Lots O' Learnin'

If I was clever, I'd call today Teachin' Tuesday or something equally catchy.

But I'm really not, and on second thought that's a bit misleading; it makes it sound as if I'm doing the teaching, when in fact, I'm getting schooled.

Firstly, I watched (again) Doug Gordon's "Flow Posing" DVD that I was so incredibly fortunate to win in one of Lydia Shannon's recent 'fstop breast cancer' drawings. Dudes and Dudettes - if you take pictures of people and you don't know anything about Doug Gordon, allow me to enlighten you. This DVD is worth 5 times it's weight in gold! Doug starts the DVD discussing basic lighting and metering (essential for ANY photographer) and then breaks into 'flow poses'. This is basically a series of poses that flow together with very fluid, subtle body changes to the Bride and Groom, allowing you to knock out a ton of poses in a short amount of time, with very little coaxing, cajoling, and manipulation of the bodies of your clients. It is awesome to watch Doug interact with these couples, and there is so much to learn from his approach that is imperative to your bridal shots. Like? Well, how to 'hide' fat arms and double chins, how to lengthen and thin the body, and how to get both your Bride and Groom to look like professional models in your photos. Those are my words, not Doug's, but that's the gist - how to position the bride and groom in intimate, natural-looking poses that have a smattering of magazine-esque glamour.

Oh baby.

Also I'm starting in on my little gem of an investment from yesterday, a set of escalate LIVE sessions called "BeBoutique" featuring Julieanne Kost, Vicki Taufer, Tamara Lackey, Lori Nordstrom, and Julia Woods.
I got them on sale yesterday (Thank YOU, Cyber Monday!) but you can still purchase them for $99 here.
I'm not too far in yet, but I can tell you that this deal is undeniably awesome. If you're a fan of the creativeLIVE seminars, you know you usually get one talented teacher sharing their knowledge on a particular subject for (after the free live showing) $149. The BeBoutique set has all those lovely ladies and tons of information concerning the photography industry for $99. I love creativeLIVE but what I see here in the BeBoutique set is simply this: VALUE.

Pro and hobbyist photographers alike can learn LOADS from workshops, DVDs, etc. - but keep in mind, not all of them are worth the cost. In my opinion, those mentioned here are well worth the investment - and this coming from a mama, without loads of extra money laying around to invest on educational media. Some of the best stuff around is listed below! Enjoy!

Links:

Doug Gordon's Workshop Site

Doug Gordon's Workshop Site Store with books, DVDs, equipment, etc.

Escalate LIVE

creativeLIVE

fstop breast cancer - Lydia Shannon