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Lesson Info
46. Social Media Landscape
Lessons
Intro
1Workshop Intro
03:18Foundations
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
07:52In the Field
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
15:06Editing
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
03:44Business
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
03:08Bonus - Everything To Know About Filters
48Do You Need Lens Filters?
09:36 49Filters in The Field
12:40Bonus - Find Your Path
50Find Your Path
07:44Bonus - How To Print Your Work
51Why Print or Sell Photos
23:21 52Preparing Photos for Print
06:44 53Reviewing Major U.S Printers
06:57Lesson Info
Social Media Landscape
(introductory chimes) Okay, let's talk about the internet. What is the latest? What is the landscape of 2019 and for photographers on social media? I think that in the past few years we've seen a massive influx of the new wave content creators, you know, not classically trained, not super knowledgeable on the classic rules of the foundations of photography or the history, but they really embrace the fact that they're making work for an audience that appreciate it. And they're smart enough to create for the audience and cater to the audience needs. And I think that's what this generation, this movement, has brought, whether we like it or not. I mean, I have no problem with it. But whether we like it or not, we can recognize that that's what's going on. This new wave is sort of made up of a few subcultures I think. From what I've found is that we have sort of internet personalities who call themselves public figures within their audience. We have the travel content creators, the bange...
r hunters like the epic Indonesian, Philippine speeches. Again, there's nothing wrong with that. I'm just trying to put some categories out so we can better understand it. Then we have models and sort of fit people who use their body to grow their audience. Whether it's guys or gals, doesn't make a difference. And then we have in another niche, you have tutorials. People who make tutorials, for example like Peter McKinnon who make an awesome job at teaching people how to make films and photos. And then we have the extreme athlete kind of vibe. The Kilian Jornet's of the world. And then I think lastly, people who do really good work around automotive, like people like Aaron Brimhall, I think, are in their own niche where it's not travel, it's not personality based, it just looks dope. I think that's how we can sum it up. Right? So in the middle of all this thing we have the first wave approach which is people who just do travel photography, not in the banger hunter way. Storytelling, you know, adventure photographers in the middle, and then some classic, some artists bridging the gap between the first wave and the more viral stuff, the second wave. Which is people like Chris Burkard. Who is somebody who's reestablished. Chris has been doing this forever, and he's kind of bridging the gap between the two. So really interesting guy to look at. If we were to look at where we're going, for example, let's look at TikTok. Which is sort of part of the avant garde, new generation, you see that we're going, on the basis of how it's made, we're going towards machine learning, customized content. Meaning that it's content that's made to gather the most amounts of engagement. So fun, cute, useful, like the top tens of things, the epic. Just content that is easy to consume and that is snack size. Five seconds, ten seconds. Grab me, boom, moving on, scrolling past it. The content there, you know, it's made for people who have, for all of us, who have less time. Because we have less time we have to consume the content quickly. So machines learn to surface only the most relevant stuff. What machine is like...machine? The algorithm is like, what does this person want to do? What's gonna be given the quickest, instant hit? So that's not something I'm super fond of. This top ten listical thing that's translating into apps like Instagram and TikTok, but it is what it is. And I think there's a few options but we'll probably continue down this path for the next years. You know, I think nothing's gonna change tomorrow. We're gonna continue making more, machines gonna bring us content that we wanna see or that machine thinks we're gonna see. And there's two possible outcomes. First we beat it to death until we're fed up, or a counterculture might rise out of that. People who want to opt out from all the content that the machines send their way. And that's the one I'm really excited about. What is the surface? What does 2025 look like on social media? Is it about top 10 things, epic? Or is it just about stories and more meaningful stuff? I think in these situations, it is always pretty smart and insightful to take a few steps back and look at our nature as humans and the things that don't change. What are the things that don't change? So what we can do is pretty much, the things that will always work is that if you're out there as a photographer or a filmmaker, wondering what to do. How do we get a bigger audience or whatever? You need to be yourself. And I've said this before, but you need to be yourself. It's so important. And then second, if we wanna be in it for the long term we must find why we're driven to do what we do. Because if we don't find that out, if we just go and do it, it might work for two years. But after five years, you're gonna start to get tired and be like, "Why am I doing all this for?" So just realize, reflect, do the exercises earlier in the workshop to find out why you're doing this. And with that, once you know that, once you connect it with yourself, you can do that for 30 years. Doesn't matter. Right? I think at the root of it is as creators we only need to be doing projects that are so important to us that we cannot, not do them. That's how you should feel. And then that's sort of the high level thing. But tactically speaking, I think the best thing we can do is to begin a project. A project that you're so into it, that it touches you and bonus is that it touches other people. It touches on the human experience. So what does a project like that look like? It could just be a trip around the country, build yourself a little cabin, for example, like simple things like that. Build yourself a sauna and document that. Or if you're gonna move into your first apartment or your first house or your newly married. I don't know, just all these things are things that we all do, right? At some point they're like live scripts. And the more appeal your project has for the broader society and humanity, the more people are gonna wanna see it. It's kinda like "Humans of New York". That project was super interesting because it appealed to all of us. Hear stories about other humans, and through this, all these stories I'm seeing, I am realizing that we're all the same people. And this is what we all crave to see. So if you care about building an audience, which I'm assuming you do because you're here in this workshop watching this, then you need to look at what gets you going. And then how does that touch on humanity? What is the part of that project that touches on humanity and the shared experience of being humans? If you don't care about building an audience, then fine you don't have to think about this so much. And then I'm sure you can find a path as a really cool artist that does these really trippy things that some people are gonna be fond of. So just to determine what you wanna do first and then get started and get started on a project and you'll see that people will respond well to your project.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
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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