March to June 2027

Weekly Presentations on technique and methods

Weekly exercises to hone your skills

Introductions to the great portrait photography masters

All sessions recorded and accessible afterwards

Presented on Zoom

Individual feedback on your work

Post processing demonstrations (though this is not a photo retouching course)

Two hours of presentation and then a class of an hour giving feedback and critique.  Opportunities for questions....

Proposed Content

1. Introduction

2. The self portrait

   1. The self portrait

   2. Cindy Sherman

   3. Exercise

3. Hands & feet

   1. Giving the hands something to do

   2. Balet hand poses

   3. Hand poses in art

   4. The arch of the foot

   5. Heels and shoes

4. Eyes

   1. Looking straight down the nose - eyes centered in the face.   Equal whites on each side of the pupils

   2. Dilated pupils equal love.  Pin pupils create distrust.  Stunned pupils

   3. Looking at the camera / viewer verse looking away. Eyes closed

   4. The quinch verse wide eyed

5. Head posing

   1. Pushing head forward verse pulling head back

   2. Tilting verse straight

6. Lens choices

   1. Wide angle

   2. Normal

   3. Telephoto

   4. Major - the guy that photographes in his garage with no background

7. Tripods, handheld & mono pods

8. Teatered shooting

9. Camera choices

10. Seating

    1. The posing stool

    2. The lounge chair

    3. The reversed chair

    4. Lewis Morley

11. The headshot

12. Working with models

    1. Helmet newton

    2. Mastertouch

13. Working with inexperienced people

    1. Ralf Gibson

14. Fashion

    1. Clothing

       1. Product placement

       2. Lindman

       3. Annie Leibovitz

       4. Irving Penn

15. The voyeur

16. The fetish image

17. Boudoir

18. Sex

19. Body poses

20. The shot list & story boards

21. the background and the scene

22. Lighting set ups

    1. Rembrandt light

    2. Lighting ratios

    3. Flash, leds, tungsten

    4. Lighting modification

       1. Soft boxes

       2. Reflectors

       3. Flags

       4. Soft lighting

       5. Harsh light

23. Post processing

    1. The professional retoucher

24. Printing & exhibiting

25. The portrait studio

    1. Pricing

    2. Packages

    3. The sell

    4. Books

26. Weddings

    1. The videographer

    2. The pain

    3. Acting and looking the part

27. The portfolio

28. Street photography

    1. Interactive portraits

    2. Framing & waiting

    3. Ethical considerations

29. The candid portrait

30. The provoked portrait

    1. Dianne Arbus

31. The fine art portrait

32. Tableau portraits