Workshops Overview

This page briefly describes what workshops I run each year, along with expectations, and my own philosophy toward running them.

Workshops Offered:

I run 4 different workshops; Two dealing with Hummingbird Photography, one dedicated to High Speed Flash, and a fourth that delves into the exciting world of Remotely Triggered Photography:

1. Hummingbird Photography with High Speed Flash

How to get in-flight, tack sharp images of hummingbirds, using a range of flash gear from exotic high speed units to standard, manual hotshoe flashes available for less than $50 on Ebay. If you have a camera with a hotshoe and a lens that can go 200mm or beyond (preferably 300mm), we can make some great images, even if you don’t know which way to point the camera…. More details here.

2. Advanced Hummingbird Photography with High Speed Flash

New this year. Takes what people have learned from the workshop above and goes a little further – more complex lighting setups and more challenging focus conditions, to produce an even more natural hummer image. The first workshop is how to maximize your opportunity to get hummers in flight, sharp, well exposed and in the frame. This workshop will show you how to produce images that have hummers feeding at or around foliage, in a completely natural environment, with the appearance that they are being naturally lit. More details here.

3. Remote Photography

This class describes and then has students shooting with a number of remote photography techniques, such as open flash, acoustic triggering, vibration sensing, IR beam breaking and several others. Each will be demonstrated and/or practiced, with various levels of gear, from simple, do-it-yourself triggers to exotic state-of-the-art controllers. Time-lapse, high speed flash and everything in between will be covered. This workshop involves, pops, bangs, explosions, liquids, animals, birds, balloons, and tons of imagination. More details here.

4. High Speed Flash

This workshop is pretty specialized. It is dedicated to the applications of high speed flash, and how the photographer can solve photographic situations that might involve high speed flash. There will be a modicum of theory (nothing that a 5th grader couldn’t handle), but more importantly will highlight the many pitfalls that can occur when trying to illuminate a subject/event with high speed flash. Things that will be covered will be shutter lag, auxiliary shutters, ghosting, transparency, ‘midnight shots’ and other things. It overlaps quite a bit with all other workshops, but takes things a lot further in terms of application and understanding. Students get to ~~play~~ work with some very, very specialized flash gear, but more importantly will learn how to use their own flash gear for high speed flash applications. Students are welcome to bring along their own flash gear for guidance and experimentation. More details here.

Roy’s Workshop Philosophy:

Roy has a pretty simple philosophy when it comes to teaching his students. It involves several key points:

Take each student, at whatever level, and make them better at what they do, by teaching with personalized hands-on experience. We all have to start somewhere, and I have taught everyone from absolute beginners to 30 year pros. Never had anyone yet who didn’t think they got their money’s worth. I get a kick out of teaching people new things – that’s just how it is.
Make the experience exciting, fun and informative. You are not here to be tested – you are here to learn and have fun. I can promise both.
Make each and every student comfortable in the workshop environment. I am completely aware that it can sometimes be challenging – I have seen many pro photographers fumbling with controls and getting tangled up because of a self-induced ‘pressure to perform’. I know; I have been there myself. I don’t care who you are, or what your experience is; if you have a question or an issue, no matter how ‘dumb’, I will happily help you. My goal is for each student to learn, and get great images – and I will do whatever it takes. If you think you are going to be judged by how much or little you know, you’re at the wrong workshop. I simply don’t care, as long as you are asking questions if there are things you don’t understand.
Clearly articulating goals and how to achieve them. I rarely go out just ‘shooting’. I prefer to set myself a task, or target image, and go about trying to achieve it. That’s how I operate.
Teach every student as much as he/she is capable of absorbing during the workshop – each person is different, and I try to tailor the messaging accordingly. Again, you will not be tested.
I shoot Canon. Have done for over 30 years. I have even worked with Canon on a research program. I have absolutely no bias towards Canon. If I was to start shooting from scratch today, I would probably opt for Nikon. (Their lag times are faster and more consistent – important for a lot of my work) But that might change next month. Who knows? I have also shot many years with Hasselblad and Rolleiflex. Gear brands to me are completely and utterly irrelevant. It is how you use your gear that is important to me, not what gear you have. I don’t (and never have) get into arguments/discussions about one brand vs. another – they are wasting valuable shooting time.
I keep my workshops small – depending upon the workshop, a maximum of 4 students at a time. I have been on those workshops with 10 or 12 (or 30!) other participants. Yeah, you get really personal treatment at those….

Most of my workshops are run at my home in Southern California. I am lucky to have a large property that backs onto a lot of wilderness space, and attracts a reasonable amount of wildlife – particularly hummingbirds. Each student may wander the grounds of the property if they wish, at their own risk. (We have a lot of rattlesnakes too!). I have a lab/office above my garage, where tutorials and presentations are given. It has a full bathroom which students are welcome to visit at any time. At no time during any workshops are students permitted into my house. This is not because you are not welcome, instead it is to do with liability insurance. Sorry about that. I provide refreshments for the entire workshop duration.

What You Get:

Regardless of subject, most workshops are about 4 hours long. They usually entail an hour of presentation/tutorial, and 3 hours of shooting. What you take away is experience, and a handful or more well exposed ‘keeper’ images of whatever subjects we have been shooting. Handful might be as low as 6, but is usually well above 30, and has been over 200. More importantly, you go away with experience that will enable you to employ the same techniques by yourself. This is the most important aspect, at least in my reckoning. Furthermore, any student past or present is welcome at any time to contact me via email with any questions at all. In fact, I welcome them.

Testimonials:

If you are still unsure of whether these workshops might be suitable for you, there are a number of testimonials available here.