Archives For Varina and Jay Patel

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Varina and Jay at the NFRCC Annual Fall Seminar

Varina Patel —  October 18, 2012

This year, Jay and I will be teaching the NFRCC Fall Seminar in Hamburg, NY. We hope to see many of you there! We will be teaching all day, so the $45 fee is an incredible value. And lunch is included! Awesome! :) We hope many of you will come out and join us!

Date: Saturday, November 10, 2012

Price: $45.00 US/CDN (Lunch Included)

Here’s what we’ll be teaching…

Morning Sessions

Composition & Mood: While the basic rules of composition are easy to understand, it is much more difficult to learn how to create impact with your imagery. How can composition and color impact the mood of the viewer?

Perception: The gestalt theories of perception provide insight into the way our brains process what we see. How can a basic understanding of how our brains work help us share our own vision with our viewers?

Hyperfocal Distance: Understanding hyperfocal distance allows us to ensure that every element in a wide-angle photo is in focus – from the pebbles just in front of the lens to the distant mountains. We’ll simplify this confusing concept and discuss the reasons for using it, the problems with calculating it, and the benefits of getting it right.

Afternoon Sessions

Histograms: Histograms are an incredibly useful tool – but most photographers aren’t using them to their full potential. We’ll talk about how we use histograms in-camera and in post processing?

From the Field to the Finished Product (This section will be broken into two parts.)

On Location: We will start by discussing the research we do before we travel and some of the decisions we make in the field. We will show some of our unprocessed images, and discuss the basic thought process that went into building them in the field. We will use the same images to continue into the next section…
Post-Processing: The sheer number of processing tools and software products available today can be overwhelming. We will show an overview of our workflow from start to finish. This section will focus on the tools we use ourselves – including Adobe Bridge, Adobe Camera RAW, and Adobe Photoshop. We will discuss the various stages we work through as we organize our workflow, process an image, and prepare it for print or web. (We will not go into detail about the specific processing techniques we use. Instead, this section is meant to help students learn to organize their work and develop a workflow.)

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From Living Room to Studio – Here’s How We Do It

Varina Patel —  September 13, 2012

We don’t do a whole lot of studio photography – but it’s great having a studio in our home so that we have the freedom to shoot whatever and whenever we choose! I recently mentioned our studio setup on Google+, and I ended up with an inbox full of emails requesting photos of our photography workspace. So, I’ll give you one better. Here’s a video showing how it all comes together.

Almost everything in our studio is built or made from scratch. It’s not necessary to spend a fortune to build a simple studio. A large roll of paper hangs above the window. We hung it with two hooks, a couple of carabiners (generally used for climbing), and a hollow metal pipe (more often used for plumbing). When it’s rolled up, nobody notices it. More hooks hold the large black curtains – which are made from sheets of heavy fabric. When they aren’t in use, they are neatly rolled up and hidden away in the closet. The floor panels are just sheets of thick plywood – with two shiny wallboard panels on top. They spend their down time in the basement – stacked against a wall and out of the way. It’s an incredibly simple solution for us – and it only take a few minutes to set it all up.

To learn more about exposure and creativity check out our eBooks below:

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Yin and Yang

Varina Patel —  October 6, 2011

Although our websites are separate, and we don’t share our photographs, Jay and I work as a team. We share very similar technical skills – when one of us finds a new technique, we share it with the other… so it’s a constant processes of back and forth learning and sharing. We share ideas and critiques as well – pointing out beautiful subjects and light in the field, and offering suggestions for improving images in post-processing.

On the business side, we each contribute when we have the time. I do a lot of the writing for our eBooks and blog posts (which is why most blog posts are written from my perspective) – but Jay suggests topics for posts and books as often as I come up with them myself. (This post was actually his idea.) I also do most of the creative design for our logos, websites, and eBooks… and I do all the voice-overs for our videos. Jay is more likely to be the one preparing products for e-commerce, adding new functionality to our websites, or fixing problems with the server – though I did spend about five hours fixing my website when it bit the dust after a recent update. :) There’s no clearly defined line – either of us can handle any responsibility… but that’s how it often pans out.

So, when we are handling the business side of things, we are great about sharing responsibilities. It’s the same when we are teaching. We choose our locations together – and then he makes the necessary calls to request paperwork for permits and get the required information. I fill them all out and make sure they get where they need to go – so that when it’s time to head out, everything is in order. Once we’re on-location, we teach side-by-side. Our teaching styles are different – and we have different strengths – but we both feel that having two instructors makes a big difference. Some students learn better from Jay, and some learn better from me… but everyone gets two different perspectives.

When it comes to our photographic styles we’re pretty different. Our creative processes are influenced by our personal styles. Jay prefers high-contrast images with splashes of intense color. I look for clean and simple compositions and I like my colors soft. I like to remove elements in order to simplify an image as much as possible – and Jay tries to include as much as he can. Because our styles are so different, we can often work side-by-side, and still come away with very different images. (Check out our Stand By Me post for examples.)

In business and in “real” life, we compliment one another. Things run (relatively) smoothly because we believe in mutual respect and teamwork. We share a passion for photography, and we’re both incredibly motivated… and at the end of the day, we both love what we do. We each feel lucky to be able to pursue our passion for photography with our closest friend. What more could we ask for?

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