Peterson Photo Workshops are instructional photography workshops led by photographer Mark S. Peterson. They are designed to be fun, affordable, hands-on, and in-person educational photography events to maximize your photographic learning. One-day field workshops, multiple-day instructional photo tours, full-day studio seminars, and half-day classroom workshops are targeted at photography enthusiasts ranging from beginner to advanced levels.
As a professional photographer and former college instructor, each of my workshops features a carefully developed curriculum to optimize participant learning and the capture of exquisite photographs. Workshops are taught by me, sometimes supported by experienced co-instructors or assistants in each workshop topic area.
One-day field workshops generally start early in the day – often before sunrise – at beautiful locations near my U.S. Midwest home base in the Des Moines, Iowa, area. Locations are carefully selected for offering unique photographic subjects and opportunities relevant to the workshop topic. During the day, we will alternate between active photography and outdoor field-classroom discussion of relevant photographic technique, creativity and composition, and photography equipment topics. The workshops conclude in the afternoon. Each workshop makes for a fast-paced but very fulfilling day of field photography and learning. These workshops have proven to be extremely popular. In fact, many participants have taken each and every one-day workshop that has been offered, and many participants even return to the same workshop multiple years – subject matter and locations vary, and they are that much fun!
Instructional Photo Tours are travel photography experiences that take place at beautiful locations in the Midwest or elsewhere in the U.S. My Instructional Photo Tours do include workshop instruction, and are broken into segments of active location shooting, technique/creativity/equipment discussions, and participant image sharing and critique. Each day starts early, with the group traveling to a sunrise location (arriving well before sunrise), and may extend into the late-evening post-sunset hours. But we’ll take breaks, enjoy some free time to explore individually (or nap) and edit photos during the middle of the day. Participants will return home at the end of the tour with increased photographic knowledge and skill, a portfolio of exquisite photos from the event, and most likely some new photographic friends.
Studio Workshop Events are taught in the photography studio or other location carefully selected to suit the event. These are full-day (generally 9am-5pm) hands-on active-photography seminars. Studio Workshop Events are generally more expensive than the field workshops due to the costs associated with buying/renting props, hiring models and stylists, and sometimes renting space. Participants will learn new techniques and creative approaches to photography, and create a relevant portfolio under one-on-one guidance.
Classroom Workshops are hands-on, half-day events focused on a specific topic. Bring your DSLR, Rangefinder, or Mirrorless camera, lenses and accessories, laptop (only needed for Lightroom or Photoshop workshops) and learn current photography techniques in a hands-on interactive classroom venue.
One-on-One Workshop Experiences are individual instructional sessions custom-tailored to a participant’s photographic interest, learning, or centered around a specific challenge the participant faces. To date, the most popular One-on-One topics have been deep-dives into manual exposure, composition, off-camera flash techniques, tabletop product photography, learning to shoot with a Leica rangefinder, landscape photography gear selection and technique, and senior portraiture.
At all workshops, class size is small (no more than 10 participants per instructor), and instructors spend 100% of their time helping participants to develop strong photography technique. You will receive lots of individual attention to ensure that you understand the concepts and are effectively using them to improve your photography.
All workshops include handouts. For photo tours, relevant hotel and travel info will be sent upon registration.
Visit my main photography website for more info about my own photography!