About two weeks ago,  I had the amazing fortune to attend Image Exploration. Image Exploration is a five-day photography school located at Shawnigan Lake on Vancouver Island a short drive north of Victoria.   I set forth on a journey to better myself in my photography craft and learn more about Environmental Portraiture. What is Environmental Portraiture you ask?  It is basically taking photographs in one's environment whether it be indoor or outdoor.  We learned techniques on posing subjects, how to create shadow vs light patterns on a subject's face using environmental elements such as trees and buildings. We also learned how to read faces to produce the best pose for the face shape, how to read outdoor lighting and the best time of day to take a photograph. In addition, how to use a light meter to read the light falling on your subject face and figuring out the amount of luminosity you want to create as well as some important information to assist you in achieving success in your photography business.

During my 5 days under the direction of Don MacGregor, owner of MacGregor Studios www.macgregorstudios.com, I was immersed in a very intensive training morning, afternoon and evening.  In the evenings you could join a group of photographers to do super shoots. They had different stations set up for us to shoot in rain, body painting, long exposure steel wool fire demonstration and fire demonstrations using butane, water and soap.  One of the most important things I learned from my five days at Shawnigan was that as a photographer we DON'T  just take photos, we create a portrait that shares and shows relationships and that during the design session we create an image for the client before we have captured it. We create a strong compelling image the client sees as family art on their walls that brings them back to a time, place or feeling, whether it be sadness or joy.   The instructor shared so many stories of situations where he took portraits of his clients that created an emotional attachment to an image or portrait.  Some of the stories he shared made you almost want to cry.  

It was a fabulous five days at Shawnigan Lake.  I was training with the best in the photography industry and there is nothing like hands-on training and connecting with people passionate about what they do and being able to share your wonderful experiences long after the workshop ended.  I have stayed in touch with many of them sharing things about the work we have done so far and reached out for more information on things we continue to learn on.

I had 10 students in my class (yes, a small class, but a much better learning environment).  We had a married couple in my class from Russia that photographs in Russia for an Italian magazine and their expertise garnered them 2nd place honours in the World Photographic Cup.  This exemplifies the high quality of photographers attending this training and I am hoping next year brings me back to Shawnigan Lake. 

If you are interested, check out their website www.imageexplorations.com for updated information on the workshop usually scheduled annually at the end of July.  You can also follow them on Facebook at Image Explorations-www.facebook.com.