I have had the sincere pleasure of photographing Ruby and Buster in Napa Valley, Santa Monica and now San Diego. These are two of the sweetest dogs (and owners!) around, and I sincerely hope this isn’t the last photo shoot we do! Love you Ruby and Buster! (And Tristan and Mark!)
Ruby looks like a supermodel with the wind blowing through her hair below.
I’m super excited to announce that Nichole and I have our new Passport workshop website up, and it contains all of the information folks have requested about the upcoming San Diego workshop in May. Nichole worked long and hard on the website, and we finally have the content and location dialed in. If you are interested in attending our workshop in May, please visit the new website for the whole low-down. Registration for San Diego opens tomorrow morning at 10am PST!
Nichole and I are really looking forward to our second joint venture, and hoping to meet more fantastic folks who are as passionate about pet photography as we are. Below are some comments from happy Passport NYC attendees.
I want to start this post by thanking my photographer followers sincerely for your patience with me in planning this year’s workshops. There have been so many exciting things going on behind the scenes- other events and opportunities- that all have needed to happen in tandem with each other, which has made picking dates extremely difficult. The next 6 months for me will be extremely busy, as you all will soon see. Thank you again for being so patient. 
With that said, I’ve got some preliminary info for y’all on 2011 workshops, and will have more detailed information coming during the rest of February. Normally I don’t release ANY information until I can release ALL of it, but given how far behind I am on everything, I’ll give you the info in snippets as I have it. It’s not ideal, but I figure it’s better than nothing!
I want to preface this blog post by saying that this information is ALL THAT I HAVE at the moment. Meaning, if it’s not in this blog post, I don’t know it/have it/decided it yet. I promise to release the detailed information as I get it. Pinky-swear.
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PASSPORT WORKSHOP:
Date: May 13th-15th, 2011. Friday morning through Sunday night. (1-day Commercial Workshop Monday May 16th- more on that below). 3 days.
Location: San Diego! Hotel TBD.
Content: TBD, but will include photography (both studio and location), branding, marketing, pricing, sales, business basics, photo processing, gear, and workflow.
Teachers: Jamie Pflughoeft (Cowbelly Pet Photography) and J. Nichole Smith (dane + dane studios).
Cost: $1695.
Includes: lunches, snacks and beverages each day, 90-page workbook, resource CD filled with Cowbelly and dane + dane forms, all instruction and goodie bag. Does not include lodging, parking or transportation to and from workshop.
Registration opens: Tuesday March 1st, 2011. Registration deadline: Friday March 18th. All registration fees are due at the time of registration. Because of the limited availability of seats and high demand for the workshops, spaces will not be held.
This will be Nichole and my last Passport workshop stateside.
SEATTLE COWBELLY WORKSHOP:
Date: June 2nd-5th. Thursday afternoon through Sunday evening. 3.5 days.
Location: Seattle, Hotel Max downtown.
Content: TBD, but will include location photography, branding, marketing, pricing, sales, business basics, photo processing, gear, and workflow.
Teacher: Jamie Pflughoeft (Cowbelly Pet Photography)
Cost: $1495.
Includes: lunches, snacks and beverages each day, 70-page workbook, resource CD filled with Cowbelly forms, all instruction and goodie bag filled with great stuff from my sponsors (who include Asuka Book, Borrowlenses.com, Simply Canvas, ProDpi, MPIX, Creative Motion Designs, Marathon Press, ProPhoto Blogs, MCP Actions and more). Does not include lodging, parking or transportation to and from workshop.
Registration opens: Tuesday March 22nd, 2011. Registration deadline: Friday April 8th. All registration fees are due at the time of registration. Because of the limited availability of seats and high demand for the workshops, spaces will not be held.
Spaces available: 15 maximum
PASSPORT 1-DAY COMMERCIAL WORKSHOP:
Date: Monday May 16th. 8 hours.
Location: San Diego! Hotel TBD.
Content: photography, marketing, pricing, business ethics, agencies and organizations to use, and other aspects of photographing pets commercially.
Teachers: Jamie Pflughoeft (Cowbelly Pet Photography) and J. Nichole Smith (dane + dane studios).
Cost: $1195.
Includes: lunch, snacks and beverages, 20-page pdf resource guide, all instruction, commercial photography books, and goodie bag with fun stuff from our sponsors. Does not include lodging, parking or transportation to and from workshop.
Registration opens: Tuesday March 1st, 2011. Registration deadline: Friday March 18th. All registration fees are due at the time of registration. Because of the limited availability of seats and high demand for the commercial workshop, spaces will not be held.
Spaces available: 8 maximum
This will be Nichole and my last Commercial Passport workshop stateside.
And since we anticipate questions, here is a Q & A I’ve created in advance.
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Passport Workshop Q & A:
Q. Where in San Diego will this take place?
A: We’re not sure yet! We are weighing our options as we speak. What we can tell you is that it will be held in the city of San Diego, as opposed to a suburb or outlying area.
Q: What is the difference between the Passport and Seattle Cowbelly Workshop?
A: The location for one, the items mentioned above for two, and the fact that the content of the Passport workshop is applicable to both beginners and intermediate photographers. There is also an overview of studio work, which dane + dane is experienced in, but Cowbelly is not. The Cowbelly workshop is designed strictly for beginning photographers and business owners. (see below).
Q. Can I register early?
A. Unfortunately no. To make things fair for everyone, early registration won’t be allowed.
Q. When is payment due?
A. The registration fee is due in full at the time of registration. We have a refund policy to allow for cancellations and also allow photographers to find another person to take their spot should something come up.
Cowbelly Workshop Q & A:
Q. Will I need a rental car when I come to Seattle?
A. No. The hotel will be central to everything you need within a short walk.
Q. Who are the Seattle Cowbelly workshops designed for?
A. Beginners. Those who have been in business for no more than 12 months. If you have been in business for over 12 months, I will refer you to the Passport workshop, or ask you to wait for an intermediate/advanced workshop.
Q. When is payment due?
A. The registration fee is due in full at the time of registration. We have a refund policy to allow for cancellations and also allow photographers to find another person to take their spot should something come up.
Q. Can I register early?
A. Unfortunately no. To make things fair for everyone, early registration won’t be allowed.
Commercial Workshop Q & A:
Q. Who is this workshop designed for?
A. Intermediate and advanced PET photographers. In other words, those who have solid experience photographing pets professionally (for profit). Those who have good technical mastery of their camera, and have been running businesses for long enough to understand the complexities of contractual negotiations, ethics in photography, and legal ramifications involved in working for corporations. We’ll expect each applicant to reply with an emphatic “absolutely” to the following statement: ”You feel confident in your abilities to produce outstanding shots in any situation with any pet under any lighting conditions given any shot list. Your technical skills are excellent.” We are very strict on who we allow into the commercial workshop, and would rather have an unfilled, small group than be training those who aren’t ready for the legal and business risks doing this kind of work inherently carries. If once you read the information online on the commercial workshop you’d like to attend but aren’t sure if it’s right for you, give us a shout and we’ll help you figure it out.
Q. Will there be discounts given on this workshop if you register for the Passport weekend?
A. Unfortunately no. Because of the extremely competitive nature of commercial pet photography work, and the potential for high revenue photographers stand to make with this information, there will be no discounts on the registration fee for the 1-day commercial workshop.
Q. Where will the commercial pet photography workshop take place?
A. Same location as the San Diego workhop- exact location TBD.
General:
Q: When will the websites be updated?
A: This month! Nichole and I will both be in Vegas the week of the 21st, but we are planning to have the websites completely updated with all of the information live before March 1st.
Q: Will there be discounts on the hotels in Seattle and San Diego?
A: Yes! If you book at the hotels we are holding the workshops at, you will get a very nice discount, and also have the option of rooming with your fellow attendees. Of course, you are welcome to stay wherever you like if you have your own rewards program, but we will give each attendee information on how to book at our hotels with our group code after they register. The most important thing is to register first!
Q. Where will you be teaching in 2012?
A. Haven’t gotten there yet and don’t plan to until late 2011! What I can tell you is we have no plans to return to cities I’ve taught in recently- those cities include: Santa Monica, CA, Boston MA, NYC, Atlanta GA, Austin TX, Chicago IL, or Los Angeles.
Q. Where will future Passport Workshops take place? I remember reading something about them going overseas.
A. After 2011 we plan to take the Passport show on the road- hence the name- Passport. Out next destinations will be London England or Australia. Those who are in those areas, we could use your help. The more of you who are interested in these countries, the better the chances we’ll come to your area. It looks likely that Australia will be the next stop on the itinerary, and if you are an Aussie getting this email, you can bet we’ll need your help! The planning that will go into a workshop like this will be HUGE, and we’ll take all of the support that we can get. Once we are done with the 2011 workshop we’ll start talking about what 2012 might look like.
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Ok, whew, that’s it! That’s all we know right now! We’ll cover all of the details in the upcoming weeks, and you can keep yourself updated by following these websites:
http://www.cowbellyblog.com/category/workshops/
http://www.facebook.com/CowbellyPetPhotography
Thanks again for your patience photographers and we hope to meet you this year!
Most of you know I returned a week ago from an 11-day trip to southern California where I taught a workshop in Santa Monica. But many of you don’t know that the final 7 days I was in So Cal I was on vacation. I went from Santa Monica to West Hollywood, to Long Beach, then to San Diego, where I finished my trip at the fun and hilarious Loews Coronado Surf Dog Competition. It was gloomy and raining, and Nichole and I nearly missed the entire competition due to traffic, but the little bit we did catch made the entire trip worth it. A bunch of my favorite shots from the day:
I don’t have words. LOL.
I love how this little girl and her dog have the same looks on their faces.
I loved watching the interactions between dog and owner. So sweet.
A truly amazing feat.
I fell in love with this little white bulldog.
You know what’s coming here, right?
That’s not very nice beach behavior. lol
OMG this little dog cracked me up, and had a crowd around him/her the entire time.
check out the flames on the sunglasses, ha!
Oh, that underbite. so. cute.
The winner.
Another shot of the winner, who I think was far more interested in the sand her human friend was kicking up after the award ceremonies.
Tamandra Michaels of Heart Dog Studio’s dog Borias. He is the most expressive german shepherd I have ever met.
This little golden puppy just embodied the spirit of beach life in southern california. It was the perfect parting shot.
Even though we were only there for a little while, I had so much fun at the competition and couldn’t stop smiling and laughing. It’s so awesome to see people come together with their dogs, both participants and spectators, and just have a fun day on the beach. No pretensions, no mean-spirited competition, just a good time with their furry buddies.
After the comp Nichole and I went out for mexican and margaritas with a few of my virtual friends, the aforementioned Tami and her pup Borias, the lovely Mia Clapton of Thousand Hound/A Dog A Day (and her sweet hubby), and the fabulous and warm-hearted Bernie Berlin of A Place to Bark fame (Bernie’s popular and inspiring Tennessee animal rescue). While in LA I also had the chance to have a fantastic Korean BBQ dinner with my bud Grace Chon of Shine Pet Photos (yeeow was that alcohol strong), and meet up later for dessert with the uber talented Sharon Montrose and her dearheart Spencer for dessert (yes, a ride does go a long way in my book Sharon, lol).
It was really incredible to meet these pet photographers and friends for the first time in real life, after having networked with each of them for over a year and developing great friendships online. I had such a good time in San Diego, so much so that I have already planned my trip for next year’s competition with Nichole and Emily. This next time will be vacation only, and we’ll stay in San Diego the entire time, one of my favorite places on earth.
It really was an awesome trip, and all of the meetings, both business and personal, and experiences I had there will last me a lifetime. A huge thanks to those of you who met up with me for the first time ‘in the flesh’, and who I met for the first time (the guy at Ariane, the awesome hat shop!, Louie, my friend from the first night in Santa Monica, Jami, the manager at Orange Bone on Melrose), and especially to Bernie, who I was completely honored to spend time with both in LA *and* San Diego. (Can’t wait to see you in Chicago!)
Looking forward to next year’s trip already.
Hope everyone is having a great week!
