Shannon will host an introductory workshop entitled “Professional Images, Pedagogy, and Presentations” at The Hutong. This weekend event will combine a love of picture-making across a wide range of genres, together with startup basics for camera settings and lighting. As a special topic, Shannon will discuss career aspects of photography and how your images might interest buyers, whether shot in Beijing or on your next vacation outside of China.
For the starters in the group, we’ll cover a generous range of commonly asked questions, such as annoying blurry images, dreaded yellow-cast pictures, repeated focus issues, and confusion regarding images that turn out too light or too dark. For the intermediates, Shannon’s own camera and lighting gear will be on-site for those who wish to experiment. Models from the Hollister Store Sanlitun will join the group to volunteer their time for fashion shots and portraits.
Our next weekend workshop will be held on November 22nd and 23rd, and costs 880 RMB, 800 RMB for members.
Making Professional Images:
- Buttons & Menus: on every camera…what do they mean & what do they do?
- Exposure Settings: automatic and manual.
- Focusing: how focus can control the exposure, and creative appeal.
- Lenses, Lenses, and More Lenses: zooms and primes, wide angle and close-up.
Creative Pedagogy:
- Lighting Styles: strobe lighting, reflectors, and natural ambient settings.
- Compositional Design: what makes a good image vs. what makes a great photograph?
- Decisions, Decisions: choosing angles of view, lenses, and exposure to tell a story
- Package Appeal: you have all the gear…how to simplify it to a meaningful creative and technical experience.
A Host Of Presentations:
- Software & Hardware: easy ways to edit, process, and retouch.
- App Attack: cell phone applications and picture sharing
- Portfolios: what’s in a presentation and what is your creative vision?
- Hired! You’ve been asked to be the photographer, so, what to expect next?
Workshop Timetable:
Day 1 (10:00 am- 6:00 pm)
- Meet & Greet: share your gear, your images, your questions: menus, buttons, bells & whistles
- Lesson 1: Exposure control, Speed: stop action and creative blur as it pertains to story telling and creative exposure control.
- Lunch! Brown-bag roundtable topic: Shannon will share his first photography project (completed while in college); which generated $20,000 USD in stock photo licensing in 5 years.
- Lesson 2: Exposure control, Aperture: lighting control & options as it pertains to depth-of-field.
- After-hours assignment: bring in 1 image for Sunday and we’ll analyze how it was done
Day 2 (10:00 am- 6:00 pm)
- Image Analysis: your images, your questions. We’ll break down images to determine how they were done and how you might re-create them: fashion, beauty, family photography, weddings, special effects, or nighttime shots.
- Lesson 3: Lighting: new tricks with reflectors & scrims, flash photography. Both studio lighting and outdoors. Hollister models will join us.
- Lunch! Brown-bag roundtable topic: Shannon will share a PowerPoint presentation on “Commercial Art Careers: What I Wish They Had Told Me When I Was Starting Out.”
- Lesson 4: Compositional Design: Planning a photograph in visual elements while combining lighting, exposure, and color together.
- Carry-forward assignment: portfolio planning, licensing imagery, pricing jobs, and career opportunities.
What You'll Need
Shannon teaches that photography is all about balance, and The Hutong is here support you. Shannon’s camera gear and lighting equipment will be on display and free for students to use, so that your hands-on experience will be an apprentice-like environment. That being said, don’t forget your cameras! Whether you shoot with a Nikon, Canon, iPhone, or Samsung … your DSLR, point-and-shoot, and smart phone are not only relevant, but also your gateway to creative learning. Like film? That’s a-okay, but remember that this is primarily a digital photography hands-on workshop with techniques that apply to whatever you shoot. Since we’ll work in teams for two days, your laptop should come along as we demo software and editing.
Shannon Fagan
Shannon Fagan’s career in New York included assignments for Intel, BMW, Time, Fortune, and the New Yorker. In 2011, he relocated to Beijing to establish a production company to supply image content to General Electric, Ernst & Young, Black & Decker, Microsoft, Getty Images, and Shutterstock. He has served on the board of directors for The American Photographic Artists and American Society of Media Photographers, and was President of the Stock Artists Alliance. He has received recognition for his work through participations with TEDx, the BBC, China Daily, Agenda Beijing, Communication Arts, and was the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts grant in the United States.
For more images from the instructor, please go to www.shannonfagan.com.
For any questions regarding the content of the workshop, please contact Shannon at sf(at)shannonfagan.com or wechat: shannonfagan.
