Hi gang,
I took the Tamron photo workshop in Austin last weekend and thought some people may be interested in hearing about it. The class was 1.5 days (Friday night at the sponsoring shop, Precision Camera & Video, for ~3 hours, and then ~8 hours in the field at Pioneer Farms on Saturday). The instructor was Angela Carson, who specializes in portraits both indoors and outdoors. The shooting for this class was all outdoors using reflectors, diffusers, and on-camera flash, if anything at all. There were about 50 people signed up (it was full) and it was a little crowded at times, but not that bad.
On Friday night, Angela went over here style of shooting and gave some basic tips about studio lighting, posing people, running a business, creating a brand, etc. Her advice ran the gamut from the most basic beginner info to specialized tips for other pro's (and wannabes, of which there were more than a few). That night, they gave away prizes (I won a book), and they had discounts on Tamron products (I bought the 18-250, which they had gotten in just the day before specifically due to my request of Tamron USA).
On Saturday, we all met at Pioneer Farms, an historic working farm just outside of Austin. They had several different types of models for us to work with. First, we had a family with 3 kids. Then we had 4 year old twins. Everybody shot these first two modeling sessions, which got kind of crowded. Angela would set up the shots and take several, and then it was pretty much everyone jockeying for position. After lunch (onsite, provided by the store as part of the cost), we then had three different models (three different ladies) with different groups following each around. Angela let us pretty much pick our locations and lighting based on her earlier instruction. This was much more useful as the crowds around each model were much more manageable, and you could avoid the pro-photog wannabe's (the pushy ones that thought the class was strictly for their personal benefit). The class wound up later in the afternoon with Angela holding another debriefing session with questions and answers. There wasn't any time or place to actually review the shots each person had taken.
In addition to the class instruction, we received a few Tamron freebies (coffee cup, lens cloth) and some special rebates. We got a $20 gift card for the store, which was doubled if you bought a Tamron product with it. Also, Tamron had rebates on many of their products, which were doubled if you bought the two days of the workshop. This included a $20 rebate (doubled to $40) on the newly released 18-250. This also added up to $170 in rebates/discounts on the SP 90mm macro, which is an outstanding deal. Unfortunately, they didn't have Pentax mount in stock. Which brings me to another point.
If you sign up, be sure to request
through Tamron USA via email that the rep have Pentax gear for you to try. I did this and both the store employees and the Tamron rep said they got specific notice that the Pentax gear they had just received was due to my inquiries. However, there was a shipping screwup so that the crate of demo Pentax/Minolta lenses didn't arrive, even though the packing list clearly showed it was supposed to be there. All they had was Canon and Nikon stuff. That was the negative. On the plus side, they did have 3 18-250's there to borrow/sell, and they had just arrived in Texas the day before. I went ahead and bought one on Friday night to use during the class and my subsequent week-long business trip. The Tamron rep (along with the Fuji and Bogen reps) were all very friendly and gave me a lot of insight into the business end of photography and lenses. Very interesting and fun.
All in all, it was a great experience and well worth the $119 it cost. If there's a class near you, I'd highly recommend it.
Here are a few shots I took during the class, all with the K100D and the 18-250.
Yeah, I know. Not a lot of portraits for a "portrait" class. I didn't feel like fighting the crowds. I do have several more of the lady at the top. She wasn't hard to photograph.
And I think she was the most experienced model there, so she knew how to pose.
Anyway, let me know if you have questions.