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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
Find Your Path
Yeah, this is it. So we call this, Find Your Own Path. Finding Your Own Path. Camera speaks. Camera speaks. (hands lightly claps) Need my action. And action. (soft tone) So I've been taking photography pretty slow these past months. I've been trying to understand what makes me unique in this space of photography. There's such a vast stream of content put out, every day, online. That I keep asking myself, you know, what am I adding to the world with this photo? It's been tormenting me a little bit. So, you know, when you think about it, our favorite stories always come from people who are the only ones who can tell them. Take the example of Alex Honnold and Free Solo, right? He sets off on a highly ambitious and risky project and there's only a handful of people who are best suited to capture Alex's endeavor. And that's Jimmy Chen, because he's got a relationship with Alex, he's got the experience, he's got the skills. So, when you think about it, it all makes sense. And tha...
t's what made Free Solo, so unique, and eventually ended up winning them an Oscar. Now, switching gears, you take Anthony Bourdain's, you know, books and shows. They're not food stories, right? They are political, they're sociological. And there's a bit of dash, you know, there's a dash of food sprinkled in there. But, how many ex-chefs can we count that have the potential to bring, you know, the stories that Anthony Bourdain brings to the table? I don't know of any other ones, right? And it all started with Anthony's book. It was called, A Cook's Tour. So they pitched, Anthony was gonna make a book and they pitched the book to the Food Network, as a show about the travels. But even then, you know, the book built on Anthony's rocky past. And because it built on that past it was a story that only Anthony, you know himself, could tell. And to our delight, he did. So now, taking this to the field of photography. Cause that's what we're here for. I can take the example of people like Kevin Ross and he has a very steady and defined approach, right? If you don't know Kevin, he's best known for his iPhone images of the American West, when he was living out of his car (laughing). And in the past years, he's been putting out little magazines and he's got a postcard club of his work and other people's work that are similar to him. And if I think about it, I don't think any other photographer I know, could put together such personal looking magazines and postcards. So it just makes a lot of sense, when you look at Kevin's past and present, it's all connected. Because he's being really true to himself. The same goes for Christian Watson, a/k/a 1924us. Christian is a photographer and an illustrator from Portland. And, all his illustration work is hand drawn and it carries a very specific look that people seek him out for, right? So, if you want something that's hand drawn and that looks kind of retro in 1930s, you're just gonna have to hire Christian because nobody else does it like him, right? And again, that comes from his past of looking at antiques and selling antiques on his store and taking photos with expired film. It's all mushed up to make his style. And it's very personal, again. So it's important that you spend time analyzing people like this. Finding out what makes their work special and why they are the only ones in the world who can do that specific thing. And the goal is not to be the best in the world at, in my view. The goal is to be the only one in the world doing something. It's very different. Being the best is one thing. But being the only one doing something, is much more special. Don't race to the bottom with all the (chuckling) photographers you see out there, putting out very predictable work. Focus instead, on creating your own field, where you are the only one in. Keep in mind, however, that while we're all unique, we can learn from the patterns of others. That's why studying other artists, writers, musicians and painters. You can get insight on common threads and in a way, deconstruct how they did something, right? Because we may all be different. We can still read all this. We can still read at the same books, listen to the same music. So yes, we're different, but a lot of common principles apply, right? The principles always apply, not the whole approach. So, focus on the principles. So, the same time as you do you're studying, in the coming weeks, you have to get started on your own project. Because sometimes, too much research, too much analysis, can leave us a bit paralyzed, right? So, yes, start researching, but get moving at the same time as you do that. So, if I had to deconstruct it, I think it begins with seeing, asserting and changing, right? So see a pattern, assert what makes that pattern, change it and adapt to- and adapt it to you. So, to be more precise, I find that when it comes time to start a new project, it is a bit daunting because, there's about 1000 ways you can go about that project or this idea. There's a thousand stories you can tell and they're all really good and exciting. Millions of places to go and millions of photos to make. So, I find it is actually very liberating to start with a very specific constraint. If you can't think of a constraint, look at someone's project and identify the general and pick the specific of that general. For example, I'm making a photo documentary book about teenagers who go bouldering, near the US biggest cities, right? That's precise. You can feel like you can start with that, right? Because, defining a project in a very specific way is so liberating, right? If you're just sitting, like, I wanna make a photo book, that is the wrong way to go about it, right? (chuckling) So it's like, where do you even start? So, dig in your personal interest, right? Like, well, I like bouldering, that's not enough, right? It's not interesting enough. So, let's be more specific. Well, how do people interact with bouldering in the cities, then boom, you're starting to narrow it down. So, if you of having trouble with that idea, just go to Behance or all this other sites that share photography work of other people. Get a photo book, (laughing) you know, like thousands of legends, like Richard Avedon, that you can take books from and learn from their stories and apply those principles to how they're told, because principles always apply. So, to recap, start with a very specific genre and work within the rules of that genre. Time for a little assignment. (finger snaps) Here's what I want you to do. (snapping fingers) Pick a genre, that's very defined, that you haven't played with. So, if you're into landscape photography, pick, you know, night portraiture (chuckling) or pick macro. Just pick something really different that you wouldn't even think about doing. And don't over complicate it, pick something you can do in the next few days. And then make a set of three to five photos. And then come put it on the forum, on the Adventure Pro forum and share it with us. And what's very important is that, besides the set, I want you to break it down and I want you to tell us why you've done that. Like, why you've taken this genre and why you're shooting these things. What made you feel that? And what made you do that? I think by defending the work, like, by explaining, you know, why you're doing it. Either before or after, so we can all see it, will help you immensely. It's gonna suck because, (laughing) you know, obviously you'd rather go shoot the stuff you shoot usually, where you feel comfortable, but, get a little bit outta your comfort zone, because it's gonna get you closer to what your unique, you know, what makes you uniqueness? I'll pick the fav-, I'll pick my favorite work, that's been the best explained and justified and I'll put it on my story. We'll put it on the Strobeworks, IG and wherever else we can. So, game on. (camera click)
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!