Photography for Knitters

summer 2015 & beyond

I'm thrilled to be returning to two of my favorite Maker/Arts/Handcraft/Community Building venues to teach in the coming months.

July 31-August 1st at A Gathering of Stitches in Portland Maine

Samantha's put together 2 days of classes--one full day and two halves--that can stand alone, or if you want to immerse yourself, take'em all.  Full descriptions from this link.

• July 31st full day Photography for Makers  -- the full monte from camera basics to photo editing to a review of what we shoot--we'll be in a beautiful Cape Elizabeth home, so plan to leave with images that'll blow you away

• August 1 -PhotoEditing for Makers-- 1/2 day - Every image you see onine, in books, and exhibited has some photoeditng done to it.  If you feel like your images are just not as good as you want them to be starigh tout of camera, it is time for you to learn the tools and techniques to take them to a  another level. A few easy adjustments--and wow, We'll use a free online software--no photoshop needed.

• August 1st- Making iphone Masterpieces for Social Media--1/2 day  Exactly what it says in the title. We'll be photographing with our phones and using powerful but friendly apps to turn our cellphone photos into amazing images that'll grab eyeballs in your social media.  A workshop with a veryhigh immediate gratification score.

PS to non-locals: Portland Maine, and the area surrounding it, is fabulous to visit--I recommend making a long weekend of it.

Autumn 2013 thru Early 2014 workshops & classes

While I hate to see the summer fade, I've decided to embrace the sharp clear light of September, and look ahead happily to the coming months. I've got  classes I can't wait to teach.  That makes the future appear all that much brighter. Join me :

NY SHEEP & WOOL FESTIVAL aka RHINEBECK :  OCTOBER 19 & 20TH

PHOTO SAFARI: Photographing Your FO's & the Festival

Link to register for Saturday morning workshop

Link to register for Sunday morning workshop

After a short intro talk & exercise to loosen up your camera/brain, we'll be heading out into the festival to use the wonderful sights & light & setting as our backdrop. You'll leave with a slew of new images , not to mention some new ideas of seeing/looking/using your camera to tell a story.

Good for all levels but please know how to use your camera, and how to change the exposure modes and turn off your flash.   DSLR, point & shoot and even iphones welcome.

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VOGUE KNITTING LIVE -NYC- JANUARY 17 2014

me?! at Vogue Knitting Live!! yayyyyyyy

Product Photography: Photographing Your FOs on Real People

Just what the title says: we'll be focussing on getting your knits & handcrafted creations to look great in photos, using real life people as your models. As always, hands-on, full of tips & techniques--and limited in size, so don't wait too long to sign up. (Must I say that of course we shall shoot sheep shots?)

I'm teaching the workshops 2 times that day: 9am-12 and also 2-5pm.

If you're interested in my Photographing Your Knits classes but maybe not ready to commit to the three hour workshop, I'll also be doing a 1 hour alide talk,  12-1 that day at Vogue Knitting Live. Join me for your lunch break!

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PHOTOGRAPHING YOUR KNITS  from Interweave Media, a webinar to download & learn at home

If your life doesn't include trips to the events with the classes, or you prefer to dip your toes in just a little, with a very small investment  you can try my BASIC PHOTOGRAPHY FOR KNITTERS webinar. Once your purchases itm the link is good to watch and re-watch as many timesa s you want--I'd say breaking it into 10 minute segments and trying out some of the ideas between watching would be very do-able.

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Looking ahead but no dates yet

Savvy Storytelling- a day long blog writing and photogrphing seminar co-taught with Beverly Army Williams  : we debuted this at Fiber College to much positive feedback, and are raring to go again. Want us? Give me a shout. galeATgzuckerDOTcom

-a return to WEBS sometime in the late winter/spring--keep an eye out

- a weekend of classes at the Yarn Spot in suburban DC/ Maryland (check them out, they moved next door and are bigger and better and have some new partners), we just need to nail the dates. Their grand re-opening is Sept 26th, so check'em out.

 

2013 workshops & events: grab your camera!

Time to get outside and make the most of that light!  A slew of Photography for Knitters & Crafters workshops are coming up. Register through the venues themselves, follow the links in each listing. Space is limited in all the classes. What are you waiting for? Let's shoot!

SUNDAY May 5th 10am-1:30 pm  at Knit New Haven in New Haven CT

PHOTOGRAPHY FOR YOUR RAVELRY PROJECTS PAGE  

If your Ravelry Projects  page is looking bare , or  you can’t get your knits & FO’s to look the way you want when you photograph them,  this workshop is for you. Learn tricks and techniques to photograph your knits for your Ravelry page. As ever, it'll be a combination of slide talk, demonstration and a lot of hands-on shooting. I'll have a model there to help you show off your projects, so bring some to work on. $65.

contact Knit New Haven to register, 203-777-KNIT

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Location, location, location! shot in Connecticut

Saturday May 18th at The Village Knitter in Babylon NY  12-4 pm

Photo Safari BABYLON: Shooting FO's and More Around the Village

Why sit around talking about making great images when we can hit the road (feet first) and learn as we shoot ? With the charming village of Babylon NY as our setting, this class will be an active opportunity for you to work on improving your image making skills while photographing in “real life” settings. Gale will present a short intro talk and then we’ll head out to demonstrate techniques and photograph your knits or fiber in various settings. This will be an opportunity to learn about choosing photo settings, styling, backgrounds, reacting to locations and managing light as you find it. We will wrap up with a demonstration on photo editing & processing, using free online software that will put that finishing touch on your images, before they go out in the world to sing.

 

Webs- 3 session Photography class

 

PHOTOGRAPHING YOUR FIBER, FO'S AND EVERYTHING ELSE

at WEBS in Northampton MA

a 3 session class , Thursdays  May 16,  May 30  & June 6th , 5:30-8 pm

You've asked for it, I've wanted to offer it, and finally we can do this thang:  a Photography for Knitters & Crafters class that meets over 3 sessions, with assignments and time for critique/feedback of your work, as well as some photo editing .  Whether you want to improve your photography skills in general, or use this class format to work out some specific problems/blocks you've had in your photography, we'll have time  to look, learn, shoot and then look some more. As usual, we'll focus on yarn and knits, as we work with light, choose backgrounds, considering our options, colors and composition. Your photos willl sing! Register soon, space very limited.

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Savvy Storytelling workshop Friday Sept 6th

at Fiber College of Maine, Searsport Maine

 as of April 15, 2013 Fiber College  registration is open--don't wait too long!

SAVVY STORYTELLING: A BLOG PHOTOGRAPHY & WRITING WORKSHOP

co-taught by Gale Zucker & Beverly Army Williams

Friday  September 6th, 10am-4pm

Whether you blog for fun, or your blog promotes your business or farm, you need to make it compelling.  Of course you want it to look fabulous at a glance--and you need to fill it with new words and photos all the time. Join writing professor and blogging expert Beverly Army Williams and me, as we help you work through exercises and skills to make your blog come alive in every way.

The class signup will go live later in April but for now, here's a link to last year's event in photos (mostly not mine- you can see me in action in some of them... its an overview of the awesome that is Fiber College)

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Last but definitely not least:

 Photo Safari Festival classes (2!)  at none other than

NY Sheep & Wool Festival in Rhinebeck NY Sat & Sunday mornings Oct 19 & 20th

I'm super thrilled to be included in this year's workshops lineup, listings & registration start on May 1st, at this link. See you at the fair??!!

SATURDAY July 9th a special workshop in Southampton LI

A special Photo Workshop for Knitters day in the Hamptons, eastern Long Island, New York.
It's a  hands-on, daylong digital photography workshop in a private house that has been used for photo shoots. A unique opportunity to learn, shoot, and relax in a picture perfect setting. Learn to tell the story of your craft visually, and make your images sing!
Saturday July 9th   12:30-6:30 in Southampton, New York
We will be joined by a special student,  Kay Gardiner of Mason-Dixon Knitting,  and a selection from her vast collection of as-yet-undocumented log cabins, dishrags, and log cabin dishrags.

Taught as an illustrated talk, demonstration and plenty of hands on action,  photographing inside & outdoors.   For the first part of the day we’ll cover basic concepts in making your digital photography look great, concentrating on camera use techniques and tricks to photograph fiber & texture. We'll talk about choosing backgrounds, colors, simple lighting tips and how to use photography to tell the story of your craft.

After a snack break, we'll concentrate on how to persuade people- your friends, family, strangers- to model your work, whether it be knit, woven or other media. The class will include technical instruction, tips for choosing situations/locations, working with the light, the psychology of photographing people and how to make them comfortable while getting the kinds of images that keep the focus on your handwork.

I'll also do a demo of optimizing your images once they’re out of the camera and into a blog page or website, using free, web-based software, no PhotoShop knowledge required.

Class size is limited; advance registration required,  $ 165. by the Paypal button above.

Southampton NY is  approximately 2 hours by train, car or bus from New York City.   Location & directions will be sent with confirmation of your reservation.

A dslr is great but not necessary; point & shoot cameras are welcome. Students must know how to access the settings on their camera, how to turn off flash, and take the camera off Auto.

to see more of my work, visit Gale Zucker Photography

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other upcoming classes near and far

 “…. I have to say that if you have a chance to take Gale’s workshop- either here at the farm or anywhere else- DO IT! I had no idea I would learn so much and I know my classmates felt the same way. Gale is so talented and such a great teacher. I promise, you’ll walk away inspired! ”   – Susan Gibbs, Juniper Moon Farm

" A workshop with Gale is perfect for any knitter who wants to improve the
quality of her photographs. A knitter herself, Gale "gets it" when it comes
to displaying and photographing hand knits. Gale's enthusiasm for
photography and knitting is infectious and the result is a workshop full of
instruction, tips and techniques. Mostly, though, it's just fun!" - Carole of Carole Knits

"Gale shared her professional expertise and some very concrete tips on how to make our photos pop. It was fun to hear the back stories on some of her wonderful photos and get ideas for different ways to showcase our knitting. We had a chance to experiment for ourselves, and since taking the class, I have used her tips for my personal photography. Thanks, Gale!" - Susan Rainey, of The Rainey Sisters blog

“Photography for knitters was such a fantastic class. I wished the class were a week instead of a day! Gale is knowledgeable, patient and has a great sense of fun. I learned so much, and would love to take a follow up. Your blog or Ravelry page will never be the same!” - Mary Lou Egan, The Yarnery, St Paul MN