I am
pleased to announce that David Williams is coming to Kent to present his “Almost
Alone” 3 day photography seminar from the 19th-21st
January 2010 inclusive. I am sure that David is well known to the vast majority
of photographers reading this but if not here is a little background.
I
first saw David Williams when he was giving one of the major speeches at the
SWPP conference in London. I was simply transfixed by his message – it was the
reality and importance of what we are doing that his message conveyed. It was
not about how to increase sales or what equipment you must have but how to
shoot and more importantly how to think when shooting and designing albums. The
curious thing is that when you shoot in the way David describes, your sales go
through the roof naturally as the inherent quality and meaning of them has
increased substantially.
I have
provided David’s Bio below but before reading that it is worth knowing that
David has delivered his seminar on 45 separate occasions to date on a global
basis. Such is the quality of it that I originally went to Dublin to see him
and then 18 months later in America. It is that good and what I consider to be the
best wedding and portrait education available. In fact many people attend twice
or even three times as it is so good.
If you
are a member of DWF (if not then you should be – it is a forum with
thousands of professional wedding and portrait photographers on with millions
of posts made. If you have a tech question or need advice on sales and
marketing or a question about the art of photography you will probably find the
answer there. You can even take out a 7 day free trial membership at www.digitalweddingforum.com) then do a search for David
Williams and read the hundreds of positive reviews that rave about him.
An
even better option is to visit David’s testimonials page on his Semiinar
Website which will save you searching!
But
what is the course like? Put simply it is superb. There are no more than 16
delegates and we will all meet in my studio. David will talk in the morning and
afternoon and your lunch is provided.
The course is intense and packed with useful information – my note book
has been full each time I have done the course. David wants as many people as
possible to hear him speak about wedding and portrait photography so it is
priced sensibly. In fact it is about 1/3rd of what I think it should
be when you look at the cost of other seminars. You will also receive a one to
one session where David will go over your work and provide guidance. This is
his gift – he is not harshly critical but offers encouragement and points you
in the right direction. Your photography (and profits) should increase no end.
The
greatest aspect about David’s course is that it appeals and benefits all levels
of experience as it does not matter how good you currently are. It is not about
technical issues but principles to follow. As such I have witnessed men with
years of experience and whom I consider to be amazing photographers literally
speechless at the end of the seminar with the amount of knowledge they have
learnt. It is powerful stuff.
People
travel far and wide to attend David’s seminars and a full list of local accommodation
will be provided shortly. The seminar is not on David’s website yet so send me
an email if you are interested in attending and I will let you know when the
booking is open.
The finest
testimonial I can give is myself – if you like my work (you are looking at my
BLOG so I hope so) then I can honestly say that David has played a HUGE part in
getting me to the standard I am currently at. Without him seminars I would be
at least two years behind where I am now.
Anyway,
enough of me. Here is David’s BIO and you can view his website at http://www.davidanthonywilliams.com/
David
A Williams has been involved in photography since the age of sixteen. His
father, Colin Williams, was a photographer from 1929 until just before World
War Two, so David’s tuition has been long and diverse - from flash-powder to
digital. He’s now 52 (thanks for asking)
In
1992 he achieved the very rare distinction of Associateship and Fellowship of
the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain (FRPS) on the same day. Through
the annual Australian Professional Photography Awards’ system, David has
demonstrated excellence in his craft and achieved the level of Master of
Photography (M.Photog.) with two gold bars, (triple master). In 2003, he was
awarded the “Accolade of Lifetime Photographic Excellence” from the American
Wedding Portrait Photographers International organisation (W.P.P.I.)
He was
chosen by Kodak (Australasia) Pty. Ltd. as the Australian ‘Mentor’ for the
testing, devising and shooting of the advertising, promotional and
comparative photographs of Kodak Portra film followed by a series of Kodak
sponsored lectures to professional photographers in the Philippines, Thailand,
Vietnam and India.
Competition
results include over sixty awards for excellence in wedding and portrait
photography, including the 2001 Australian Institute of Professional
Photography Victorian Division Print Awards, and “Victorian Professional Photographer of the Year” which he
repeated in 2003, and garnered accolades from New Zealand, Austria, America and
England. He has won the Grand Award for excellence in portraiture three times
at the American Wedding Portrait Photographers International convention in Las
Vegas and ‘Grand Award – Wedding Digital’ in 2003 – always from a considerable
field of world-wide entries.
More
recently, he has liased as a
‘mentor’ with Fujifilm Australia, with their pro-digital cameras, namely the
S2, S3 and S5, and equally closely with Epson Prographics Australia, and
remains a self-named ‘enthusiastic Epson supporter’ working with the 4800/3800
series printers for all his work.
He is
both a judge and Panel Chair with extensive experience in Australia and the
North America via the AIPP and WPPI respectively. He has founded a chairmanship
of the ‘Premier’ category of the
WPPI based totally on education and information to photographers, in a fun
atmosphere, – to the enormous delight and appreciation of the entrants.
He has
lectured extensively to professional photographers all around Australia and New
Zealand and is highly regarded for his universally acclaimed ‘Almost Alone with
David A Williams’ 3 day seminar to dedicated groups of practising professionals
in North America and the United Kingdom.
As a
tribute to his late Mother, David developed a presentation entitled ‘Cycles
& Echoes’ about the importance of family photography. This was the keynote
speech to the Digital Wedding Forum annual conference held in Phoenix, Arizona
and has gone on to be recognised as one the most important presentations in
many years for subjects, families and the photographers themselves.
Canada’s
pre-eminent female Wedding & Portrait photographer – Storey Wilkins - had
this to say:
“It’s easy to be dazzled in this industry.
Everywhere we look: convention programs, photographer web sites, industry
magazines etc… are full of bright colors, dramatic poses and wild
post-production tricks. While these images, and the stories that
accompany them, are inspiring in one kind of way, they don’t always emphasize
what’s at the core of our profession as people photographers: the heart
and soul of great picture making. That is the hardest thing to
teach. Yet in this commission-based profession of ours, it’s the most
important thing to do consistently well for our clients.
David knows how to take consistently beautiful
photographs of people that are infused with grace and elegant simplicity, and
he knows how to finish prints beautifully. Yet his extraordinary teaching skill
enables him to share with the rest of us how he does it. He does not hold
back. His passion for sharing what he knows is remarkable. He pours
out his years of knowledge in three days in a way that sends us back home armed
with solid capture techniques, greater vision, and a clearly defined purpose
for our work.
If you photograph people for a living, the greatest
gift you could give yourself is an Almost Alone seminar with David.
Instantly your work will be better and your outlook will be brighter. The
big payoff, however, will come later once you have practiced what you have
learned and you begin to make more meaningful portraits and present them
beautifully to your clients. You will feel like you have finally
arrived. It doesn’t get much better than that.”
Doug
Spowart, probably Australia’s finest educator and eclectic photographer wrote:
"David Williams is a photographer's photographer - he is a second
generation pro with skills, abilities and wisdom that has a way of connecting
with everyone. His seminars and workshops are crammed with leading edge
techniques and insights into what successful industry practitioners need know
now. As a presenter David Williams mixes his lecture delivery with humour which
lubricates the take-up rate of information for attendees."
Attendee
Peggy Bair from Kansas summed the experience up this way:
Williams
is one of those people who not only thinks outside the box but also up the
sides of the box, on the floor of the box, on top of the box...
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