Two weeks ago I participated in the Monte Zucker How to Photograph Everyone tour with Clay Blackmore in Chicago. The class consisted of a 4 hour lecture on Monday night and then an all day Master Class at Calumet on Tuesday. I was only 2 minutes into the lecture when I was overwhelmed by that feeling every student dreads on the first day of school: I’m in the wrong class! The lecture and Master Class were heavy on studio photography and lighting which was a bummer to me since I haven’t done a studio portrait since college. As someone who can condense her photography equipment into one bag and who likes to travel light and shoot on the go the idea of bringing 5 enormous bags of equipment to a wedding or portrait shoot seems ridiculous. In short, I am a very different photographer than the intended audience.
The day of the Master Class I was pretty frustrated. I was frustrated with the, again, heavy emphasis on studio set up and lighting, that the class was too big and crowded at the outdoor shoots and Clay Blackmore’s teaching style which seemed to focus primarily on how amazing he thought he was and pushing his educational DVD’s. But as I went through my images from the day I was excited by the new material I have for my portfolio and I have already found myself thinking more about posing and light when shooting. In hindsight, I’m glad that I took the class but wouldn’t necessarily recommend it.
All of that being said, I am happy with the images from the day of the Master Class and will be posting them throughout this week. In most cases, I’ll be sharing both the portrait and the set up.
Jenn Winter 
Loving your photos – thanks for sharing! Happy Monday!
Glad you like them!