CHARACTER: An exploration of the art of portrait photography with Dave Brosha and Wayne Simpson.

LOCATION:  GRANDE PRAIRIE, ALBERTA (and surrounding area)

If you love portrait photography, and the idea of capturing the essence of person and soul in memorable images, be sure to check out our yearly workshop series, "CHARACTER", dedicated to the end-to-end art of portrait photography. For this CHARACTER Wayne and Dave are returning to Grande Prairie, Alberta for the first time since 2018.  

Rather than a simple workshop, however, this will be a three-day event in an absolutely amazing locations 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: July 17-19, 2024

Cost: $1650 + tax for the three days (full price) or pay $750 non-refundable with the final balance due Feb 15, 2024.

(NOTE: The $1650 +tax is the Workshop Fee only - accommodation, meals, or transportation not included although carpooling is encouraged).

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE (note: details subject to change)

Day 1

9:00AM until 12:00 -  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.

12PM until 1:30PM - Lunch break/travel to location #1

1:30PM-2:00PM 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 walkthrough is complete, participants will separate to jot down ideas, concepts, and potential portraits.

2:00PM-2:45PM- 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 about 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 2 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 5:30PM - 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 Grande Prairie.  We'll share details at the event and we can all arrange carpooling then.

9:15 until 11 - group brunch (note: optional/at participant's own expense)

11AM-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+tax deposit is required to hold your spot, with final payment due by Feb 15, 2024.

Spots are non-refundable but are transferable (i.e. if 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