Select tickets
CHARACTER: An exploration of the art of portrait photography with Dave Brosha and Wayne Simpson.
If you love portrait photography, and the idea of capturing the essence of person and soul in memorable images, be sure to check out this popular yearly workshop, "CHARACTER", dedicated to the end-to-end art of portrait photography. Rather than a simple workshop, however, this will be a three-day event in an absolutely amazing location with long days, lots of laughs, an incredible amount of hands-on creative time, and the ability to see the end-to-end process of passionate and experienced Canadian portrait photographers, Dave Brosha and Wayne Simpson, with absolutely no secrets: from visualization to execution to post-processing and beyond.
Consider it a year of portrait photography school jammed into three days.
Dates: August 20-22, 2025
Cost: $1650 + tax for the three days (full price) or pay $750 + tax DEPOSIT with the final balance due March 31, 2025.
(NOTE: The $1650 +tax is the workshop Fee only - accommodation, meals, or transportation not included although carpooling encouraged).
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE (note: details subject to change)
Day 1
9:00AM until NOON - Dave and
Wayne will kick off the event with introductions, slideshows, and a talk
about finding your vision and voice in your portrait work. During this
morning's presentation, they'll examine a variety of styles and
influences and talk about the ideas of both pre-visualization and
creating within the moment. Participants will be expected to share
their biggest current portrait challenges as Dave and Wayne will take
note and work on helping each participant overcome these challenges.
NOON until 1:30PM - Lunch break/travel to location #1
1:30PM-2PM The Art of Location. Dave and Wayne will lead participants on a walk-through of the location, both inside and out, and explain environmental features that stand out to them as well as various storytelling components that can be utilized for strong portraiture. Once the walk-through is complete, participants will separate to jot down ideas, concepts, and potential portraits.
2:00-2:45 - The Art of Portrait DEMO#1 // The group will split up - half will go with Wayne and half will go with Dave as they demo a short portrait session. In this time, they will talk aloud their entire thought process, including obstacles they're trying to overcome, posing, expression, lighting, and mood.
2:45PM until 3:30PM - The Art of Portrait DEMO #2 // The same
as demo #1, except the group will reverse. Whoever went with Dave in
the first demo will go with Wayne in the second, and vice versa
3:30PM until 5:30PM - Participant photoshoots.
Participants will break into small groups and be assigned subjects and
proceed to create for 4 straight hours. Participants will help and
support each other, as will Dave and Wayne.
Day 2
9:00AM until 12:00 - Lighting for MOOD +
STORYTELLING. While Day One demos were more focused on the essentials
of strong portraiture, Day Two will see Dave and Wayne get more advanced
and focus more attention on lighting to create a mood, multi-light
set-ups, effectively balancing ambient and introduced lighting, and
"lighting-for-the-face (not just for the sake of lighting). As with Day
One, the group will split up and see demos from both Wayne and Dave
before diving into late-morning shooting.
12PM until 1:30PM - Lunch break.
1:30PM until 5PM - Participant photoshoots/Flat-out creative. Participants will break into small groups and be assigned subjects/models and proceed to create for over 3 straight hours. Participants will help and support each other, as will Dave and Wayne. Unlike Day One, participants will be assigned specific portrait tasks and challenges to allow them to focus on skill-building and in-the-moment creativity.
Day 3
7:30AM
Meet-up/Morning Creative + Field Trip - Location TBD. Where? To be
determined. But it may be anywhere within 50 kilometres of
Elora. We'll share details at the event and we can all arrange
carpooling then.
10AM until noon - group brunch (note: optional/at participant's own expense)
12PM-2PM - Post-Processing/Participant
Critique. One of the over-looked and/or rushed aspects of many
workshops, Wayne and Dave will spend time going over their entire
end-to-end editing process, which will include "live" edits of some of
their images, explaining different Lightroom and Photoshop techniques.
After their demos and discussion, participants will have roughly one
hour to work on their images from day one. Final group editing session,
slideshow, and critique.
NOTE: while it is strongly advised to bring your own laptop for editing to best take advantage of the morning's session, don't stress if you don't have a laptop. Participants can double up and also hop onto Dave and Wayne's laptops if need be.
NOTE: This workshop is limited to a maximum of 16 participants so expect a lot of hands-on shooting time with lots of support from Dave and Wayne.
Transportation:
The
price of the workshop does not include transportation. Participants
will need to arrange car rentals or carpooling with other workshop
participants.
Payment and Cancellation Policy
A $750 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your spot, with final payment due by March 31, 2025.
Spots are non-refundable
but are transferable (i.e. if the the participant is able to find
someone else to take their spot and can sell/transfer the spot to a new
participant, this is acceptable). Please note it is the participant's
responsibility to sell their spot if they are unable to attend.
You can pay the full amount up-front, too, should you choose.
For any additional questions, please contact any of the event organizers:
Dave Brosha - davebrosha@gmail.com
Wayne Simpson - wayne@waynesimpsonphotography.com