Creative Eye^TM Photography Workshops
Mike's Suggestions & Money Saving Packages

To help you figure out what classes to take, please see Mike's suggestions below. If you have any questions, just call us at 630-852-8448 to discuss your situation.

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SUGGESTED CLASSES
ORDER	CLASS   (See Prices)
1	Get to Know Your Camera or Make Great Pictures, Now! OR Make Great Pictures, Now! or Get to Know Your Camera (Prerequisites: None)
2	Digital Photo Basics 1 (Prerequisites: Get to Know Your Camera)
3	Complete Exposure (Prerequisites: Get to Know Your Camera)
4	Hands-on Learning Adventures (Prerequisites: Get to Know Your Camera or Make Great Pictures Now!)

WORKSHOP PACKAGES
PACKAGE	CLASSES	PRICE	SAVINGS
#1	Get to Know Your Camera Make Great Pictures, Now!	$178	$20
#3	Get to Know Your Camera Make Great Pictures, Now! Digital Photo Basics 1	$220	$27
#4	Get to Know Your Camera Make Great Pictures, Now! Complete Exposure	$348	$49
#5 Mike's Top Pick	Get to Know Your Camera Digital Photo Basics 1 Make Great Pictures, Now! Complete Exposure	$387	$59
#6 Mike's Ultimate Pick	Get to Know Your Camera Digital Photo Basics 1 Make Great Pictures, Now! Complete Exposure Photoshop Elements Essentials	$536	$79
Landscape Photo Camp	Art of Landscape Photography Light & The Landscape Split Grad Filter Secrets	$349	$58

My classes are powerful, concise, and teach you what you really need to know. I don't assume your stupid and I don't waste your time. I offer a convenient recurring schedule of classes to give you choices that better fit your busy schedule.

The problem is that digital photography has confused a lot of people because it has finally revealed a hidden truth: With film, the drugstore fixed people's pictures, didn't tell them, and made them look like geniuses. With digital capture, people now have to actually understand how a camera works, otherwise the pictures are going to look bad. And, as you already know, even the "best" point-and-shoot and automatic modes aren't very good. That's why you're considering my classes!

So, you're reading this page because you wanted my opinion and here it is: Take Workshop Package #5 (Package #4 is solid, too) and since you'll probably need to edit your photos soon, think about Workshop Package #6 because that includes the powerful Photoshop Elements Essentials class that will teach you how to add impact and fidelity to your captured images.

In just 9 sessions (4 classes), you will learn more than you will by taking a year's worth of inert college continuing education classes. If people weren't so busy, I'd teach one 9-week class. So I break it up. Doing this, though, forces the potential student to pick his own lessons without guidance, hence this page. If the Karate Kid were in charge of his own instruction, he wouldn't be the Karate Kid. His guru Mr. Miyagi knew what he needed better than he did. If left to himself, the Karate Kid wouldn't have done 90% of Mr. Miyagi's lessons, including painting his fence!

One benefit of knowing that you're in a class for an extended time will help your confidence. That's because you'll feel a little safer, like you're under my wing, even though there may be several weeks until your next class. The immersion will also help weave photography into the fabric of your everyday life. You'll learn more quickly and more deeply, and you'll naturally practice more often than if you just took one class or took them ala carte. These 9 sessions are going to be the closest you're ever going to get to a quick fix. I will NOT think less of you if you don't, but I'll think more of you if you do. Passionate people find the time. And homework is not "homework" when you love it.

If you truly want to take control of your camera, you need the following courses to help you understand how your camera works, get the correct color, and make the correct exposure: Get to Know Your Camera and Complete Exposure.

The camera is merely the tool of the photographer. However, photography is not about the tool itself, it's about using the tool to communicate a message, tell a story, or to convey an emotion. This is where the Make Great Pictures, Now! class comes in. It's a fun and creative class that teaches you how to make great pictures by using a handful of simple rules—the same rules that I use every single day.

Then there's Digital Photo Basics 1, which answers the most common questions that students ask after coming out of Get to Know Your Camera including crop factor, depth of field, making sharp pictures, etc.

After these classes, you're taking technically better and well-composed pictures. But, have you ever noticed that your pictures look kind of flat, like duds? Well, if you haven't, trust me, they are. They ALL are. That's normal. A digitally-captured image starts out as a dud and it's up to you to restore the truth and excitement of your experience, just like those you see published in calendars, magazines, and books. Do you think those images are "straight from the camera"? No way!

You can turn those duds into dramatically better images with greater fidelity and reality, in a matter of minutes! How? Well, there's an inexpensive, yet powerful, program called Adobe Photoshop Elements that will give you most everything you need, well, except how to use it. In Photoshop Elements Essentials I teach you how to drastically improve your pictures in a very short period of time. Most people are stunned to see how much better their pictures can be. Hey, that rhymed!

And finally, there's getting hands-on experience in the field under my tutelage with any of my Learning Adventures with Feedback Sessions. Put what you've learned into action, enjoy the camaraderie of others, and get important feedback in a follow-up session where you share the pictures you made on the trip.