We have been really eager to share these images, already for 2011 we have had some exceptional models to shoot, worked with some of our favorite wedding professionals, and most importantly had great workshop attendees who inspire us in a major way to share what we love.

To learn more about Flash Exposed, the Raw Photo Design Off Camera Flash Photography Workshop or to secure your seat for an upcoming date, click here.

Allow me to introduce our gorgeous friends and models for this year, Desiree Delia, Carla Ten Eyck, and Suzanne Mancheski. Give these ladies some love and leave a comment below.

So…March, April and June.
different weather, different locations, different models, different results. I am always amazed by the unique dynamic of each off camera flash photography workshop that we teach. We cover the same material, tweak our presentation slightly if needed, but still…no two are alike. The personalities of the attendees and models have a huge impact on the tone of the day – and so far this year we have been really fortunate to have such a great time teaching.

Our intentions are always to have the shooting portion of our lighting workshop outside, using off camera flash on location is really what differentiates our style and what most photographers come to learn. Especially as wedding photographers, we need to be problem solvers when we are faced with unpredictable variables (including weather). We started our shooting at Meeker’s Hardware, a favorite historic spot on White Street in Danbury. Unfortunately, as soon as we all unloaded our gear it started to rain, and we made the quick decision to shoot in a nearby parking garage which can be an awesome blank slate to shoot in…when you have LIGHT.

Below Lam demonstrates the leap he wants our model to take for his shot, showing your model what you want them to do is often easier than verbalizing it. It also makes you realize pretty quickly if you are being realistic, if I feel too awkward or silly doing it then I can’t ask someone else to do it. Check out a few of Lam’s shots here that he posted on Facebook.

I love this next picture of Eileen Broderick, totally cute in her orange coat! Definitely check out Eileen’s work and blog post about her experience at our workshop…she shared some really sweet words and we were totally impressed with the images she captured of Desiree.

If you do not know this next lady, you need to, end of story. Carla’s Hartford photography studio, Carla Ten Eyck Photography is a force to be reckoned with in professional photography, we are lucky to consider her our very close friend, and couldn’t have been more pumped to photograph her at our April workshop. Huge thanks to the Candlewood Inn for allowing us to infiltrate their property for the day, my talented sister Stacey who made Carla even more gorg with great hair and makeup, and also thanks to Matt of Digital Media Odyssey for your time and video coverage of the workshop. Below, Carla and Matt (who just met) bonded immediately while cracking up at Eric’s sarcasm – I was happy that at least two other people (besides me) were laughing so hard at his jokes.

Suzanne was such a trooper, I am not exaggerating that it was probably 95 degrees on the day of this June workshop. I don’t know about you, but when I am sweating standing in one place it is pretty hard to turn it on for the camera – but she totally killed it and did not complain once. I cannot thank our peeps, Rob O’Brien, Joanne Vandal, and Janet Taub enough for their time, and for contributing so much to our studio on every level.

So, our shooting was a complete blast. We were all loving the sky, the crazy color of the buses, Suze was doing a great job…and then I realized something.

OMG, this whole time we were posing Suzanne in front of the SHORT BUS. Not that it was necessarily a bad thing (although it has been the punch line of more than one derogatory joke) I found it completely hysterical that in a lot of 50 school buses, we chose “The Short Bus” section to pose our model in front of….only us :)

One of our favorite things about off camera flash photography is freezing movement…this is so freaking cool. come on?!

Check Rob out on the White Lighting…LIKE A BOSS!

To see more images from past lighting workshops, go to the Workshop category on the Raw Photo Design blog. For specific info about Flash Exposed or to secure your seat, click here.

Spread the word, fan the Raw Photo Design Facebook Fan Page and tell us what you think in the comment form below. xo.

Another rockin workshop, more great photographers and SO MUCH FUN!
Want to know more about upcoming workshops? We still have a few seats in the Sept. 23rd session!
click here!

Here is the well deserved shout out to the amazing vendors that we collaborated with on this workshop:

Host Venue: Tarrywile Mansion and Park in Danbury, CT
Our Stunning Model: Alicia Candelora of No Eye Has Seen Photography – give her some props, she killed it!
Hair and Makeup: Stacey Palancia of Blush Couture in Watertown, CT
Styling: Jenny Yoo bridal dress, and glam accessories provided by The White Dress by the Shore in Clinton, CT
Floral Design: The one and only Datura (the floral images have been submitted for publication, therefore we can only post a few at this time)

Look OUT:

Our favorite game…Natural Light:

Artificial Light (BTW FLASH ALWAYS wins this game):

Go Girls, Rock It!

Love it, Love it, Love it. Miss Katie Slater…PUMPED!

These are PEPPERS, for real! And how hot do they look next to all of that bling? If you “Color Outside the Lines” – Datura is the ONLY florist for you. LOVE it!

Workshops rock on so many rewarding, fun-ness levels. Eric was super siked to have some guys to shake up the typically “mostly female” dynamic. We loved this kid, Chris Roque, he has a super cool gig shooting live shows, bands and concerts…check him out!

If you haven’t seen our Boudoir Video, then you don’t know what a good poser Eric is.

Natural light IS very pretty.

And sometimes, you just gotta pick that thing up.

Cutest Husband/Smile Combo EVER!!!

Woot Woot! Thanks so much everyone, we LOVED having you, you were SUCH a FUN bunch! Can’t wait to see your images. xo

Register…quick! Go to www.rawphotodesign.com/makemagichappen, create an account and reserve your seat.

Important! You do not need to buy any new equipment to attend this workshop! We have managed in the past by sharing our extra Pocket Wizards (if you do not currently own them)…we bring the LIGHT! Questions? Bring it on! We can’t wait.

Register…quick! Go to www.rawphotodesign.com/makemagichappen, create and account and reserve your seat. To see the images and reviews from our recent lighting workshops, click here.

This workshop…
- IS going to cover why lighting matters, how lighting has transformed our business, defined our style, and unintentionally given us an edge in our market.

- IS an intense day packed with information, including a deep dive review of all the lighting gear that’s out there, what each tool is intended for, what we use, what we don’t use, when we use it, and why.

- IS going to encourage you to use the tools you already have in your bag…NOT to go out and buy new gear.

- WILL include tips to be more efficient and confident with off camera lighting, including implementing WITHOUT losing the connection to your subject.

- WILL involve shooting models on-location to give you the opportunity to practice the techniques covered.

- WILL wrap up with a review at the studio, including a critique and discussion.

Important! You do not need to buy any new equipment to attend this workshop! We have managed in the past by sharing our extra Pocket Wizards (if you do not currently own them)…we bring the LIGHT! Questions? Bring it on! We can’t wait.

Note: We will be announcing another “Nail it in Camera” basic photography workshop in the very near future, contact me if you are interested in more information.

Lighting is not easy. Executing technically perfect lighting is a huge challenge in itself, but for wedding and portrait photographers that shoot “real people” (not models), have limited time and budget with unpredictable shooting situations it is understandable why many photographers are anxious about it. You asked for it, and we delivered the first workshop of 2010, Mastering Light.

We love teaching, we love meeting new people, and the best part was leaving yesterday feeling completely inspired and energized. We are so thankful that we get to do what we love and a huge bonus is that we got to spend the day with some super RAD photographers! We started the day off with me covering the importance of lighting and why it has been such a critical element to the growth and success of our business. Eric took everyone through an extremely deep dive into covering the gear, including what we use, why we use it, and when we use it, which we followed with shooting and a critique. The day was very intensive (we even worked through lunch), and I think it was very obvious to everyone how passionate, technical, and self admittedly a little geeky Eric is when it comes to off-camera lighting. I personally wish that we had video rolling to show you everyone’s faces when Eric started covering The Inverse Square Law, but I have to say, once shooting began it was so amazing to see all of the technical concepts just click for everyone.

Thank you to Jeff and Lindsey for being our awesome models! A big thank you also to the Palace Theater in Danbury, for giving us full rein to shoot in your venue for our workshop! You will see in the images below that I shot available light all day and used very little post processing to hopefully demonstrate the dramatic impact that lighting has on Eric’s images below. Let us know what you think!

Jeff getting ready for his big jump…

It’s THE workshop you guys have been asking about…that’s right….the lighting workshop. Ready to take your photography to the next level? Bored with available light?

We’ll show you how to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary with off-camera flash and other lighting techniques.

The day will be broken into three parts:
1) Quick overview of what we use and why we use it
2) Shooting…and lots of it.
3) Image review

We’re keeping the number of attendees VERY limited…and only have 3 more spots open! Everyone will get our 100% undivided attention and no one will be left behind.

When: January 22, 2010
Where: the STUDIO, 7 Old Sherman Tpke, Danbury, CT
Time: 9:00am – 5:00pm
Cost: $425 (lunch and light snacks provided)

Ready to book your seat?
1) Go here: www.rawphotodesign.com/makemagichappen
2) Sign up for an account
3) Book your spot
4) Get excited

Sit back, relax and let the images load – there are lots of them!

Shooting weddings like crazy, and most of you know that during this time of year there is very little time to brush our teeth, never mind extra curricular activities. But… because we LOVE what we do, we wanted to test drive our first workshop. For this round we asked a few colleagues who are lucky enough to already know our quirks and crazy sense of humor (aren’t they lucky). But because it went SO well and we received such awesome feedback we will DEFINITELY be holding another one soon, completely open to anyone and everyone!

A huge thanks to Heather, Rebecca, and Dana from the Winvian in Morris, CT for being such gracious hosts. We are so excited to work with you again and your venue is amazing! Tony & Cat from Datura were the mad scientist floral sculptors for the day and they definitely did not disappoint. All of the flowers were absolutely incredible!! Beth from the White Dress by the Shore was so generous in contributing a beautiful Anne Barge gown for Amber to wear.

We started the day with a quick review of everything we were going to cover but then got right into shooting!

First up….
Model: the incredibly gorgeous Mrs. Amber Langlois
Make-up & Hair: Stacey Palancia of Blush Couture
Flowers: Datura
Dress: Anne Barge from White Dress by the Shore

Super quick, sneak peek of the first ever Photography Workshop by Raw Photo Design. We had an incredible day and everything could not have happened if it was not for the amazing and generous support from the best vendors in the state. Extra long yummy post with full credits coming soon!

Amber’s beautiful Anne Barge gown donated by Beth at The White Dress by the Shore!

Bouquet by the RIDICULOUSLY talented Datura!