3/17/11 UPDATE:
I will never forget watching the video of the gushing black waters from the Japanese tsunami that obliterated everything in its path. The water just would not stop.

And that was just the beginning.

Therefore, in light of the recent disasters that have hit Japan, I have decided to donate 100% of the profits from the April 16-17th to the American Red Cross to assist in the Japan earthquake/tsunami relief efforts. I know this is a small gesture, and ultimately a small donation, but I want to contribute to the relief efforts in Japan.

Isn't this just a marketing ploy? Don't I get a tax write-off from this? Sure (to both). But at the end of the day, I am fortunate to not be immediately affected by these disasters. I'm also fortunate to have executive decision-making power to donate the net profits from my workshop. My decision was ultimately influenced by wanting to give back to the world that has given me so much. Maybe I'm just a drop in the bucket in the total effort but I want to make a difference regardless.

Nothing else about the workshop has changed. We will still move forward with the original plan and intention. I'll have updates about styling shortly. Hopefully, I'll feel a little less guilty about having so much fun teaching fashion/editorial on an extravagant estate in Sin City!

If you would like to make an immediate donation to the Red Cross, just click the Red Cross logo above!



Sometimes the stars align and you're offered a once in a lifetime opportunity to shoot at a property valued at over $10 million...

L U C I M A's Las Vegas Estate Fashion/Editorial Workshop

-April 16th-17th (Saturday and Sunday)

-15 photographers (max)

-2 to 3 photographers per 1 agency-represented model (probably 4 to 5 models depending on # photographers).

-Fully-styled.

-In one of the most ridiculously luxurious estates you've ever seen. Fountains. Pool. Towering cathedral-styled ceilings. Private gated-community. Fully furnished. 8 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms. The pictures speak for themselves

-We'll be taking advantage of the ambient lighting indoors and outdoors and creating different lighting sets for each of the unique styled looks. We'll explore the nuances of putting together a fashion/editorial shoot in a thematic location such as this estate. I'll set a full agenda for each day that includes lots of shooting.

-9AM-5PM on each day. Lunch is provided. And since we have the location for 3 days I'm sure we'll hang out a little after each day of the workshop

-$895 for the first 8 photographers that sign up! $1095 thereafter! Payment due in full upon registration. Please pay below or make a check payable to LUCIMA STUDIO and send to:

LUCIMA STUDIO
2620 Concord Ave. STE 120
Alhambra, CA 91803



-With the different styled looks and models, I think a photographer can build his/her entire book during the 2-day workshop. Considering typical model, studio, MUA costs, stylist costs for such a production, I think the cost is well justified

-We'll of course be going over post-processing techniques for fashion/editorial looks.

-Here are the last 2 workshops I did in January and February!

I'll be posting more notes and stuff soon! Here we go!

FAQ:

Q: How far is the estate from the airport?
A: About 6-7 miles

Q: What should I bring?
A: The usual! Assorted portrait lenses, camera body, lightmeter, triggers (if you have them but we'll have plenty), lots of SD/CF cards (you'll be doing tons of shooting), and something to take notes on (a laptop might be useful so you can dump cards onto the computer!).

Q: How much does a cab cost?
A: About $20 from the airport but it really depends on where you're staying. I suggest renting a car since it's much more cost-effective and parking at the estate is not an issue!

Q: What if I don't have a lightmeter?
A: While it's not absolutely imperative that you have/bring a lightmeter (you can use the in-camera lightmeter), fashion/editorial often requires that you balance ambient light. The lightmeter allows you to quickly meter a certain ISO, aperture, shutter for any condition. In my work, I often need to drop ambient 1-2 stops to allow my subject to stand out with the help of strobes. The lightmeter allows me to meter angularly different sides of my subjects face and determine how much flash I need to either fill or overpower ambient (as main light). When I get to the camera, I then don't have to take as many test shots chimping to the proper balanced exposure.

This is one of the most critical components of working on-location for fashion/editorial work. Of course having the concept/storyboarding/feeling is first and foremost to determining your settings

Q: Will we be shooting nudies?
A: Nope. There are great workshops for that kind of thing but our focus for this location will be shooting fashion/editorial fully-styled

Q: What experience level is this workshop geared towards?
A: I would say that the average skill level my workshop photographer is somewhere in the intermediate range. I define intermediate as someone who understands "basic lighting". What does this mean? To me this means firstly a basic manipulation of ambient exposure via camera settings. This also means you are comfortable shooting off-camera flash. Those are the only prerequisite skills/experiences that I need you to have so we can build off of that to create greater understanding with shaping your subjects with light.

That being said, if you come with an open-mind and a willingness to learn, you'll gain volumes regardless what skill level you are. The purpose of this workshop is to learn how to assess different scenarios, different wardrobe and create a unique lighting look that tells a "story". We'll use reflectors, scrims, flags as well as 1 and 2 light setups with various modifiers to accent the features on the models.

Upon greater consideration I realized that my answer wasn't entirely true. I have had students come to my workshop without much if any experience with off-camera flash. Though generally the photographers own PocketWizards and strobes themselves, I think that off-camera flash is just a lighting model that isn't dissimilar from anything else that has to do with lighting. If you're comfortable feathering a reflector then you've at least gotten the intent of off-camera flash: Proper lighting is necessary at angles other than on-axis /on-camera.

That's perhaps the greatest obstacle. If you don't have that realization then it's hard to build those mental models of different light in your mind. But if you have that mental construct, then all that you need to do (at my workshop) is pop on a PocketWizard and pay attention to how the different setups create different effects.

I will show you how to take control of ambient exposure and balance it with strobe under different lighting conditions. This is part of the agenda that everyone will experience regardless of experience.

And I will show you the subtleties using traditional modifiers (but differently) such as reflectors etc. There's simply so much you can do with a reflector and if done properly you can pretty much kiss your strobes goodbye. On location reflectors are for me as important as the strobes.

Lastly, seeing that this workshop will be a smaller and more elite group of photographers, I will really be able to cater to each photographer and each photographer's goals for learning at the workshop.

Q: Who is this workshop for?
A: This workshop is specifically geared towards fashion/editorial photographers being that it's a fashion/editorial workshop. That being said, the magic of the workshop is fashion/editorial + location + styling = learn how to shoot fashion/editorial on location + create strong fashion/editorial images that can build his/her portfolio. Therefore this workshop caters towards any photographer that is looking to expand their portfolio with fashion/editorial images. Furthermore, I think that this workshop assists help wedding photographers the most as their clients might request more fashion-oriented shoots.

Q: Will you be showing us retouching and B&W conversions?
A: I will be spending lots of time showing post-processing in Photoshop and Lightroom as well as B&W conversions for the editorial images that we'll be shooting. Post-processing is particularly important for editorial when to retain consistency in the theme of the story.

Q: How much will be devoted to post-production, and how is this part going to be handled? (Classroom setting, we bring our laptops, or informally?)
A: You should definitely bring your laptop because we will be reviewing the different post-processing techniques for fashion and editorial. I have an editorial shoot that I'll be using as an example and we'll be examining in scrutiny all the styles and processes for creating a consistent editorial!

Additionally I'll be demonstrating retouching on images that we'll shoot in Las Vegas so you can see how what kind of adjustments and treatments I apply to for effect. It'll be more relevant if I use an image from the location.

So you should definitely bring your laptop. You'll be needing it to dump images onto as well as taking notes and looking at stuff in Photoshop. I estimate a good 1.5 hours of Photoshop goodness each day of the workshop  I'll be projecting onto a white wall in the conference room of the estate to share my screen.

Q: What is the importance of balancing light on location?
A: For any given location there will be ambient light. Your ability to use ambient depends on your assignment as well as your skills/experience. With the multiple sets on the estate we'll learn how to manipulate ambient light for either even exposure or for specific effects.

In the example below, I've balanced a strong backlight with a soft front light. I opted to use a large softbox to retain the soft nature of the set.

Preview from MakeMeChic.com campaign. Shot with H3DII-31.

Q: Who are the models?
A: So far it's Anneliese from NEXT, Brett from Zuri, Brea and Kaela from LA Models. Models subject to change though!

if you need more models i run a talent agency called fameaholics and my models would love to be a part of your event!

Thanks for the offer! I'll keep you in mind Cheers!

Hey all!

So I have been getting quite a few inquiries about what to bring etc. so I'll answer them here:

Q: How far is the estate from the airport?
A: About 6-7 miles

Q: What should I bring?
A: The usual! Assorted portrait lenses, camera body, lightmeter, triggers (if you have them but we'll have plenty), lots of SD/CF cards (you'll be doing tons of shooting), and something to take notes on (a laptop might be useful so you can dump cards onto the computer!).

Q: How much does a cab cost?
A: About $20 from the airport but it really depends on where you're staying. I suggest renting a car since it's much more cost-effective and parking at the estate is not an issue!

Here we go! 7 of the first 8 spots remaining!

More Q/A...

Q: What if I don't have a lightmeter?
A: While it's not absolutely imperative that you have/bring a lightmeter (you can use the in-camera lightmeter), fashion/editorial often requires that you balance ambient light. The lightmeter allows you to quickly meter a certain ISO, aperture, shutter for any condition. In my work, I often need to drop ambient 1-2 stops to allow my subject to stand out with the help of strobes. The lightmeter allows me to meter angularly different sides of my subjects face and determine how much flash I need to either fill or overpower ambient (as main light). When I get to the camera, I then don't have to take as many test shots chimping to the proper balanced exposure.

This is one of the most critical components of working on-location for fashion/editorial work. Of course having the concept/storyboarding/feeling is first and foremost to determining your settings

One seriously cool location.

You always put on top shelf events.

This is gonna be so sick!!!! I can't wait!!

Damn .. Why do I live in the Netherlands

can't wait. I'm really excited!!!

I wish I could get there again! I realy live in de wrong country! You (and your whole team!) should give workshops here in Belgium Charles, I'll put the best Beglian beers ready for you ;-)

ugh... i wish i could join you guys for this workshop. have yet to do my taxes....  and i don't think i'm getting a refund.

if i wasn't a) a broke ass first year teacher saving to buy a house in the wonderfully depressed vegas market, and b) out of town that weekend...i'd be all over this. haha

There are definitely a lot of challenges to making this workshop for many!

For those that make it, it will be epic