Aperture Academy's Natural Light portrait workshop is a 3 hours crash course that covers the basics of photography; introducing the art of light & portraiture; and why paying attention to the background of your composition can make or break an image. The day was warm and sunny, ideal because we can really show each student how to LOOK for the ideal light of portrait photography. Fellow instructor Ellie and I had two sessions on this Saturday, timed perfectly with the sun.

As always, we start the workshops off with introductions so we can get to know everyones back grounds. From veterans to professionals & moms to ApCad Hall-of-famers, we had the pleasure of working with two very unique groups ready to learn all they could! After we all got to know each other, Ellie introduced the basics of the technical side of photography- including the exposure triangle, composition and we both shared some sample portraits from previous classes to give everyone a good idea of what to look forward too!

Each session has a different route around the pruneyard because of the time difference in the day. As I do with my clients, I try to have the students walk away with a variety of images, not only for practice, but also so they can have more options to include in their portfolio! I find myself reminding people to switch up the orientation of their camera, zoom in & out, also... a trick for the prime lens users: using their 'foot zoom'! We were happy to have properly exposed images and a lot smiles both on the LCD screens and from the students! On every workshop, we set up a group shot- and as I am posing, I try to test the students and have them figure out what the settings are going to be for the shot! With both session on this day, the answers were close enough to correct and I was happy that everyone was learning!

Wrapping up the workshops, we encourage people to stay in touch as well as send us edited shots from the workshop! We love to stay in touch with the students and watch their progress and growth, and encourage them to contact us for other photography questions, even if they don't pertain to portraits! Overall, the day was a success and the students were eager to head home and practice their newly acquired tips and tricks!

If you'd like to join us at one of our workshops, you can find the schedule/sign up here.

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