Join award-winning street photographer Steve Simon for an unforgettable week of living and breathing photography in one of the world’s most visual cities, New York.
An Intensive & Transformational Shooting Experience
The team at The Passionate Photographer kept hearing how many people just couldn’t take the time for the 6-Day workshops, so by popular demand they’ve created the 3-Day Intensive!
This intimate masterclass (limited to 6 students) is is a shortened version which will still take you on a visual treasure hunt to some of the most interesting and exciting locations in the Big Apple.
You will explore the vibrant, visually rich places and neighborhoods New York is famous for and New Yorker Steve will take you to some hidden gems.
Locations may include: Times Square, High Line Park, Harlem, Fifth Avenue & 57 Street, Brooklyn Bridge, Chinatown, Little Italy and the Lower East Side, Union Square, Washington Square Park, Queens, Coney Island and other parts of Brooklyn.
The Coney Island Mermaid Parade
This year you will be covering the Mermaid Parade at Coney Island.
Every year, the Mermaid Parade is held in celebration of the beginning of summer and pays homage to the Coney Island Mardi Gras parades of the early 20th century.
This is when Coney Island was the primary amusement park destination for those in the New York area.
You will have exclusive photographer passes for the staging are where all the crazy costumed people gather before the parade.
It’s a colorful and visually rich event attached to an already amazing place for photographers: Coney Island.
Street Philosophies
This intensive workshop will help you find your own unique vision and street style through assignments created to get you past photographic fears and cliches to capturing lyrical, poetic and decisive moments that communicate the energy of the streets. But mostly you will be shooting the theatre that is the street; sometimes together, often on our own.
All levels of photographic experience can benefit from this workshop. You’ll learn about the “rhythm of place” and you will discuss the laws and ethics of street photography as well as dealing with difficult situations that might pop up. You will define a strategy for capturing the rich daily life of people on the street; overcoming fears and shyness, approaching strangers, framing, juxtaposition, layering your compositions, letting the image come to you and whether color or black and white best suits your vision. And you will have fun!
Street Tech
You will talk street-tech and Steve will give you his minimalist view on gear along with a simplified shooting process to maximizing your response time to capture decisive moments. Steve’s street tools include the a Nikon Mirrorless Z, D850, D5, D7500 and iPhone 8+ cameras, along with a carefully curated selection of lenses; but he’s familiar with a wide range of equipment to help you maximize your mirror-less, compact, rangefinder, DSLR or even your camera phone for compelling street images.
You will talk lenses, auto focus, zone focusing, shooting form the hip, using live view, flash and a host of other tips, tricks, distractions and ideas that will improve your work dramatically. It’s a street photography workshop but the lessons learned will benefit you in all genres of image-making. In class, you will look at a selection of your best work from the previous day. These daily critiques are of crucial importance, where you share ideas and constructive criticism as you look through each others’ images. The workshop will be a “safe place” for group discussions with suggestions and new ideas put forward.
You will visit a photography gallery and participate in lectures and critiques every day. You will be encouraged to take on a theme over the week for your final portfolio and slide show. I will also be providing assignments to push you to a higher level in your work.
Schedule
Day 1: Friday
- 2pm Arrival & Orientation Introductory meet and greet at the classroom venue, followed by a quick-start session with tips on shooting and editing.
- Group Welcome Dinner (Included)
- We then hit the ground running for a night shoot at The High Line Park.
- You will edit in the evening choosing your top 6 images for critique the following day.
Days 2: Saturday
- You meet for a morning shoot at a location to be determined the night before.
- Then you hop on the F train to get to the Mermaid Parade on Coney Island meeting there @11am.You will continue to shoot into the late afternoon and return to class to edit.
- You are asked to edit your previous days shoot before class, choosing your strongest images of the day.
- Our daily lecture will be followed by a group critique. Then you hit the streets, a little wiser from the day before.
Day 3: Sunday - 10am to 4pm - On the last day of the workshop, we have an ambitious agenda. You squeeze in one more morning shoot, then head back to the classroom for a final edit, lecture and critique. Time permitting we will visit a photography exhibition in the art district close to our venue.
Please note:
The cost of this workshop covers tuition only and the opening night dinner. The cost does not include accommodation or travel.