Going into its fourth year, Skip’s Summer School just seems to get better and better, but this year it has little to do with anything I thought of. This is about input from all the alumni from past programs together with many of the instructors.
I absolutely understand how hard it is to decide on what [...]

When I added a website review as part of this year’s Summer School program I had no idea what to expect. I knew from looking at so many sites and portfolios over the years everyone needed a little help, but there are some new things I’ve learned. One of them is the fact that many [...]

Over the last few years Roberto Valenzuela has become a very good friend, but the friendship came out of the respect I have for his refusal to ever compromise on the quality of his images.  He made a statement in the first workshop I ever heard him teach, “Practice doesn’t make perfect.  Only perfect practice [...]

Yesterday’s post gave me a chance to share an example of film-making from Cinestories, founded by Jeff Medford and Ross Hockrow.  Here’s one more birth announcement they just did for a client that’s completely different from yesterday’s. When you watch it, pay attention to the way they tell the story. With virtually no words spoken [...]

Long before PPA did their storytelling campaign in the 90’s I believed photographers were the ultimate storytellers.  Look at a wedding or for that matter any event.  Nobody can tell the story better than a great photographer. If a picture is truly worth a thousand words, then a photographer has the ability to match the [...]

On July 8, 2009 I wrote my very first post. It was a month before the first Summer School. What I really enjoyed when I ran across it today is realizing so little has changed in terms of the importance of blazing your own trail and not listening to the media. While the economy is [...]

This is the second part of a two-part series from good buddy John VanSteenberg. We hit a few of his favorite Tamron lenses yesterday and today we’ll round out John’s creativity and ability as a portrait artist.
If you’ve ever met John, then you know he eats, sleeps and breathes photography. He’s all about passion [...]

One of the most fun aspects of the photo industry is all about the friendships. I can’t remember where John VanSteenberg and I first met, but I know we’ve both been knocking around the industry for years. We’ve gone to more than our fair share of rubber-chicken dinners!  We might not see each other for [...]

This year we added something very different to the long list of Summer School benefits, a website review. It takes place now, long before the Summer School program in August.  I’m reviewing each attendee’s website, primarily focusing on their About section/Galleries and giving everybody a head-start on some of the things they need to be [...]

Every year Summer School gets a little better thanks to the feedback in the survey we do a week or two after the program ends. After last year’s school we heard requests for more hands-on shooting, more marketing and business and several suggestions to make the program more centrally located. Well, we’ve managed to do [...]