Anyone gone to a Bryan Peterson seminar?

[NancyMoranG]

he is coming this spring to my area for a 1 day (9-4 pm ) seminar on basics of camera.
Christmas rate is $69 instead of $99.
I need it and will probably go, but thought I would ask..

 

[JoeW]

he is coming this spring to my area for a 1 day (9-4 pm ) seminar on basics of camera.
Christmas rate is $69 instead of $99.
I need it and will probably go, but thought I would ask..

I have not been to one of his seminars. But I've read a couple of his books. And I've watched a lot of his clips on Adorama TV. He presents much like he writes (which tells me that the Adorama TV is probably good clue as to what one of his seminars is like).

 

[Ysarex]

Ummmm -- it's only $69.00 so not a big risk. The red flag that goes up for me is "seminar on basics of camera." If you're not confident about how a camera works and basic photographic principles then you need to listen to Peterson with caution.

Because photography has such mass appeal and is shared by so many people, common misconceptions have developed and those misconceptions keep getting passed around. For example lenses and perspective; a quote from Peterson's book: "Use only your telephoto or telephoto zoom. These lenses reduce perspective, which enhances good visual design since the factor of depth has been eliminated." It's actually astonishing in that second sentence of only 17 words that he can get so much wrong.

These "photo misconceptions" are sort of like old wives tales -- I'll call them Petersonisms for now. They are always based on some real phenomena and often contain an element of correctness but are nonetheless twisted and misleading if you really want to understand what's happening. So Peterson is like a talking photographer action figure which has been loaded up with all the popular "photo misconception" Petersonisms and every time you click his shutter button he spews out another one.

What's the harm? Well maybe nothing if you're just a casual hobbyist since for the most part the Petersonisms method helps more than not. But if you get more serious and really want to control the process and your camera (and just simply understand) then at some point you'll have to unlearn all those Petersonisms.

Joe

 

[Derrel]

I still remember Peterson as a young writer, writing increeeeeeeeeedibly basic articles for utter noobs, way back in the day (1980's). I still cannot get over the years-long impression seeing his stuff every month created in my mind. I know that's not fair to him, and he's been around a long, long time, and now he's on the interwebs, but when a first impression is made over multiple years, it tends to stick. LIke for example, I just can NOT and NEVER will be able to take Steven King as a "serious" writer...instead, I think of him as played in the old Saturday Night Live sketch, as a guy sitting at a typewriter, and who just bangs out tripe at breakneck speed, just vomiting out pages and pages worth of dreck, non-stop.

This is totally unfounded,and maybe it's unfair to say, but I think you'd get more and longer-lasting value out of any one of a hundred $3.99 books on photography available at any Goodwill store anywhere in the US. Not trying to be disparaging to Peterson, but the thing about seminars is there's always some people who the material is too basic for, and for others it's too complex, and for hopefully the majority of the audience, the material is at their level.

He does know how to shoot great photographs that have mass appeal:2015 Workshop Schedule: Bryan F Peterson Photography Workshops

Not knowing how much or how little you know, it's difficult to say how much you'd get out of attending his seminar. It is a way to get together with a bunch of other people with cameras, and maybe rub some elbows with others, and hey, at today's prices for stuff, $69 is NOT that much money. He does have a long history of pragmatic instruction in, "You wanna make a photo like this? Then do this and this and this," level of instruction.

 

[NancyMoranG]

Thank you guys. A lot of good insight and is appreciated.
Usually by the time I try and sign up for something it is full, so we'll see..

 

[vintagesnaps]

I think Joe's got an accurate perspective on it.

I've noticed in his videos, at least that I've seen, he seems to set up a shot and the first picture doesn't turn out well because the exposure is off. Then he takes the picture using his 'technique' which of course turns out. But what I noticed is the settings for the first shot were wayyy off, if anyone had the slightest clue how to use a camera they wouldn't have set the camera that way in the first place.

Maybe his intention is to set it up as a lesson, but I find it can get gimmicky. I don't know if he's teaching any real understanding. There's one video where he is in a junkyard squirting water and photographing the colors and patterns created by the water running and dripping. I think that seems like it could be fun to try (although there's more to abstract art than that), but I couldn't help but notice how much he walked past other interesting potential subjects - to me photography is more about seeing what's there that could make an interesting photo, and being observant of what's around you, etc. Seems like there were learning opportunities in that junkyard that got ignored.

I can see though if he's coming to town it might be something you'd want to try.

 

[runnah]

Also he looks like a crazy homeless person.

 

[vintagesnaps]

He's gotten a haircut, what more do you want? lol

 

[satman40]

It would be worth it to me., but till you take a ton of pictures, and throw 90% of them in the camera trash bin, you are just a book reader.

It helps to stay motivated, and you never know who else you may meet at the event.

I still read his books.