Photography workshops in New York / NYC
These one-on-one personal workshops are individually shaped to your needs. There is a specific curriculum that I cover with you to make sure we go over the essential stuff – but with this personal workshop we will also discuss and work with whatever gaps you may have in your understanding of photography and lighting / flash photography. At the end of the workshop, I want you to be more confident in your photography technique.
It will be just you and me, and a model. With the full-day workshop it will be two models – one will be with us earlier in the afternoon, and the other will join us later in the late afternoon. This way you get the additional benefit of working with different models.
Here are the kind of results you can expect to achieve yourself! It’s well within your reach.
The workshop will be held either in Manhattan, NY or on location in Brooklyn, NY.
Individual photography workshop – New York
Half-day workshop: $1,200
- 10am to 11am: During the first part of this workshop, we’ll briefly go over the theory and we’ll discuss the techniques and the stuff-we-need-to-know. This section of the workshop will be held at a studio or a meeting space in Manhattan.
- 11am-3pm: A model will join us so that we can test what we have learned so far, and also practically go over some of the material.
- If you’d like to team up with a friend, the fee would be $700 each.
Full-day workshop: $2,200
- 3pm-7pm: If you would like to extend the workshop for the full day, then a second model will join us (relieving the first model). Then we continue with the new model.
- With the full workshop, we will break for a short lunch around 2pm or 2:30pm, which is included in the cost of the workshop.
- If you’d like to double up with a friend, then the fee is $1,200 each.
There will be an assistant with us with the logistics, and to hold up a softbox for us as necessary.
A non-refundable retainer of $1,000 is required to secure the date.
Should you cancel, $500 can be re-applied to another date.
More info about the individual workshops:
Through the course of the day, we’ll explore different lighting scenarios, and I’ll answer all questions. As always, we’ll be after those aha! moments when things fall into place for you.
These are some of the topics we’ll cover:
- Balancing flash and ambient light.
- Exposure metering for ambient light
- TTL vs manual flash
- High-speed flash sync / max flash sync speed
- Dragging the shutter
- Off-camera flash
- Posing your subject
- Lighting principles
- Camera settings
A certain level of fundamental technical knowledge is required for the sessions to be successful.
For example, a photographer should already know:
- the basic operation and controls of their camera,
- how to read the camera’s built in metering display,
- the relationship of aperture / shutter speed / ISO, and
- how to manually adjust those settings.
Availability: contact me, and we’ll look at both our schedules and figure out a date. My studio Calendar should be a good indication of when I am available. Should it rain on the chosen date, we’ll look at any convenient date within the next 10 days that will suit us.
Please e-mail me, or phone me at: 862-485-7276 to check availability or for more details.
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“This workshop was fantastic! My perspective is that of one who went into it with far less experience than Natalie or Amanda, but I think I took at least as much away from it (probably more, having started from less).
Shooting with Neil and… his model and assistant and classmates was heaps of fun – they all wanted us to get the most possible out of the day, and I definitely finished with tremendously more confidence and competence in on and off camera flash (and video light, that was totally new to me) than I had before.
An abundance of what Neil calls “a-ha moments”. Neil is a very, very effective instructor. An absolutely fantastic practical learning experience!”
– Patrick Brophy
I had a 2 day individual workshop with Neil in May 2015 and it was absolutely terrific. I learned a ton and had loads of fun, and took over 1100 pictures of Anelisa. How could you not enjoy that??!
Being a left-brain person, I understand the science of photography. But what I hoped to gain from the workshop was Neil’s approach to the art, and Neil did a great job of tailoring the experience to fit my needs perfectly.
As I told him while we were in the Meatpacking District, the overall theme of the two days was “be aware of the possibilities.” He drove me hard the 2nd day to do just that, which was exactly what I wanted and needed. Though an individual workshop seems expensive, the learning experience I had in those two days easily exceeded the value, to me at least, of the latest, greatest lens. I won’t hesitate to go back for another workshop in the future. Highly recommended.
I took the Individual workshop at Neil’s New Jersey studio. The session made me fall in love with photography again! His teaching style is very effective and practical. He catered to my experience and learning curve. More importantly, he recommended a few books and artists that would complement my style.
I know of no better way to quickly ramp up your understanding of lighting, and how to control it, than through one of Neil’s workshops.
Full disclosure: I’m sort of a Neil re-tread, having sat for one of his workshops in DC back six years ago, one full day before launching my semi-pro events photography business. The workshop required a complete rethinking of what I knew about lighting at the time. But I fully bought in, and the next day used the techniques learned the day before exclusively on my first wedding. And the results, although definitely more hit-or-miss than today, were, to me, surprisingly good. And perhaps more importantly, consistent.
My takeaway from that first workshop was using on-camera TTL flash, bouncing off whatever suitable surface I could find. I’ve basically worked to try and perfect that technique in the years since, but I knew there was a whole range of other lighting applications I needed to revisit and try to master as well (e.g., manual flash, high-speed sync, using gels), which is why I registered for a follow-up session, this time semi-personal (I was joined by a friend).
That was one week ago today, and my buddy and I came away both feeling a tremendous boost in our understanding of flash, and for me especially the techniques I’d skipped over last time around.
I’ve sat through my share of photography workshops over the years, and watched countless online tutorials. Through all this, I haven’t encountered anyone having such a deep-level understanding of lighting, or a more effective method of teaching it, as Neil. He’s drilled down on every aspect of it. This is nothing new to Tangents loyalists, but to those not yet familiar, I challenge you to find any source on the web more comprehensively devoted to lighting and solving lighting-related problems.
And the most effective way of absorbing this material is through direct hands-on experience, with the personal workshops, in my view, providing the best value as the student has more say over techniques covered, and having more opportunity to personally direct the shooting experience.
I am an experienced amateur photographer with no formal education in photography. The individual workshop I just took with a buddy of mine constitutes the most instruction I’ve ever undertaken. But having had limited success with both on and off camera flash on my own I knew I needed to find someone to work with. In Neil one finds an experienced and natural educator. And since this was an individual workshop, we were able to design the course to our interests ahead of time. Neil then put together an entire day of instruction centered on what we suggested.
We spent the first session at his studio where he took us through several discussions about how we should think about light, especially additional artificial light, and how your camera sees light. These were followed by a series of exercises that bring the information to you directly. These aren’t meant to be exciting images, but rather to have you work though a thought process in a very tactile manner and lead you to ah-ha moments where true understanding occurs.
The second session was outside on-location in Hoboken, where we practiced off-camera lighting shots with a model through the late afternoon and early evening light. This practical shooting experience was interspersed with coffee shop sessions where we took additional instruction.
A great day of instruction and interaction with great instructor. I highly recommend it.
I took a personal workshop this April (2018) with the aim of kick starting my portfolio in the direction of boudoir photography. Even though Neil doesn’t advertise himself as boudoir photographer per se, I preferred to go to someone I respect photographically speaking and who has proven himself as a tutor, at least online and in written. The enthusiasm with which my request was answered made me confident it was the right choice.
We started with some of the technical parts, both in theory and with practical exercises, which was very helpful and an excellent way to warm up. The workshop took the whole day, with two amazing models and set in a very relaxed atmosphere. I especially liked how I got to be involved with the plan for the day, and how open everything was, a result of requesting a not-quite standard workshop. Our models, Adrienne and Liz, patiently waited while we built the set, only to take it down again after firing a couple of shots. Trying out various setups, with natural light, flash guns and studio flashes were a good part of the day.
I went home with a ton of photos, many of which I love. I also wholeheartedly recommend Neil as an instructor: patient, knowledgeable and humorous. I flew across the Atlantic for this workshop, and it was absolutely worth it.
I found (Planet) Neil by chance – online years ago and bought signed copies of his first couple of books (On and Off Camera Flash). I was setting out a bit later in life than usual, hoping to make it as a wedding photographer. 10 years later, having made that transition I’ve finally ticked off a big bucket list gig, to spend time with Neil, one to one.
Last week I visited New York for my first time, to do all the usual stuff with my very patient (photographer’s) wife. Before going I contacted Neil to see if there was a chance of a City Walk with him. He explained that it was likely to be far too cold in February, but if there was unusually warm weather, to get in touch and he’d see what he could do at short notice. I was so lucky, with a very warm sunny next day ahead, I contacted Neil and true to his word he arranged a model (Rozalinda) and a helper (Lorraine) for a half day.
We met and discussed cameras, lighting, settings, and what I hoped to achieve and off we went for a walk. With a stunning model and great backdrops, Neil quickly demonstrated why he is so successful. He intuitively knows how to adapt to lighting conditions very very quickly. I remember him looking over my shoulder at my screen suggesting alternative settings and saying “that’ll work” – and of course it did.
With posing tips (not that Rozi needs much direction) and lots of little golden nuggets along the way, those ‘Aha’ moments have given me that tangible confirmation that only the personal experience can provide.
One of my best days ever. I’m reinvigorated thanks to Your endless enthusiasm – thank you Neil.