Introduction

Welcome! Come be a part of the first TWiP Weekend Workshop, to be held in Joshua Tree, California, where you’ll spend the weekend shooting and learning with photographers Joseph Linaschke and Frederick Van Johnson.

All Inclusive Workshop Fee: $1,250 - Limited to 20 attendees!

We’ll be shooting at Pioneer Town, built as an Old West movie set in the 1940’s, as well as Boulder Garden, an area of fantastic natural beauty including massive boulders, serene desert and Joshua trees. Along with shooting some amazing landscapes, you’ll be working with professional models, learning to pose, compose and direct in a combination of settings and lighting situations. There will even be opportunities to try your hand at macro photography!

We’ll have presentations on both Apple’s Aperture and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. We’ll work with all forms of lighting including natural light, single and multiple small strobe, and studio lights. We’ll have loads of lenses and lights to borrow and try out throughout the weekend, so you’ll have a chance to shoot with that lens you’ve been dreaming of buying!

And we’re even offering a bonus “Photography 101” class for folks who arrive early to help you brush up on the basics of photography. We'll be covering topics like understanding ISO vs shutter speed vs aperture, what all those camera modes mean, and how to read a histogram.

Overall, this weekend will be packed with education, experience and fun!

Who’s it for?

This workshop is designed for dSLR owners of all levels who want to learn to get a lot more from their camera and the world around them. We’ll be working from some pretty basic to pretty advanced education throughout the weekend, so it’s very much open to all levels from the weekend-warrior to aspiring pro.

What’s Included?

Hotel accommodation at the brand new Marriott Fairfield Inn & Suites Twentynine Palms for Friday and Saturday night. All rooms are suites, and you’re welcome to bring a partner, or entire family for no additional charge (the hotel has a pool and of course Joshua Tree National Park is only 10 minutes from the hotel for them to enjoy).

All meals from Friday dinner to Sunday lunch are included.

The amazing itinerary below!

All photos courtesy Deb Mallants

Itinerary

Friday

5:00pm – For those who can get into town early enough, we’re offering a bonus Photography 101 class at the hotel.
6:30pm – Meet & greet BBQ. A great opportunity to get to know your hosts and fellow students! This will go on throughout the evening, so even if you can’t be there by 6:30 don’t worry… we’ll be there until bedtime!

Saturday

6:30am – Continental breakfast in the hotel
7:00am – Hotel departure (45 minute drive)
7:45am – Pioneer Town arrival
8:00am – Shooting in Pioneer Town. We’ll have two models, a make-up artist, and multiple locations to shoot in, including a fantastic bank, saloon, bath house and even a jail! We’ll spend some time as a large group and some broken into two smaller groups. In the morning we’ll start shooting with available light, and as the sun gets higher, introduce bounce cards, reflectors and gobos to manipulate the harsh mid-day sun. We’ll be discussing composition, posing and instruction of models, and photographic technique.
12:00pm – Lunch! The charming Pappy & Harriet’s will provide a respite from the midday sun and a hearty lunch.
1:00pm – Continue shooting in Pioneer Town. We’ll give the models a break and focus on shooting the natural beauty in and around Pioneer Town itself, also giving you time to explore and shoot on your own, with your instructors close at hand.
2:00pm – Location change! (10 minute drive) We’ll move to Boulder Garden and spend the first 45 minutes or so exploring locations and picking out some favorite shots to shoot in. This will be an opportunity to capture some beautiful natural scenery, local foliage and more.
3:00pm – Time to put the models back to work! In Pioneer Town we were shooting against man-made structures; out here, it’s all natural beauty. We’ll pick up where we left off with lighting manipulation, and move into single small strobe and eventually multiple small strobe lighting.
4:30pm – We start prepping for a 5:30 sunset shoot, using models and multiple lights.
5:30pm – As soon as the sun is gone, we’ll wrap up and head out (20 minute drive)
6:00pm – Arrival at the “Joshua Tree Business Center”, where wine and beer and hors d'oeuvres will be waiting. Over the next hour or so we’ll relax, talk about the day, and for those who have laptops, browse through your photos and make some selects. Anyone who likes can hand in some of their favorite shots and we’ll all have a look at them after dinner.
7:30pm – Dinner is served!
8:30pm – After dinner we’ll break out the projector and have a look at some of the best images of the day, also giving an opportunity to ask any remaining questions from the days lessons.
9:30pm – head back to the hotel (20 minute drive)

NOTE: For those feeling inspired and awake, don’t forget that we’re in the desert, far from big-city lights. If you want to head out and shoot the night sky, the moon will be at first quarter.

Sunday

7:00am – Breakfast (available all morning). Checkout before…
9:00am – Hotel departure (20 minute drive) back to the “Joshua Tree Business Center”. Coffee service available.
10:00am – Aperture presentation. Joseph will take you on a tour of Aperture, showing the basics and reserving the last 20 minutes for specific questions.
11:00am – Photoshop Lightroom presentation. Frederick will take you on a tour of Lightroom, showing the basics and reserving the last 20 minutes for specific questions.
12:00pm – Lunch!
1:00pm – Studio lighting instruction. We have large covered outdoor area where we’ll set up studio lights and a backdrop and shoot the models again. This will round out a weekend of lighting education from sunlight to strobe light!
3:00pm – That’s a wrap! Time to head home.

What’s not included?

Travel to and from Joshua Tree.
Snacks during the day. There is a grocery store across the street from the hotel, as well as a snack shop in the hotel itself.

What to bring?

Appropriate clothing for the weather (see below)
Solid shoes or boots. You’ll be in the desert.
Your camera and lenses and flashes and plenty of memory cards, of course!
A laptop if you have it. Not required, but if you have one you can make some selects Saturday night and share your best shots.
(this list may grow; registered attendees should be sure to read any updates we send out!)

Other things to consider…

We’ll be moving a lot of people around, and will be asking for driving volunteers. When you sign up, you’ll see a checkbox asking if you’d be willing to drive. Larger vehicles are better (like SUV’s) as that will allow us to move people and gear.

Your vehicle should be able to accommodate four people minimum. We may not need everyone who volunteers, but those who we use will receive a $40 “gift card” for gas!

This workshop is in February in the desert. Weatherbase.com an average high of 68˚F which sounds absolutely lovely—but be prepared for cold or heat snaps. And it will get cold fast as the sun goes down.


About your hosts

Frederick Van Johnson is the host of TWiP and a photographer in the San Francisco Bay Area. For more about Frederick, visit http://www.frederickvan.com

Joseph Linaschke is a professional photographer in Los Angeles. He also runs the website ApertureExpert.com and is a guest-host on TWiP. For more about Joseph, visit http://www.photojoseph.com