This coming Saturday, two very different photographers will each be conducting a Power of Light™ workshop, each with their own style infused. Unfortunately, you’ll have to choose which one to attend, as they’ll be held 1,500 miles away from each other. In Toronto, Canada, Pro Showcase photographer Trevor Sherwin will run his program at LuxSpace studios, and in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Pro Showcase photographer Oscar Rabeiro will run his at C&I Studios.
Each will start with an hour-long Keynote presentation that covers the six main qualities of light and how to work with them through photographic methods. After a short break, attendees will put those principles and techniques to work, as they get their hands on state-of-the-art lighting equipment to light and photograph beautiful models in styles they choose. The only thing attendees need to bring with them is a working DSLR and an open mind. All are in for a treat!
Previous POL Workshop
Here’s a highlight video of the Power of Light worship that was held by Pro Showcase photographer Craig Dale last June in Scotts Valley, California:
Recent Press Releases on Rabeiro and Sherwin
Oscar Rabeiro
It’s right out of a Hollywood movie. Our Hero, a forty-year old Graphic Designer and Art Director, throws himself a fake 21st surprise birthday party, provides models, a band, a 6000-square foot empty house, and invites just his close friends to celebrate. They, in turn, tell their friends, who then blast it on Facebook. Then the Univision Television people find out about the party and tell the Maxim Magazine staff, who show up along with five hundred newly attained friends, check out Our Hero’s photographic work, and end up hiring him as one of their top photographers. Welcome to the world of Oscar Rabeiro.
Rabeiro, a top commercial photographer based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida saw his world take a seismic jump when he threw himself this party. “I did it as a joke, and only invited ten to fifteen of my friends. But they knew that I would be inviting models and so they told their friends who were photographers, who Facebooked all of their photographer friends. Soon, I found myself being interviewed on Univision like I was some sort of Latino Hugh Hefner and having hundreds of people at the house. It really got out of hand, but the Maxim people dropped over, saw my work, liked it, and started commissioning me to shoot for them. It has been a great ride ever since that night,” confessed Rabeiro.
As with all story lines where the hero has to put in hard time, Rabiero’s success was not simply happenstance. His resumé reflects his mastery of the visual arts. “I’ve been in graphic design, marketing, and art directing for the past twenty years and have always been working with photographers to interpret my vision. In 2005, I picked up a digital camera and started shooting everything – plants, zoos, birds, landscapes – and started to get the grasp of this new world. I could now create anything from nothing and it rekindled my creative drive. It was fun. I was always putting the creative vision together, now I could create it. I knew tons of photographers, and I never showed them any of my work, but I would ask them how they created a great shot. It was never hard for me to get models since I had lots of contact with modeling agencies. But I must say, the first pictures were awful,” admitted Rabeiro.
“With the marketing budget crunches, soon I didn’t need to hire photographers; I would keep the photography work in-house. In 2009, I threw myself that crazy party, and the rest is history,” he recalled.
Of course, to be a top photographer requires a lot of hard work. Rabeiro honed his skills from practice and learned from other photographers. “I’m never satisfied with my own work. I’m always looking for ways to improve and fine-tune my skill set. I’ve had a lot of help from Anthony Neste, a great sports photographer who is now doing glamour shoots. Anthony tells great stories and gives out valuable advice, like the pitfalls in the business and what models to avoid. I wish I had a third of his knowledge and could help him as he’s helped me over the years.”
“That’s why I am interested in teaching photographers. I’ve wanted to do a workshop, and the way that Photoflex presented the Power of Light, it just seemed like the right fit. With the digital age, there is a complete saturation of photographers. Everyone who buys a great camera thinks that they are a great photographer, even if they never move away for the automatic to the manual setting of their camera. And there are photography workshops everywhere, some with sixty thousand dollars worth of lighting equipment being used. The student returns home with no real understanding of what they did, nor why when they try out a set-up, the lighting isn’t the same. With this Power of Light workshop, I can show photographers how to get great pictures through a foundational understanding of lighting. Photoflex has put together an amazing program that guides students through lighting principles and techniques with simple, affordable set-ups. Plus in my workshop, we’ll be working with quality models that the students can photograph to include in their portfolios. After the workshop, each student can take their understanding of lighting home and be taking great shots in the future. I’m interested in the long term of this project, to pay it forward for all the people who helped me,” Rabeiro expressed.
In this Power of Light workshop, Oscar will be demonstrating his luminous lighting techniques for beauty and outdoor natural light shoots. The day will consist of an instructional presentation, demonstration of the techniques, and a hands-on lab with the attendees using their camera equipment and lighting by Photoflex. The workshop will take place Saturday, September 21st in Ft. Lauderdale. To sign up or find out more information, go to http://www.rabeiro.com/workshop.
So where will Rabeiro be in five years? “I would like to teach more, maybe taking the Power of Light to other parts of Florida. The teaching aspect is great. I’d really like to establish a home base for photography workshops” Rabeiro concluded. A home base for workshops sounds like a wonderful idea, especially if Rabeiro throws one of his great parties for the students!
Trevor Sherwin
When Trevor Sherwin took an aptitude test in high school, the results indicated he should become a photographer. “Photographer? That’s a stupid job,” he responded to his guidance counselor. Although he came from a long line of shutterbugs, he had no interest in the profession except to take an occasional photo.
Sherwin fell into photography accidentally. When he was at university handing out resumes everywhere looking for a part time job, Japan Camera, one of the first retailers doing one-hour photo finishing, hired him. “I think that they hired me because I was a warm body. Eighteen years later, here I am doing exactly what the aptitude test revealed. And I love it,” he admitted.
Later working at Henry’s on the sales floor and then working his way up to running Henry’s School of Imaging, Sherwin was able to hone his self-taught photographic skills. However, he was not without a mentor, David Hou, a top commercial photographer known for shooting dance and theater.
“David opened my eyes to the world of ambient and studio lighting. Especially low-key work, since I like working with dramatic light. Some of my shots use high-key setups, but I really like to play with light and shadow, ” Sherwin revealed. “Only in the last couple of years, I’ve been able to do what I should be doing. Currently, I specialize in boudoir photography. I see myself being able to change someone’s life. In the past, I specialized in portraits. But with boudoir photography, I can have impact on someone’s life and the photography becomes more meaningful to them. It’s as if I am part photographer, part therapist, part personal coach,” Sherwin concluded.
“I’ve been teaching photography for over ten years in some shape or form and have overseen over twenty thousand people through the courses. Teaching photography is one of the most fun jobs I have ever had. I find the Photoflex Power of Light workshop curriculum to be excellently designed, since it allows a student with little or no experience to clearly understand the six qualities of light, work with professional models, and experiment with light, “ he explained. “I want students to ask questions, to dig deeper, and I want them to understand light and lighting modifiers. I want them to think, to look at a picture and ask how it was shot. How did the photographer use the light?
Sherwin will be demonstrating his luminous lighting techniques for low key, high key and outdoor natural light set-ups. The Power of Light workshop will consist of an instructional presentation, demonstration of the techniques, and a hands-on lab with the attendees using their camera equipment and lighting by Photoflex. The workshop will take place Saturday, September 21 from 12 to 5 PM at LuxSpace Studios at 9 Davies Ave., Studio 401, Toronto, ON. To sign up or find out more information, go to http://www.meetup.com/Phototrainingcanada/events/132835302
When asked where does he see himself in five years, Sherwin concluded, “I am exactly where I want to be. I love what I am doing. I want to be in amongst the best boudoir photographers in Toronto, shooting high-end boudoir pictures, running workshops and changing people’s lives for the better. I want to be synonymous with boudoir photography.”
To sign up for Oscar Rabeiro’s Power of Light workshop this Saturday, visit:
http://www.rabeiro.com/workshop
To sign up for Trevor Sherwin’s Power of Light workshop this Saturday, visit:
http://www.meetup.com/Phototrainingcanada/events/132835302