In the Field: Canon USA Shoot
Alex Strohl
Lesson Info
16. In the Field: Canon USA Shoot
Lessons
Workshop Intro
03:18 2Gear
12:14 3Gear - My Camera Bags
08:00 4Mastering Camera Settings
07:41 5Blue Hour, A How-To
10:45 6Photos That Move Us
07:19Visual Storytelling 101
07:51 8Endurance In A World Of Sprinting
06:27 9Keeping Your Ideas Fresh
08:31 10Building Your Story Arc
06:44 11Shooting More: Action Plan
02:01 12Conveying Emotions
07:52 13The Assignment: Himalaya Pre-Pro
12:08 14In the Field: The Himalaya Defender Shoot
20:29 15The Assignment: Canon Pre-Pro
10:25 16In the Field: Canon USA Shoot
15:06 17Keywords & Organizing Images
06:42 18Commercial Grading
04:47 19Masking & Radial Filters
12:33 20Perspective Correction
05:39 21HDR (Hand-Held)
03:37 22Black & White Edits
07:00 23Before & Afters
01:33 24Moody Grading
13:15 25IG Export Settings
04:00 26Web Export Settings
02:44 27Clone Stamping & Patch Tools
05:51 28Grading in Lightroom
06:45 29Hand-Held Panoramas
03:41 30Radial Filters Pt 2
02:38 31Delivering Files to Clients
12:33 32Archiving & Organizing Images
10:15 33My Favorite Software
03:44 34Let's Talk Business
01:03 35Building A Desirable Portfolio
11:17 36How to Contact Clients
12:00 37Prospecting: Finding Brands That Fit You
04:16 38Getting Clients To See Our Value
10:16 39Paid to Travel the World
14:48 40The Art of Making Moodboards & Treatments
08:09 41Keys To A Fulfilling Career
07:40 42Three Things You Need To Know Before Pitching
06:19 43Finding Your Value Proposition
08:02 44Media Kit: A Walk Through
08:06 45How I Built My Audience
07:46 46Social Media Landscape
07:32 47Module Recap
03:08 48Do You Need Lens Filters?
09:36 49Filters in The Field
12:40 50Find Your Path
07:44 51Why Print or Sell Photos
23:21 52Preparing Photos for Print
06:44 53Reviewing Major U.S Printers
06:57Lesson Info
In the Field: Canon USA Shoot
(ambient nature) (crow calls in the distance) (crackles) (wind chime music) (determined singsong) Swing arm city. We've made it as far as we could. We are pretty close to getting stuck here. So we just decided to stop And walk the last 10 minutes to the spot. We can see the top of the Spire actually there, I was super excited. So Wiley's with us. We've just done his costume. He's all outfitted now. Looking good. Yeah. I'm gonna go for red and white for his clothing, because as you can see this mud is like pretty dark right now. The other, you know the other thing to consider is that it hasn't it's not gonna be really dusty for the photos I wanted. I wanted some dust flying in the air but this is fall in the desert. So it's been raining and this is super muddy. So we'll see how ratable it is. That's another unknown, lots of unknowns today. But either way we have a good team and we're pumped. (sunshiny music) What's really exciting is that if we get a sunset the sun is gonna align with...
the Spire naturally. So I might be able to get into the shadow of the Spire and Chris and cool effect. If we get a sunset and if he can write this, there's only two if's. It's pretty good. My name's Wiley Copas. I'm a professional-ish mountain biker. I am twenty-five and met Alex through a friend, Joey Schussler. Who's a filmmaker and I'm also a filmmaker in my off time. But yeah, just so to be out here and trying to put together some cool pictures with Alex Just a waiting game. Now I think I'm gonna go scout Where the Spire looks the biggest, you know because we're on a high point now. So we're making the Spire look smaller. I think I'm gonna go a little lower of the wide angle and play around at some angles. So I was just talking with Wiley, who is our talent? So Wiley is a mountain bike racer, right? He's an expert. And the reason I like to work with talented talent is that they know this stuff way more than I do, right? So I like to mountain bike for sure. That's why I love to shoot mountain bikes but he's the freaking expert here. He's the boss. So I'm like Wiley, where can I take photos of you? You know, where are you gonna look the best on the terrain? And he showed me three spots and it's this hump, the, this hump, and then the one before. So I can pretty much take photos of Wiley anywhere as long as I keep the Spire in the back, cause that's like my almost like a second subject is my, what brings strength to the image. I would just encourage you to always hire talent or work with people that know their shit, right? Like experts. Don't just get somebody that you've heard from somebody else. That's a good mountain biker. It's like, just go with the best you can't afford because the, you know these guys know how to get photographs and how to ride for photos, which is gonna be what we're doing today because the terrain is pretty dicey. It's just really muddy. And then it's packing into his tires. It's gonna look dope though. So we have about two hours to wait now until sunset and then fire. So it's just like, the dirt is super sticky. Like, it's like the stuff you'd kind of have in like middle school, ceramics class. And so just like sticks to your tires and like the bike doesn't move. So what we're trying to do now is just like pack it a little so I can actually like carry speed through it and not look ridiculous. So yeah, just try to like dry it up the best we can but it's like the sun's making it dry pretty fast. So I don't know, gets better the longer we wait. Cool. So I think since that'll be dialed Back in the trail today could be worse. (concerning echoes and whispers) So we've been doing some test shots with Wiley and this looks really cool. The white t-shirts pop in really well and the trail's actually kind of working. He loses a bit of speed here but the more he rides it, the better it'll get. Now photo wise, I've been trying to shoot from three locations just here, up there. And I think I like it here because I can see the two rock features and it's an all hump for Wiley to get some air. So we're gonna keep working on the hump that's right here for him to get air. And, like the goal is that he's separated from the horizon land behind and he, you know he stands out against the clouds. That's what we're trying to do now, you know for now solve test shots, but it's looking pretty cool. (muffled) So Specializing, you know what I mean? Yeah. So I like the angle better because the trail winds to the right, which feels just more natural to the eye versus the other side. So again, I'd just like to try, I went there did a test shot, went here, did a test shot and we have a winner. So now it's good to have Wiley here because he's a pro. So he's been doing maybe 25 rounds just in a row over and over. And he's always, always, always asking me if I wanna do more, et cetera. So he is really nice sometimes though you might have to you might just be dealing with time. That's a bit less experience, you know? So just be mindful of how they're feeling. Like if, if you see the start to look tired, et cetera we have a lot of time right now to play around, you know until the sun gets what we want it to be. And while he's down to place, it's kind of up to you to feel the situation and know if it's okay or not to do that. We're in good shape now though. Yep. He's dropping (crackling) Noise. So working with your talent, and Wiley had a pretty cool idea. He's like, oh dude, check this out. I made a turn there, come see it. So we just walked there. We take our time and I discovered that the sun now is between these two Spires. See like I'm in, not in the sun, I'm in the sun. So I think we can have Wiley turn right here follow his idea and I could improve it with composition. So I can have this view, like this and the sun semi blocked by this, almost like a flare. So it might work, might not work out. But I just wanna point out that you should work with your time because especially when you have a pro like I have an idea, come check it out for sure. I want to, so I don't wanna get stuck in my initial idea, which is shoot like there. I probably shoot that anyways, but I still wanna explore cause this might be better. (joyous crescendo) So this really honors the wide angle, right? We're shooting this fifteen-thirty five. So this type of composition really, you know was the rock is so big. This lens comes really in handy. Oh yeah. It's cool. Now I have two options. Either get more of the upper part, or more of the lower part. I'm trying more of the lower part when he's detached against this guy. So I've done so many options now that I'm trying to go back through all of them. I think my favorite is probably from here when he is up in the air and the sun is just in the right place for that. So we're gonna do that now, while he's scrapping up the bottom of his shoes, they tend to get quite muddy here, which makes riding a bit tricky. Yay. And he hits the second move. He's passionate. You see, he hit the second move too. No cameras. Still standing. (lively song) Oh, wow. I like this a lot. It's fun shooting this whole thing. Just with one lens kind of reduces decisions. Right? I'm gonna try to wonder what lens I gotta use. I got my mutation fifteen-thirty five. Feels quite good. Its quite relaxing. Just one lens. Cause now it be like, I wanna put the fifty on this and that, but no I can't. So I gotta get a little closer to him. Shoot him. But there's quite a bit of contrast for the camera. This is really pushing the art to the limit cause this is so dark, black-dark and this is extreme bright. So I'm trying to seek the best angle. So the sun is just the right amount of sun without blowing up the whole scene. It's tricky. But what I have him, what I have now is him against the sky. Just flying. That's what I came for. Pumped. (upbeat continues, louder) Whoa Haha! Dope. That was sick. Okay. I just got, I missed the light both times. Cause it of the sun. Oh yeah. Fuck. It was cool. Yeah. It was nice. It's noise. The light. What do you think? I think that this is good. We got this now. So I was thinking about going slowly, going up as the sun drops, you know, go in higher and higher. Yeah. Yeah. So we've changed plans now we've come up back to the top. The sunset side is done. I think for now, till it becomes pink but looking at the other side, it looks really cool. It's like blue and just looks really awesome. So instead of trying to force that composition which I've shot about a thousand times today and Wiley has ridden forty times, I think we're switching it up now and just trapping down here and just kind of going with the flow, following the light. (motivational chanting and song) (murmurs drowned out by song) Okay, so we're pretty much done for now. I might wait for blue hour as we write down, but for now we're gonna pack up and start getting a move on and I'm gonna keep an eye for any blue hour opportunities. I'm really glad I got this shot there. That's what I came for. I just wanna recap on everything we've talked about today. First being like researching new locations before and then planning out where you're gonna scout. Then leaving some time to scout the whole thing in person. Online scout and then real life scout. It's completely different but you can get really ahead with the online scout. So today we had three hours to play around and that was solid. Second thing is working with your models. So making sure that first off they're safe nobody wants them to get hurt. And then that you just treat them the best you can. Right? Sometimes you hire models. Sometimes you work with your friends, but with whoever you work with you just wanna make sure they're well taken care of. And when you work with pros, the benefit is that Wiley is being, pushing us to get different angles. So he's really the driving force of this and this way I love he's like, oh how about this? How about that? We're trying to leave and he wants to keep going, right? So this is the best situation. And that's what happens when you work with pros. So just treat your talent really well. And number three is you know, how we've been shooting this assignment for Cannon with the fifteen-thirty five. It's actually good that I used, only this lens. It was refreshing out to have to think about, you know what lens I'm gonna use. And in that way I must have, you know I might have missed some shots if I was thinking about that. I really like this constraint of using one lens. and then obviously using the wide angle to my advantage. This is the reason we came here is because it's wide angle territory. It's like, we're so close to this thing. And this goes so high in the air and the wide angle makes everything even more dramatic. So that's it for today. He's going again. Should we do it again? One more time. (crashes) You good? Yeah. Going hard tonight. Yeah. I just can't see now. Yeah. Wiley for the win. It's kind of dorky. All good. Thanks, yeah. Thank you. Thinking? The which claw, what do you think? Which claw? Which claw or needle of the missing drone? Ooh. Needle of the missing drone. How about DGI needles? DGI needles. A DGI needle. All right. DGI needle. (laughs) (camera shutters, silence)
Class Materials
Ratings and Reviews
Jon
Not What I Was Expecting Let me just start by saying that the workshop was very good. There were lots of things that I learned and many insights I took away. Perhaps the greatest bit of wisdom imparted to me was not anything Alex said but how he approached every subject he talked about. I felt that he was talking to me as a friend, very personal and open book. This was both a blessing and a curse as the course tends to meander around and is not as structured as others I've taken. Alex's passion for the highest quality, and craftsmanship in every aspect of his business, is very evident. From the premiums he charges, to the attention to detail in client deliveries. This is where my review is going to give some hopefully constructive criticisms. For someone so focused on a premium experience I was a surprised to find the course a bit sloppily assembled, and the videography and editing lackluster. This is coming from a videographer and someone with a lot of experience in online training. A few short examples to illustrate my point include: repeating segments of the edit (in some instances the exact same segment), poor framing. Colors changing between cuts, and my biggest pet peeve, not leaving photo examples on for long enough to see them. These are all small things, but they add up, and along with the topics meandering, left me a bit disappointed. I'm curious who you would say this class is aimed towards. Amateurs, mid-level, or experts? The assumption of who you are addressing changes throughout the course. I feel like with a bit of work from an instructional designer, and some editing cleanup, you could help hone this course to be one of the best out there. I feel like I need to do a more in depth review than will fit here, to actually explain this well. Let me know if that would be helpful to you. One other note: When I signed up for a workshop on Adventure Photography, I honestly thought it would be more field focused. The field examples were all shoots for products, and not shoots documenting an adventure. I guess I had just hoped to learn that side of the storytelling process more. Getting into the nitty gritty of being wet, cold, and dirty, and still shooting bangers. The section on filters (going out and building the snow cave) was more what I thought this course was going to be. Anyhow, with all that said, I still found it valuable and worthwhile. To summarize, the course feels a bit unpolished and in some ways unfinished though there is still great value. I've taken Jimmy Chin's Masterclass on adventure photography and it felt very structured and highly polished. I purchased "Adventure Pro" on the "finish in a month" discount. I would have felt ripped off if I had paid full price with the course in its current state. Thanks for reading and I hope my criticisms come as helpful. As I've already mentioned I'd be happy to further elaborate.
Topher Hammond
One of the best photography investments I'm only 1/4 of the way through Alex's course and I feel like I already have a loose plan on how I can move forward in my own career as a photographer. I felt like my work was lacking a specific feeling. The way that Alex articulated ideas on how to convey emotion in your imagery and building that overarching story arc for your own life narrative were super helpful to focus on how to make my work better. Super looking forward to the rest of this course. Thanks Alex and team!
Sergi Mas de xaxars Rosell
Great Workshop I learned quite a lot with this workshop. Because I'm in the industry for 5 years now, there were a few things I already knew. On the other hand, Alex showed me different and more effective ways to improve my business. I like the way he gives the lessons, always in a personal and close way. This is the knowledge I wish I had when I started. Totally worth it!
Student Work
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