Where We Are Today:

As they say in Hollywood, we are “on hiatus”.

Said another way, we are “pausing”, or putting a “gap in the sequence” of seminars. Right now, we’ve postponed our scheduled classes. They are on hold.

Why?  The economy is affecting the seminars, too.

Before the economy tanked, we had a star studded line-up, teaching one seminar a month, to no more than 15 students in a class, two full days for $350.00. We were able to do this because of the generous financial support of our sponsors.

Lighting Model Hai Thi Ngo in Hanson Fong's Class

To attract our top-notch teachers like Jim DiVitale, John Woodward, Hanson Fong, Janice Wendt, and our newcomers — Joe Glyda and Tony Corbell, we use the financial subsidies offered by our sponsors. Without their full support, we can not make the seminars work for everyone.

Although there are alternatives, none are appealing.

We don’t want to go to larger, hotel room classes; the Hands-On Seminar series is built on the idea that small classes  in a working studio give the intimate, real experience that our students need and that the faculty finds rewarding. In our seminars, “hands-on” means hands-on.

Although $350.00 for a 2 day, intimate seminar with a star is more than reasonable, we don’t want to raise the tuition to cover the loss of sponsor money. We know the economy is affecting our students, too.

And, finally, we don’t want to seek new or “replacement” sponsors. Our sponsors have been with us since day one. They have been loyal and they deserve loyalty in return. They’ve told us they’ll be back when the economy improves and we will wait. Our main sponsor is watching each “quarter”. As soon as there is an upturn, our subsidy will come back and we’ll reinstate our schedule.

So, stay tuned. We’ll be back in the “star” seminar business, ASAP.

Interim Alternatives:

In the meantime, I’ll be teaching a series of seminars that replicate or advance on some of the topics we’ve covered in the past — things like the basics, metering, lighting (indoors and out) and some classes to allow those who have a solid foundation to apply that knowledge in “supervised shoots.”

Speaking of “supervised shoots”, I’ve had a lot of requests from students to help them apply the techniques they’ve learned in actual shoots. Soon, I’ll implement a “Come on in and shoot” program where students can rent me and my equipment, by the hour, bring their models, and shoot their hearts out. It will be a chance to create a body of work using state-of-the art equipment in a supportive setting.

Because I won’t be worrying about anyone else’s schedule, I can be a bit more flexible about what I teach and when. Have an idea? Email me.

Teaching is an important part of PrairieFire. We will go back to the full scale seminar series as soon as we can. Until then, we’ll keep the energy flowing with some new, small classes.

Thanks for the support. I look forward to seeing you in the classroom, soon.

Update: 30 Aug 2009

Last week, we had the first “Create Your Own Course” seminar. Photographer Tom Folger and Model Stephanie Vostry participated in a 4 hour shoot. For me, it was an incredible opportunity to teach two talented people in a 1:1 format. For Tom’s reaction and a few of the images from his shoot, click here. (Yes, that’s me — meter in hand — talking with Stephanie.) Thanks, Tom and Stephanie, it was fun.