Attending a photography workshop can benefit your skills greatly. Whether you’re a beginner or a pro with the camera, it’s always great to grow and learn. We’ve put together a list of five reasons why attending a photography workshop is important for your photography business.

1. You should always be learning.

You will learn new skills and techniques. You also can learn from others’ mistakes. Taking a workshop will help you pick up on skills you didn’t know. We have taken several workshops that have drastically improved our skillset. From changing the way we shoot natural light to helping us right the many wrongs we had when it came to using flash and other artificial light sources. If you can pick up at least one thing that makes your photography better, then the workshop is worth the price of admission.  Many of the photography workshops today also include business advice and who doesn’t want to learn how to run their business better? No matter how much you know, there is always something you don’t know and taking workshops allows you the opportunity to gather this information and use it in your own business pursuits. You can watch videos on Youtube on how to do this or that but, you need to go out and try it. You need to see how and why it works, not just the fact that something someone said works for them. You need to see how to incorporate these techniques into your own shooting style and YouTube isn’t always the best way to figure these things out.

We often hold photography workshops around South Florida. If you’re interested in attending, visit our photography workshop page to see when our next workshop will be.

2. It’s a great place to test out new gear that you have wanted to try.

Not all people shoot with the same gear at workshops. Taking a workshop can help you decide on certain gear you might be thinking about purchasing. Some shoot Nikon, some Canon, some Sony and so on. If you have been eyeing that new Sony mirrorless, taking a workshop may give you the opportunity to try out that new camera or lens that you have had on your list. Tired of your Alien Bees strobe kit? Someone at your next workshop or even the person holding the workshop will probably have a different flash/strobe system that can help you make up your mind when upgrading. Rent a lens, or body for your workshop to take it out for a test drive!! You can get used to how it functions in an informal environment with others there that can help you figure out the ins and outs of your rented equipment before you buy.

3. It’s great to get out there and be with other photographers.

Make friends in the community. It will help your cause. We are all about community over competition. Networking is key to successful business. We have met other photographers at workshops we’ve attended as well as at some of our own workshops that have shot for us at events and that we have shot for as well. Many of our current friends are people we’ve met through photography.

If you’re interested in attending a photography workshop, visit our workshop page to see the next date available.

4. If you want to charge more, you need to be worth it.

You need to invest in your education. We are big proponents of learning as much as we can about our craft. In order to get better, you have to learn from those that are better than you. The more you learn, the better you get, and subsequently, the more you can charge in your business.  A new skill can up your game and allow you to grow your photography company. Be it a new way of posing, better lighting techniques or learning how to build your business through marketing and better business practices, taking workshops is a way to earn more money and don’t we all like more money?

5. It’s good for your portfolio. By taking a workshop, you can build that portfolio.

The techniques you learn and images you make allow you to have a better gallery to show prospective clients. Having better images gives you the chance to book better and higher paying clients. Taking a workshop also gives you the chance to learn the techniques you can take home with you and make the images you took at the workshop all over again. The ultimate goal is learning and having what you learn stick with you as you go about in your photographic journey. Many of the techniques we have learned in some of the workshops we have attended are the same techniques we teach in our workshops to our attendees. We have burned these techniques so far into our brains that they have compiled our particular style. This style transfers over into our own portfolios and our teachings as well.    

Personally, we try to attend a workshop or conference once a year. Sometimes something surprising happens at a workshop. For instance, when I took Meg Bitton’s workshop in 2015 she asked if I would hop on the other side of the camera and we got the most amazing images.

Images taken by Meg Bitton.

Then the next year she reached out to me and asked me to come back to her workshop and model again!

We host photography workshops, ourselves, to help other photographer’s who are just beginning or want to expand their training in photography. Visit our photography workshop page to find out when out next photography workshop is being held.