Houston: Lighting Workshop by TriCoast - October 20th & 21st

[Abel]

Houston: Lighting Workshop by TriCoast - October 20th - 21st
By TriCoast Photography aka MyKey

Original Thread Located HERE



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[Abel]

Lisa and I both signed up for this highly anticipated TriCoast Workshop here in Houston since it was indeed their first ever workshop in Houston. Houston is pretty much their hometown so it was about time these guys got one scheduled in their own backyard so to speak! Hehee.

Saturday - Class Time & On Location Shooting
Saturday's class started around 1pm or so and started out with Mike & Cody giving a bit of background info about themselves, how long they've been into photography as well as how it came to be that Mike and Cody partnered up to form TriCoast. I have know Mike for a few years now and much of the info on their background was new to me and was very entertaining to hear.

Moving on, after the intros a complete in depth introduction into wireless flash, portrait techniques, their tips and tricks followed. Mike's "No Secrets" tagline in his workshop description was very obvious since Mike & Cody left no stone unturned. They explained everything there was to know about how they shoot, techniques they use and methods to which can all be combined to produce a great result.

The class was held in a large beautiful home located up in the Woodlands. It was a very comfortable learning environment indeed that had a nice little 4 legged friend named Bella that made sure she spent time in everyone's lap taking advantage of her visitors. Hehe.

After the classroom time it was then time to get out and try the stuff we learned first hand with real live subjects! No Pressure! We broke up into several groups and shot outdoors at around 3pm so that we can apply these new techniques when the sun was at its harshest state. Mike & Cody were very readily available to all of the groups and made sure each and every one of use fully understood how to get our cameras to interact with our off camera slave flashes.

Cody stopped by our group, setup a particular shot that they may do during a typical high school senior session and explained all of the different aspects he was looking for not just in the lighting but in the composition, environment, perspective etc. Once he got the shot he showed us the result and allowed us to duplicate a similar look and challenged us to build upon it. Very cool seeing them in action!

We got a ton of shooting in prior to breaking for dinner. Right after dinner started the second portion of the lighting class which involved video light. By this time it was already after dark they taught us how to take full advantage of inexpensive "sun gun" lights which cost in the neighborhood of say $20. Cheap & easy light that anyone can afford. We shot a ton of different locations utilizing video light and was very informative since I had never tried it before.


Sunday - Photoshop Portion
Many here on the forum are very familiar with the "TriCoast Look" on their photos they post here. Well in the photoshop and editing portion of the class Mike got into great detail as far as what it is he does in order to create that same look. It was not a class to learn how to process just like TriCoast, it was to see their workflow and see how best to incorporate some of their tips and techniques into your own style.

As I am sure you are well aware that there are so many tools and features built into Photoshop and learning is almost a never ending process with it. Mike showed many tools and techniques that I had never seen before but I was so impressed with then that now they have a fixed place in my own workflow.

One of the major advantages to the workshop is that Mike left an open invitation to all attendees that in case there was a question we had about something or needed to have something explained again in the future to simply PM him and he would be happy to do so. He explained that the workshop does not formally end just because we left the venue and that he was always open to attendees that may need some info clarified later on down the road. Good call Mike!


Final Verdict
TriCoast's workshop sold all 15 spots in about 5.5 hours so that should tell you something! Hehee. The information I gathered personally from the workshop has been very valuable to how I approach wireless lighting in all situations. I got the chance to apply what I learned the very next weekend at an engagement shoot and I feel that it went VERY well. My clients loved their photo from their shoot and most importantly I did as well! So in short I highly recommend attending a TriCoast Workshop, not only will you learn a lot but you be very entertained during the process as well (past attendees know what I'm talking about).

[ngoduyviet]

My review is probably not as lengthly as our fearless leader but to summarize my feelings & experience for the 2-day TriCoast workshop. I waited for more than a year for this workshop, and it was more than well worth the wait. I learned so much out of the workshop that I'm still exploring it today, and in the process of learning, I also made new friends and shared new ideas.

My Final Verdict:
Get in on it when you can.

[xseption]

I was one of the fifteen and I thoroughly enjoyed th class.

The lighting techniques is what I was most interested in and they delivered. I have been playing with the techniques learned ever since. I also picked up quite a bit more about my camera, about models, about posing, etc.

I did also pick up some PS techniques. As far as business is concerned, marketing is the tool of choice and I picked up some pointers about that as well.

The atmosphere was wonderful and exciting. It was a pleasure to attend and I definitely got my money's worth and then some!

~ edd

[Norma_S]

I, too, learned a lot after waiting months and months for the workshop. It was worth the money compared to other workshops.

The only thing I didn't like was that the students were split into more than two groups. Our group didn't have either Mike or Cody full time (they were dividing their time among the various groups) and sometimes we didn't have either and we just did our own thing and tried out the techniques we had just learned about. I really wish I had been in a group that Mike or Cody had spent more time with as I would have liked to seen them in action much more and feel that I would have learned even more.

I did really enjoy the workshop and learned lots.

Norma

[Tanya Hartman]

I learned so much!! Here's one of my recent images. It was taken in the basement of the building where my studio is located (very dark). I could not have gotten this shot in those conditions prior to learning from Mike and Cody. TriCoast is scheduled to be at my place in February for a workflow workshop. I look forward to learning more then as well.

[mcjeff]

Mike and Cody did a great job with their workshop. I wanted to learn to use my wireless flashes better, but learned so much more. I especially enjoyed the night shoot on day 1.

The photoshop portion helped me to try different techniques when post processing. I also enjoyed the business section, even though I'm not ready to go full time yet.

It was a fun, friendly, informative, interactive, experience. I would recommend it for anyone that wants to get out of the studio, and have a great couple of days.

Jeff

[tc82742]

i love that shot tanya.

[Norma_S]

Oh yeah, I forgot to add how much I learned about working with layer masks on Day 2. What an eye-opening learning experience! I still remember the phrase Control-i ! Control-i is my new best friend thanks to Mike and Cody.