Saturday Spot: The Orms/NikonSA Photography Workshop…

A couple of weeks back I received an invitation to a free workshop: “The Connecting Through Photography Workshop for Women,” hosted by Orms DIrect… and I signed up on the spot!!!

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The Workshop took place at the Cape Town School of Photography… and if I had to look at this view everyday then I think I would be quite inspired to participate in a “Photo a Day” event… because how beautiful is that mountain of ours!!!

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Brett Florens is a Nikon Ambassador and was there to teach us the ins and outs of being a professional photographer. Not just photography tips… and there were plenty of those. But he also shared heaps of tips on being a professional photographer… dealing with clients, gear, lighting, timing, and so on. And quite a bit about “how to photograph children” professionally.

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In fact, a lot of tips about photographing children, like how to get kids to pose to get great shots that don’t look static. And his top tip: I was sitting on the edge of my chair to hear this one: “lose the parents…” Psychology 101 suggests that children respond better when one person is telling them what to do – in this case the photographer. I didn’t ask “What to do if you are the parent?” or “How do you get a great shot of se7en + 1 kids?” If you saw the three thousand out-takes for our Christmas card and the eventual compromise on the best of a bad lot, then you would understand the question completely!!!

A whole session on the latest and great Nikon D600. What a fun camera… not such a fun price!!! It was interesting to see how he put a camera through its paces to review it… luckily I am still loving the camera I have got!!!

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There were prizes galore… they handed out spot prizes all day long!!! Books, Camera equipment, camera’s in fact, camera bags, massages… heaps of prizes!!! And there was a goodie bag filled with vouchers and specials and a magazine, what a treat!!!

Christine Meintjies, another Nikon Ambassador, told us all about Kiki… an online space for photographers of every level to hang out and they have real meet-ups around South Africa… even in Cape Town!!!

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There was a lesson in how to do a photo-shoot, a real live “off-the-cuff” photo-shoot. What you need and how to go about shooting in a small space, the various equipment… and his tutorial was really a demonstration of ten thousand hours of photography experience rather than the equipment… because he was able to take fab photographs on the spot, whereas we all know – all the best equipment in the world does not necessarily make a good photograph!!!

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And there was plenty of time to hang out and chat with other attendees during the coffee break and lunchtime, which is alway a good thing!!! Frankly I can’t wait for the next day out… If you would like to find out more about upcoming workshops with Orms then follow them on twitter @OrmsDirect. Thanks OrmsDirect for a fabulous workshop, looking forward more of the same!!!

4 Replies to “Saturday Spot: The Orms/NikonSA Photography Workshop…”

  1. Hi ruby, Isn’t it fantastic… a whole day out learning about all things “photographic.” Showered with treats!!! And all for free… just wonderful!!! Have a great day!!!

  2. I can honestly say that it was the most wonderful day and we were treated like royalty! Thank you to all the sponsors and people who worked very hard to make it pleasurable for everyone. I cannot wait for the next one!

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