I am back from MARS
Last week I went to MARS. No, I am not crazy, and I don’t sit around with foil on my head! MARS is The Mid-Atlantic Regional School of Professional Photography. It is a one week workshop that has been held in Cape May for the last 12 years. The school brings in big name experts in the area of photography, digital images and running a photography business.
This year’s instructors included the following:
Suzette Allen & Jon Yoshinaga – The Photoshop Edge You Need
Carl Caylor – Secrets of Natural Light
Jane Conner – Painter – Fundamentals for Photographers
Hanson Fong – Mastering the Techniques – How to be a Complete Photographer
Randy McNeilly – Zen and the Art of Portrait Photography
Michael Redford – Portraiture and Marketing – A Master Class
Tony Sweet – Creative Compositions with Nature
Eddie Tapp – Empower Your Digital Workflow Skills
Each student spends the week in one of the workshops. I was not happy with the workshop that I took, but I felt the school was very well organized. The school also had some off hour lectures that were held by the various instructors. I attended a lecture by Jane Conner on “Facial Retouching with Photoshop” that was wonderful. Eddie Tapp spoke on the “Digital Workflow” and “Color Profile” that was very informative. There was also a session with Tony Sweet. If you want to push the photographic envelope and look at things different, you should look at some of the work that Tony has created.
One of the best things of the week had to do with Canon. Canon had a full line of their cameras and lenses on hand and anyone could sign out and use any equipment for 24 hours. I took out the Canon 5D and the 70 – 200mm, IS 2.8 lens. In the 24 hours that I had the camera and lens, I took over 600 photos. That was a wonderful setup and I am looking at upgrading my equipment. But that is not all Canon had to offer, they had a Canon Service Technician on had that was there to service your Canon cameras. They cleaned the sensors, update firmware and made other minor repairs. Needless to say this was VERY popular with the Canon users.
As I said before, I was disappointed with the workshop that I attended. I don’t think we covered the information that was stated in the program and we did not get any hands on photo shoots. I did speak to many of my fellow students in the other workshops and they all sounded happy with their programs.
At this point, I am not sure if I will or will not attend next year, but I do think they offer a good deal. The workshops, hotel room and most of your meals cost around $1000.
Next year the school will be held on May 3 to 9. The topics are listed below.
“Imagine” Joyce Wilson and Emily Connolly
“Mastering The Techniques” Hanson Fong
“Go Home” Fuzzy and Shirley Dunenkel
“Discover the Magic of Corel Painter” Nancy Emmerich
“Wedding and Portraits with the Documentary Approach” Paul Gero
“The Photoshop Edge” Suzette Allen and Jon Yoshinaga
“Best of Both Worlds” Jamie Hayes and Mary Fisk Taylor
To find out more about MARS check out their web site http://www.marsschool.com/
Posted by: admin | 05-14-2008 | 07:05 PM
Posted in: News & Reviews