Here's a peek at the projects Pixel This students accomplished on Monday!
By Aarin Carrillo
By Aaron Meinicke
By Bethany Harlin
By Bradee Becker
By Jonathan Sloat
By Katherine Meinicke
By Pilar Casamayor
By Sarah Eddy
Brilliant sun rays filled my bedroom as I woke on this beautiful, yet chilly day in Colorado. What better way is there than to start a day of photography feeling refreshed and inspired as beautiful sunrise unfolds outside your window? It was a perfect start for me.
From there the beat of the day started; Breakfast. Student portraits. Bible study... and then, on to classes! With Mandy and Daniel as the instructors we dove into our first day of Pixel This. Resolution, layers, simple masking, grayscale, channels, tones, levels, curves, shortcuts were the main things covered today. Pure amazingness!
This afternoon we were sent downtown Manitou Springs, CO for a shooting assignment to work with different ISO's, Quality, and Image sizes. Each and every student seemed to enjoy the time outside and came back with energy and excitement to learn more! It was amazing.
As the evening came we all had projects due. We worked hard on our projects as we also laughed and enjoyed the evening. Photoshop and IPS friends always make for a stellar time. You know things are going great when a full day of class ends at 10pm but everyone still hangs out as late as possible enjoying each others company and looking over each others projects. Excitement is in the air as the first day of Pixel This comes to a successful end.
–Pixel This Student Sarah Eddy
Images by Christina Dickson. Design by Katherine Meinicke.
Check out our latest promo video on YouTube:
Special thanks goes to Laura Clawson, who shot, directed, and produced this video.
On behalf of my fellow students here at IPS for the PWP2 class, I bring to you a Wednesday update.
As we were all working on our projects before dinner, I began to wonder why on earth I volunteered to write today’s update. Miserable could well have described me. Everything seemed 100 times worse than it really was and all I could see was doom on the horizon. Studio lighting and myself were rather not seeming to get along well, and Lightroom & Photoshop seemed to be frustrated with me.
But I sit here now, where thoughts flow freely and my mind can ponder. Flipping open my little journal I am once again reminded of the beautiful promise I read this morning: “For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace…” [Isaiah 55.12a] Ah, how soon can I forget! When all was said and done I felt quite peaceful with a project well-accomplished. I’m so thankful that I and the rest of my fellow students did not give up on our projects, even when everything seemed to cave in on us. And from past experience, I know that there will be improvement when there is continued practice.
Life is very much like that. When things come into our lives that aren’t what we want or like, or are downright disappointing, we make one of two choices. We either are grateful or ungrateful. We either become better or bitter from the circumstances in our lives. It is entirely our decision and one which God does not force on us. But if you choose the former, you will be incredibly blessed. God will shine light on your path and His glory will be upon you. We are His messengers ~ are we carrying His banner worthily?
Back to today…we learned lots in Photoshop and Studio Lighting. Our brains were overworked. Reflectors and speedlights eventually became our friends, though at first they seemed a bit like enemies. We’re probably all grateful to learn some studio lighting tips and get some practice, but I rather like outdoor portraiture the best. =) I cannot wait for tomorrow, and am pretty sad there are only two more days to this class—why does the time fly by so quickly?
—Prizewinning Photography 2 Student Ruth Ann Logan
PWP2 student Josh Kaufman models rembrandt lighting. [Image by Ruth Ann Logan]
Making short lighting look fantastic. [Image by Ruth Ann Logan]
Tuesday thoughts of the day
Lara: I found today… challenging especially the portraiture
John: packed, powerful, precise
Stephen: I met the future prime minister of Canada. he is 8 years old… For the day I say um… when in doubt shoot extra frames
Luke : It was educational and exhilarating.
Ivanna: well my day started off peaceful and serenading but as the day dragged on stress overwhelmed my tiny insignificant brain.
Matt: Its was very chilly all day long…
Ruth Ann : Portraiture is amazing
Pilar: Its was good and informative
Danielle: horrible and helpful
Suzanna H : Amazingly challenging but rewarding
Elyse T: actually today was fabulous I learned a lot and had a fabulous time!
Suzanna M: superfantastic
Nathan: my hard drive is full… frustrating…. I don’t like portraits
Josh: Photoshopy times!
Ashley: Colorfull
Madi: absolutely fantabulous
Elise S: Exciting and freezing
Jon: today was pretty awesome and portraiture is pretty great
Aarin: Long, tiring
Ben: extravagantly exquisite
Josh Walsh: educational
Paul: my day was filled with exciting horrifying , liberating work projects
Courtney: Today was a feelingly fun
Will Sherrer: Today was amazing , Urban portraiture is my favoritest. Old Colorado City is amazing, lots of fun stuff…
By Thomas Sherrer
By Jonathan Sloat
By Courtney Craig
By Stephen Mally
Hello everyone, this is Pilar Casamayor here to give you the first update for Prizewinning Photography II. Today we entered into the fascinating and sometimes frustrating world of studio lighting. To describe today I have taken the liberty of interviewing several of my fellow students. Here are some of their comments: “Mind-blowing” —Courtney Craig
“A day filled with awesome lights, horrible pictures, and really fun people.” —Madi Conrad
“Re-shoot” —Stephen Mally
“Amazing” —Ruth Ann Logan
“I made $400.00, I suck at photography…But I’m getting better!” —Will Sherrer
“Stretching” —Elise Soniat
“Splendorific” —Taylor Wolf
“Frustrating” —Nathanael Jarret
“Extremely challenging, but fun!” —Elyse Theriac
“Petrifying” —Ivanna Robles
“Challenging” —Bradee Becker
“SWEET!” —Josh Walsh
“Stretching” —Ashley Mackay
“Traumatic…and…Inspirational!” —Danielle Denner
“It’s awesome to learn about artificial light!” —Josh Kaufman
“Totally awesome” —Matt Derrit
“Flash attack” —Suzanna Moye
“Freezing, fun, wet, and white.” —Christi Burton
Subsequently, today has been wonderfully informative yet difficult in some ways and I can’t wait for the rest of the week to unfold! However I must be getting to bed if I’m going to be able to comprehend anything tomorrow. PWP2 Student Pilar Casamayor Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Caitlyn Klawitter was a student at PWP in Manitou Springs, Colorado. Every day is filled with challenging but rewarding projects and adventures. When I asked Caitlyn why she wanted to come to IPS she said, “I first heard about PWP a year ago. A few of my friends were planning to attend, and tried their best to convince ME to come too. At the time...a photography course was the LAST thing on my list of “to do desires.”
BUT! When I saw the pictures that were taken... I was BLOWN AWAY. They were dramatic, impacting, and artistic...Not to mention beautiful. In the past my camera had always acted more like an enemy than a friend. =P I was so excited when God provided the opportunity for me to attend this fall, providing the chance to learn how to showcase his glory in the art of photography.”
A lot of time is spent in the classroom learning about various styles and techniques that will later be applied in real time. On this particular day Caitlyn learned about different lighting situations used in portraiture. When I asked her about how she felt about the teaching Caitlyn said, “I really appreciated how the teaching was handled. The instructors are AWESOME! Besides being just generally cool people, I was encouraged and impressed by their genuine interest in each and every one of the students. I felt comfortable asking questions and asking for help, and the instructors were always right there to provide answers or lend a helping hand. All in all, it’s my opinion that the teaching was handled with excellence.”
Observation is an excellent way to learn; and that is exactly what Caitlyn did. Real portrait sessions were held for her to observe and learn from.
As you may have noticed, Caitlyn was not trapped in the classroom all of the time. There are many opportunities to get outside and enjoy and experience God’s amazing creation. This picture was taken during the ride to the Garden of the gods near Manitou Springs. There was an assignment that went with this outing however which Caitlyn described, “The afternoon assignment was portraiture. It was very challenging. We were given a list of 5 different pictures that we needed to take, a limit of 50 shots, and 2 hours.
While at times it was very challenging to know where to shoot, what to shoot, and HOW to shoot... It was an experience that stretched me and helped me grow in what I knew, while giving me an opportunity to put into action what I had learned.”
Light is the language of photography. If you can speak that language fluently, you are well on your way to becoming a great photographer. Caitlyn, along with the other students, learned about all sorts of different lighting situations and of ways to control the type of light that is implemented into their images.
Image review is very beneficial for catching those little details that need to be “tweaked” and “cropped in” just a bit. After every assignment is completed the images are reviewed by one of the instructors. When I asked Caitlyn what really “clicked” during her week she said “Haha!.. The shutter release? I was so excited when I started realizing that my camera didn’t have a mind of its own!
There is free time every day in which you can interact with the other students, play games, etc. When I asked Caitlyn what she thought about this “free time” she said, “It was relaxed and easy going, AND, much to my surprise, many times consisted of…..PHOTOGRAPHY! (By our own choice that is =p)”
I asked Caitlyn about her future photography goals and she said, “I enjoy photography in and of itself, and weather God will have me use that as a major part of my life… or just a hobby, my heart’s desire is to honor him and showcase His glory, His heart, and His majesty. I also asked Caitlyn if she would be coming back to IPS in the future and she said, “I would LOVE to attend future classes! “ And I hope that will become a reality in the future.
Text and Pictures by Benjamin Sahlstrom
Woke up early (4:50am). Hushed photographers file into the IPS bus; we are off to the Garden of the Gods. Tough shoot because the sun rises shrouded in clouds, but… somehow Rowan gets amazing shots anyway (Rowan seems to have a habit of doing that).
Heading for a quick repose before classes start at 10:00 am. Kristina teaches a great session on portraiture. Lighting, posing, angle (!!Catchlight!!), really great.
Lunch. And yes the food is incredible. Now we head for Old Town Colorado for a BW shoot. Everybody loves it. Back now to review the BW images shot, hope it goes well…
There are many reasons students chooses to attend IPS. Some are interested in the art of photography and just want to learn more so that they can take better pictures and get a better grip on the techniques of the actual shooting and the more involved Photoshop techniques. When I asked Josh why wanted to attend IPS he said, “I attended IPS to learn more about photography and to make new friends that share my passion for it.”
This workshop was held in Manitou Springs, Colorado. The atmosphere was very laid back but still very structured. There was always a mix of actual classroom time and other activities. Josh said, “The teaching was handled very well, it was a very informal style of teaching, which made everyone feel very comfortable with asking questions. Yet, it wasn’t informal in a sloppy way; everything was very organized and easy to understand.”
Josh was encouraged to learn by actually taking his camera into his hands and change, tweak, and perfect the settings to get the effect he was looking for in whatever particular project was at hand. If questions arise all Josh had to do is ask.
Here, Josh was witnessing a real time photo shoot with a profession photographer as she explained all of the different poses and styles that were being incorporated during the session.
Lighting is a key element in photography and therefore a lot of time is dedicated to the subject. I asked Josh what he thought about the assignments and he said, “The afternoon assignments were really great, I really enjoyed putting into practice what we had been able to learn from observing our instructors.”
Questions are welcome and any instructor will gladly talk to you about whatever you need help on. I asked Josh about what his hope for his photography skills were and he said, “My future goals are to possibly make a career out of photography and to be able to affect people in a positive way through my photos.”
Portraiture is a challenging but very rewarding aspect of photography. I asked Josh what really “clicked” for him during the week and he said, “The single biggest thing that clicked for me was all the instruction on composition; it made a huge difference in my pictures.”
Josh said “The general atmosphere during the time when we were not expected to be doing any specific task was very laid back and was a great opportunity to interact with other students and get to know them better. If at all possible, I would love to take more classes at IPS. It has been an awesome time! “
