Brooke Shaden

Since I have been a fan of Miss Aniela for so long, I am very pleased to announce that we will be holding collaborative workshops in Los Angeles in the fall.

"The Adrenalin" by Miss Aniela

"In the Aquarium" by Brooke Shaden

This course is for people who want to do something dynamic, conceptual and interesting with models and props, with a special interest in “trick” imagery. Note that this could be anything from levitation shots to blending multiple photos together to changing lighting in post production.  This course is for bringing art into your photography.

The one-day class, set on location in a warehouse and then in an editing room, will take you from planning to processing as we shoot a model to combine an image from Miss Aniela’s portfolio and mine. The warehouse is equipped with unique props, a rustic interior and dynamic lighting.

Miss Aniela, aka Natalie Dybisz, is a photographer based in London.

She is well known for her use of self portraiture and the cloning technique in which she places herself multiple times within the frame. She is a master compositor and has contributed mesmerizing works to the creative photography world. We draw on parallels between our works to host a masterclass that shows you how you can introduce these elements into your own work.

There are also interesting differences between Miss Aniela’s work and mine, which are illustrated in the workshops. You will learn about shooting with a specific and efficient planning structure, as well as how to seize spontaneous moments and to let the direction of a shoot grow organically. The workshop is delivered to a small group size, a minimum of 6 and maximum of 10 students. It starts on location in a warehouse as used in my previous work. We provide you with breakfast and then begin an introductory talk to welcome everyone to the class and to go over the key elements of our work. We choose an image from each of our portfolios and aim to work on the shoot as we would in reality: showing you how we get from conception of idea through to a final result that is exclusive to that workshop. We then go straight into the practical hands-on shooting with a model. We also discuss techniques for self-portraiture.

We then break for lunch (there are many eateries in the immediate area). The second half of the day is spent editing the images. You will first watch our screen on the projector, while Miss Aniela and I will demonstrate our own editing process. If you have brought your own laptop loaded with Photoshop, you can then proceed to open up your own images and we spend time going around individually to help you edit your work in the way we have demonstrated.

We spend time at the end reviewing everyone’s images and recapping the day. You will leave with course notes and you will be able to post your images into a dedicated Flickr group where we can comment further on images you edit later at home. We are working on putting a goodie bag together for each student to take home at the end of the day complete with discounts and other fun things :)

It will be a jam-packed day, and you’ll leave with some great images, but more importantly, boundless inspiration for your own approach to photography!

"The Smothering" by Miss Aniela

"Immortal Bird" by Brooke Shaden

The cost of the workshop is $350

WHEN’S THE FIRST ONE? The first is on Monday November 1st, 2010. It runs from 8am – 4pm. Another course will be open on Saturday November 6th with the possibility of more classes in between based on interest.

WHAT IS THE LEVEL? This is important, as courses vary by level. Due to feedback, the first course is aimed at people with intermediate knowledge: you must have some experience using a DSLR, and ideally some knowledge of Photoshop. Email us if you are unsure about levels.

WHERE? A warehouse and editing room in LA. You will get full details in the application pack, along with a more detailed itinerary.

HOW MANY PLACES? 8-10 places (min 6 to run a course)

WHO WILL BE THERE? Brooke Shaden, Miss Aniela, and a model. There will also be someone photographing and filming the workshops.

WHAT EQUIPMENT DO I NEED? You will need your DSLR camera if you want to shoot the model (charged and with sufficient CF cards!) Bring a card reader too. You will also need to bring a laptop loaded with Photoshop, to be able to do your own editing on the day. The tools we are using are not confined to the latest Photoshop CS4/5, so it does not matter too much which version you have. If you do not have Photoshop, you can either purchase Photoshop Elements (which is quite cheap) and has most of the tools we’ll need, or, you can download a free 30-day trial of Photoshop CS5 from Adobe here, and make sure it doesn’t expire before the course date!

A WORD OR TWO: We focus on simplicity, improvisation, and low-budgets, and show how these elements can aid rather than hinder the production of top-quality fine-art photographs.

This course is predominantly aimed at people who are familiar with my work and the work of Miss Aniela. If you are not familiar with our work, please view www.missaniela.com and www.brookeshaden.com

HOW DO I PAY? PayPal is preferable, but if you need to pay by bank wire, just let us know.

CANCELLATION POLICY: Cancellations at least 7 days before the course date will be refunded in full, minus any PayPal/bank fees. Or you can change to another course date for no extra charge.

Cancellations made less than 7 days before the course date, or no-shows, are non-refundable.

I’VE PAID. WHAT NOW? You will get an application pack confirming the locations and what to bring. We will also ask you to send us some information about yourself, your current photography and your experience, links to your work if you have some online, and what you hope to get out of the course. This is an optional step but allows us to learn a bit about our students before the workshop!

This workshop is intentionally different from other conventional courses, because we are demonstrating our own combined and individual approaches as fine-art photographers. Our masterclasses aim to show how simplicity and improvisation can contribute to the production of top quality fine-art photographs, even when on a low budget. However, we will also be talking about numerous technical issues to get optimum quality images, and also giving all the advice we can offer regarding making money from photography in various forms. We can also answer any questions on techniques for self-portraiture, depending on whether this interests you. There will be plenty of allocated time to ask all the questions you wish, and we can always drift into a local cafe afterwards.

You can find regular updates on Miss Aniela’s facebook page, or my facebook page.

Email me at info@brookeshaden.com to sign up :-D

Thanks everyone, we hope to see you there!