GCPPA: Patricia Mathis on "Ordinary to Extraordinary"

It may seem like all I do is attend photography workshops, classes and seminars. They are easier to write about than a lot of my projects such as adding sound and a big monitor to my studio, or documenting my photographic work although I promise to do that, too. It is because they are nice and compact with clear beginnings, endings and intent/focus. With that said, here's a little review of my Sunday event with the Gold Coast Professional Photographers' Association: Patricia Mathis' "From Ordinary to Extraordinary" (you can see her work at www.reflectionsbypatricia.com), a $69 9:00am to 5:00pm event in Lompoc, California, which is 16 miles down the road from me.

I was invited to this seminar by Michael Collins, recent ex-president of the Gold Coast Professional Photographers' Association, by way of a standard flyer. I glanced at it, thought, "Not very interesting" and went on my way. But when I heard that my in-laws were visiting for the weekend, I took another look at the flyer and that's when I noticed all the awards that Patricia has garnered and I decided that I would give it a spin. So I spent all day yesterday listening to her and getting better acquainted with the GCPPA and PPC folks.

The seminar was broken into two distinct sections, one morning and one afternoon. In both, Patricia sat up front with the inferior laptop and projector/sound systems that were provided and braved through it like a Pro ... which she is, of course. The morning section was "Elements of Design" and the afternoon was "Photoshop tips and tricks with strong emphasis on NIK filters" ... Patricia appears to be sponsored by NIK, but her presentation was well rounded, didn't dwell on NIK so much as demonstrate what you can do as part of a larger workflow.

The elements of design section sounded dreary to me as a concert photographer who has no control. I mentioned this to Patricia who said, "But you get to compose as well as choose position!" Well, that might be, but since I never know what's coming in the next ten seconds on stage, that isn't very helpful. :-) But as so often happens to me when I've been in a particularly judgmental mode, I was totally disabused of the notion that this part wasn't for me. I was rapt! While not the slickest presentation, Patricia's presentation really hit a chord with me. Since I don't think of myself as artistic and since most of my paying work is concert style where I don't control anything, I have never even thought about the elements of design in my compositions. Now I can't get it out of my mind! I think I will be forever compelled to think about harmony, unity, dominance, complexity, oblique lines, verticals, "getting the milk from the grocery store" and all the other pieces clarified by her hand drawings, the works of Rembrandt and other masters as well as her own. An excellent pry-bar to open at least a tiny corner of the box I think in.

The afternoon section was equally inspiring. She worked through several images showing her skin and eye techniques, comparing lots of skin enhancement techniques both "manual" and using NIK filters, and lots of ways to incorporate the elements of design from the morning session to control and enhance the viewer's eye. She is strong on vignettes (which I generally dislike) and makes a strong case for them ... I guess I will have to change, sigh. She is right!

As she started to wind down it would have been a mistake to look away. Out of nowhere she demonstrated using clipping masks to create design elements and then magically demonstrated how to use them to make templates (I'll have to ask some of the other attendees to send me their notes on the steps, sigh) and even to fill text. While most of her work centers on Senior and Engagement/Wedding material it is easily extrapolated to glamor and fine art work.

There were a dozen or more examples of her final print output including books, gallery wraps, other print presentation media, triptychs and award winners. She talked about her prices and marketing experience and brands. All in all, well worth the time and effort!

As part of the GCPPA piece, upcoming events of the GCPPA were announced. They sounded too good to miss, so I joined both PPC and GCPPA and expect that I will be attending a number of events from now on ... it's just too much bang for the buck to miss out on.

Be Safe,

Dwight