Equine Photography Essentials Workshop Experience: Build a Strong Foundation
Join the Cowgirls with Cameras and Learn or Grow Your Equine Photography Skills
5 Days | April 19-23, 2024
St. Augustine, Florida
Build or rebuild a strong foundation for your equine photography practice, business, or hobby. This workshop will take you back to basics in understanding photography principles, camera usage, lighting techniques, editing, horse knowledge, and business best practices. Lots of hands-on learning and classroom time to build your confidence and master your style and technique.
We will also cover basic editing in Adobe Camera Raw right from the get-go. From that baseline we will expand into learning composition, natural lighting techniques, action photography, and even business plus a whole lot more! We’ve packed this event with all the stuff we wish we’d had when we started our photography journey.
This is a Cowgirls with Cameras Photography Learning Experience. It is especially designed for beginning photographers.
Our mission at Cowgirls with Cameras is to facilitate your creative expression of the western lifestyle through photography. Our live and virtual experiences are designed to actively expand your knowledge and creativity by building your technical, artistic, and business skills within a supportive community of like-minded people who are passionate about photography.
Our Learning Immersion workshops offer beginner, intermediate and advanced photographers a chance to grow their skills in a safe and supportive environment. Learning photography can also be a lonely experience and workshops can be intimidating and scary. Learning photography in a workshop setting can be harsh, feel competitive, or stifling, and we don’t want that to be the experience for our students. We want this experience to allow you room to establish a solid foundation and/or expand your skills while having fun and getting the knowledge you’ve been craving.
This workshop is designed for beginner level photographers and will prepare you to come to more intensive and advanced experiences.
Your Leaders: Cara, Kim and Phyllis!
Cara Taylor Swift
Fast Horse Photography, Equine Portrait Specialist
Super Powers:
Eliciting Horse Human Connection
Posing People with Horses
Seeing the extraordinary
in the ordinary.
Canon
Lightroom Classic
Photoshop
PC
Kim Beer
Kim Beer Photography & Be More Business, Gestaltist
Super Powers:
Helping you connect with and love your Muse.
Innovative Business Building
Creative & Fast Workflows
Canon
Lightroom CC & Classic
Photoshop
Mac and iPad Pro
Phyllis burchett
Phyllis Burchett Photography, Photographic Artist
Super Powers:
Artistic Expression in Photography
Seeing the Details
Patience
Passive Income
Nikon
Photoshop
Bridge
PC
The magic of a Cowgirls with Cameras Experience is in our Leaders!
We are three very different photographers and all successful in our own craft using different approaches and techniques. We have been in your shoes — the novice photographer yearning to learn more; the intermediate photographer seeking to become better at your craft; and the experienced photographer looking to expand your horizons and fully tap into your creativity. We each offer our unique super powers, methods, and view points for you to consider. We believe this offers our students the opportunity to truly choose what works best for them. Our instruction style is open, engaging, non-judgmental, and friendly. We are passionate about photography, artistic expression, business, and having fun — we want to inspire you and help you take your photography to the next level.
About the Cowgirls with Cameras Photography Learn Equine Photography Beginner Experience
Scheduled shoots are all equine themed and include a wide range of setups including portrait, lifestyle, action, and creative opportunities. Instructors will be available during the shoots to direct models and help participants with capturing the images they envision.
Classroom time is scheduled between shoots. Our classroom time will be divided between lecture and hands-on learning. Topics covered will include editing, creativity, camera knowledge, composition, business, mindset and more. The classroom time at our workshops is designed to give you the skills you need to get the most out of the scheduled shoots.
Mentoring from one or all of the instructors is available and encouraged during the event. Also included in your experience are 3 sessions of up to 45 minutes of mentoring before or after the event itself. This is a $600 value if purchased separately PLUS you have full mentoring access to all three instructors at the event itself.
Community is a key aspect of our Immersion Photography experiences. We encourage sharing and friendship both during and after the event. Some of our most memorable moments and best friendships have come from the workshops we have attended, and we want you to have that same opportunity at every Cowgirls with Cameras event. Built into the schedule is time to get to know each other and foster support for each other both in our lives and art.
Relaxation time is important to the creative process. Although this event is intensely focused on learning, we will have built in down time for relaxation and just hanging out with each other.
• beautiful scenery
• real equine lifestyle
• horses
• a variety of settings
• experienced models
REGISTER NOW!
There are a limited number of spots available for this experience. When you submit this form, you will receive two emails. One to confirm your email address and verify it so we can communicate with you. The other email will offer you the ability to schedule a short zoom with us. (If you don’t get these emails within 30 minutes of clicking submit, check your SPAM folder). During this call, we talk candidly about your expectations, goals, and photography experience. If the event is a good fit for everyone, then we will move to full registration and payment arrangements. We look forward to meeting you!
Experience and Equipment Recommendations
Experience: This event is designed for beginner and novice level photographers. If you don’t own professional or prosumer level equipment, will work with you individually to help you purchase or rent the appropriate camera, lenses, and accessories.
Camera & Technical Skills
Get to know how to use your camera to achieve the desired artistic outcome.- Camera basics: Where things are on your camera, important settings, how to navigate your camera’s menus.
- Exposure triangle (Aperture, ISO, Shutter Speed)
- Shooting Modes
- White Balance
- Histograms
- Shooting on Manual
Editing & Software Skills
Learn and understand how to edit and improve your photos through software.- Adobe Camera Raw Settings
- Standard Editing Techniques
- Basic Editing Workflow
- Choosing Software
- Making Standard Corrections to Your Images (retouching, distraction removal, etc.
- Improving Out of Camera results with Post Process
Location & Lighting Techniques
Understand how to utilize your location and available light.- Posing Horses
- Posing Humans
- Posing Horses with Humans
- Learning How to Utilize Your Location for Maximum Results and Creativity
- Understanding How to use Natural and Ambient Light
- Speciality Set-ups such as Black Background, Silhouette, and High-Key
Working with Models
Photography Business Skills
Mindset
Creativity
Camera Equipment: In order to get the most out of this experience, we recommend you have a DSLR or Mirrorless removable lens camera system. If you don’t own one of these camera systems, we can help you choose what to rent so you maximize your experience and can test out equipment before you commit!
Editing Equipment: A laptop and/or iPad is required to take advantage of the classroom time focused on editing and workflow. Instruction will take place in industry standard Adobe software. For laptop users, we will work in Photoshop, Bridge, and Lightroom Classic or Lightroom CC. For iPad users, we will work in Lightroom CC and Photoshop Mobile. If you edit in Photoshop Elements, you can still benefit from the classroom instruction, but you may not have access to all the tools for some techniques. If you edit with Affinity, you will need to alter some steps of the Photoshop instruction to the specifics of your software.
Lighting Equipment and Accessories: Almost all our instructional and setup shooting will be done with available light. There are, however, occasions and locations where off camera lighting techniques will be covered. In these cases, we will have lighting setups provided for Canon and Nikon users. If you use another brand of camera equipment, we will provide you with the requirements for your camera setup prior to the event or you can observe the techniques and apply them at home when you have the required equipment. An accessory list for each location will be provided at the time of registration.
The Important Details
The investment for this event is $2950.
Classroom Instruction
In Field Instruction
9 Equine & 1 Practice Photography Setups
Mentoring (before, during, and after the event)
Portfolio Review (optional)
Model Releases
Lodging, meals and travel to and from the location is not included.
We recommend you fly into Jacksonville (one hour), Daytona (one hour) or Orlando (2 hours) airports. We will be shooting in the general area of St. Augustine. You should plan to be at our starting location at 8 am on April 19 and we will conclude after the evening shoot on April 23. We will connect attendees through social media and email prior to the event so you can make arrangements.
There are several great hotel options available. You can use any hotel booking site to find a hotel. Here are three hotels where past particpants have happily stayed: 1. Hilton Garden Inn (904) 471-5559 2. Hampton Inn by Hilton (904) 471-4000 3. Courtyard by Marriott (904) 940-3800.
We do everything we can within reason to make you comfortable during the event. If you have any special needs, please notify us in advance so we can arrange to meet them or set expectations accordingly.
Activity Level, Personal Gear, and Weather Considerations
Participants in this experience should be in good health and feel comfortable walking over uneven terrain and standing for extended periods of time. We may have to hike a short distance to shoot locations so please be prepared by bringing hiking or western type boots/shoes with closed toes. Weather in the west can be unpredictable, so pack layers to accommodate your comfort in both warm and cold temperatures. We often find morning to start off chilly and quickly rise in temperature and layering allows you to adjust your comfort level easily.
Horse experience is NOT necessary to participate in this experience.
REGISTER NOW!
There are a limited number of spots available for this experience. When you submit this form, you will receive two emails. One to confirm your email address and verify it so we can communicate with you. The other email will offer you the ability to schedule a short zoom with us. (If you don’t get these emails within 30 minutes of clicking submit, check your SPAM folder). During this call, we talk candidly about your expectations, goals, and photography experience. If the event is a good fit for everyone, then we will move to full registration and payment arrangements. We look forward to meeting you!