humbling to realize that we really are on the cutting edge as so many people are using Lightroom 1, LR 2, or even earlier generations of Photoshop for their workflow.  Our discussion quickly was adapted to both demonstrate why and answer questions on what makes Lightroom 3 such a useful tool for both established and emerging photographers.

The questions raised were just wonderful ranging from very broad-ranging ones like “Why should wedding and portrait photographers care about upgrading their work flow?” to ones as detailed as “Can Lightroom manage PSD files?” and “How can I keyword photos during import?”  By the time our two hour segment was up we had barely covered the import process, a little bit on the adjustment brush, and the nuts and bolts of things like cropping, selective color, and black and white conversions.

Ours was the last segment for the day and we were then invited to the after party over in one of the adjoining houses.  Food snacks, drinks and such were all available and in abundance.  With the abundance of spirits, everyone was in great spirits themselves as we laughed and talked further with lots of people about photography stuff until the wee hours of the morning.  By 1am we were done though and needed to head back to our respective cities (myself to Denver and Kerry to Anaheim, CA).  So, during our road trip back to Minneapolis for the return flight, we decided to record this show for you.  Answers to all the questions above and more are here, as well as a few photo opp stops!  Thanks for taking the time to listen, hope you enjoy it and we’ll be back again soon with more photo goodness!

Catch up with Kerry:

Follow me on:

Learn more about the Northern Lights Conference and MNPPA here:

[display_podcast]

The Workshop Tour Takes Off!

Jason5 Comments

After extensive preparations, logistical planning and coordination, it is very exciting to finally announce the often teased and hinted at Learning Lightroom 3 Workshop Tour! Kerry Garrison and I have pooled our collective resources and we’ll both be at all the classes!  We’ve got an initial launch in our own residence cities, with dates and locales already in place at:

Sunday Aug 1st – Anaheim, Ca [Completed]
Saturday Aug 28th – Denver, Co [Completed]

Seats are expected to go fast as this is a full day workshop aimed at getting you up to speed with Lightroom 3 whether you are new to the game, or ready to jump in for the first time!  With lots of content, including “bags-o-schwag”, door prizes, and resource DVD’s, the dirt cheap Early Bird Price of $79 for the first 15 to sign up, we’re sure to hit capacity quickly!  After that, the regular price of $99 per person kicks in.  Special thanks to our sponsors:  Adobe, Thinktank Photo, Nations Lab, and many more for their generous contributions to help get this off the ground.  We’ve also got lots of local vendors who will be showcasing some super cool products at super cool discounts, and we’ll have gift certificates to give away too!  So, come on out and check things out – it’s a steal at these prices!

Also, if you don’t live near any of the initial launch cities, make sure to submit a request for your own city (and get your friends to do the same!).  Fifteen requests for another city brings us to you!  There’s also an email subscription link on our launch page, (and here on the blog) so be sure to stop in and visit us at:

Lightroom Dudes

Teaching to Learn…

JasonLeave a comment

For those of you that don’t know – there is a cool little feature available for iPhone and iPod Touch users called AudioBoo, where you can record up to three minutes of audio soundbites and share online.  It’s a pretty neat little feature, and allows for short bursts of ideas.  I shared just such a recording (they are called “boos”) this evening after I left the Exposure Denver photo club meeting.  You can listen to the recording here or continue reading below my thoughts on the Exposure Denver experience!

Speaking of which, the gang from the group was so cool – everyone was so welcoming!  They asked me to come in and share some tips and insights on Lightroom, which I was quite flattered but honored to do. If you want to learn more about Exposure Denver, follow the link to their blog where they have news of upcoming events, activities and more.  These folks take it to the next level with regular galleries, themes, critiques, reviews, and yes, you can sell prints at the shows!  A lot of thought, time and preparations go into the group and everyone contributes!  It was quite an energizing and motivating dynamic and has me very excited in ways that I have not even explored yet photographically and creatively.  My head is literally bursting with possibilities.  And why is this?

Because I was thrust into a teaching role, on a subject I am (or was) admittedly not an expert in!  I have no idea how it all started anymore, but this further confirms what I’ve known from prior experience in another field – the best way to learn about something is to try and teach it to someone else.  It forces you to get up to speed, get current, and learn more than you did before.  This happens in three ways:

You do research to prepare your class note, talking points and handouts.  I learned so much just from pulling all these resources together.

Others in the class will know things you don’t.  Without fail, this always happens.  There is no way you can expect to know more than everyone else on a subject you are teaching unless you have 20 years of age and experience over the audience.  But I was not in front of kindgarteners this evening – these were peers (and several were even a few steps ahead of me).  We each brought value to the table and while some probably learned a lot from me – others schooled me!  (But in a good way!)

So, if you want to really get your fingernails dirty, dig into something and know it better than you ever did before:  try teaching it!  I did and learned more than I ever have before about Lightrooom.