sponsored by Promaster

Drop in for these quick, free one-hour seminars, full of practical photo tips to improve your pictures right away. Each topic is presented twice, so you can pick a date that's convenient. Save on Gear! Get 15% off all Promaster gear, books, or DVDs you purchase the same day, just for stopping by.

Check out the current lineup of Free Tips & Gear sessions at Dan's »

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Getting Started with your Compact Digital Camera

Not sure where to begin with your digital camera? This class will cover what you need to get started. You'll learn the basics of operating your digital point and shoot camera, using your camera's flash for better exposure, principles of composition for more attractive pictures, and recommended accessories to enhance your picture taking.

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Getting Started with your Nikon Coolpix Digital Camera

This class is similar to our standard digital camera class, but goes into more detail on some of the features specific to Nikon cameras.

Getting Started with your Nikon P510 Digital Camera

This class is similar to our standard digital camera class, but goes into more detail on some of the features specific the Nikon P500 & P510 cameras.

Getting Started with your Olympus Compact Digital Camera

This class is similar to our standard digital camera class, but goes into more detail on some of the features specific to Olympus cameras.

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Getting Better Pictures with your Compact Digital Camera

Learn how to look at common photo situations and know what to do to get better pictures with your compact digital camera. Join us to see how exploring your camera's useful features is often necessary to improve the shot.

As a first step, you'll gain insight on how to better use the light around you and learn why your pictures don't always turn out the way you intended. Next, we'll show you what you can change to succeed at your next photo outing. You'll also be more successful when you use our tips on good composition and how to better position you and your subject. We'll cover these and other important topics like focusing and getting the right exposure so your subject is not too dark or too bright. From importing pictures into the computer to doing more fun things with them, you'll be on your way to more exciting images. Digital Cameras for Beginner or equivalent knowledge is a prerequisite for this class.

Cost: $39.99

One 2½-hour session

Class size is limited to approximately 14 students

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Getting Started with your Digital SLR

Digital SLRs offer unmatched options in taking pictures and there are several considerations for getting the results you expect. This class helps familiarize you with: issues that arise when switching to digital; basic functions of your SLR camera; choosing exposure modes; working with different file types; the basics of using flash effectively; and choosing filters and accessories to meet your photographic needs.

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Canon DSLRs for Beginners

Nikon DSLRs for Beginners

Nikon 1 compact system cameras for Beginners

This class is similar to our standard DSLR camera class, but goes into more detail on some of the features specific to Nikon V1 and J1 cameras.

No sessions currently scheduled. Sign up for our e-mail newsletter to learn about new classes as soon as they’re announced.

Olympus PEN compact system cameras for Beginners

Sony DSLRs for Beginners

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Digital SLRs: Beyond Beginner

Take advantage of your camera’s best features! Learn to figure out why a photo isn't quite what you'd hoped for, and what to change to make the next one better.

This next-step class will help you understand shutter speed and aperture for consistently better exposures, so you'll be more successful at every photo outing. You'll also learn how your camera "sees" light and color, to help you make more powerful images. We'll tie it all together with hands-on exercises, to help you see the effects of changing different settings and get you excited about shooting.

Prerequisites: Getting Started with your DSLR or equivalent knowledge.

Cost: $49.99

One 3-hour session

Class size limited to approximately 14 students.

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Canon DSLR: Beyond Beginner

Nikon DSLR: Beyond Beginner

Olympus: Beyond Beginner

No sessions currently scheduled. Sign up for our e-mail newsletter to learn about new classes as soon as they’re announced.

Sony: Beyond Beginner

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Photo Fundamentals

Photography Fundamentals is a beginner level class to help you start understanding the core concepts of photography. You'll start with the very basics like aperture, shutter speed, and how they work together to create an image. Then we'll move onto camera technique and creative concepts like composition and lens choice. Each week, we'll introduce the topic with hands-on exercises to help you really absorb and practice the lesson. In six short weeks, you'll become a more skilled and creative photographer.

This class is for beginner level DSLR photographers of all ages, skill & interest levels, and camera brands.

Week 1) Understanding Light: Aperture
Week 2) Understanding Light: Shutter Speed
Week 3) Metering and Manual Exposure
Week 4) Lens Choice and Perspective
Week 5) Improving Your Photography: Flash and Composition
Week 6) Finishing Touches: Organizing, Editing, Workflow, Output

Cost: $199.99

Six 1½-hour sessions

Class size limited to approximately 14 students.

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Intro to Flash with your DSLR

Many people avoid using flash with their DSLR because they don’t like the results. Whether you’re unhappy with the harsh, unnatural look or you just find flash intimidating, we’ll help you learn how to get great pictures with an external flash, and how easy it is to get started.

You'll start by learning how to set the flash and camera options for general picture taking. Then go a bit beyond the full-auto settings to take a little more control, to get the image you want with professional-looking results. Finally, through live demonstrations, you’ll learn how to use different flash accessories to improve your pictures in a variety of situations. This class is great for anyone getting started with flash on their DSLR, regardless of brand or model.

Cost: $34.99

One 2½-hour session

Class size limited to approximately 20 students

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Studio Lighting Basics

Explore the fundamentals of studio lighting and learn how to choose which lighting solutions are best for you. From a single external flash to multiple studio strobes to continuous light sources, we’ll use live demonstrations to show you the pros and cons of each one for different shooting situations.

Learn concepts like quality of light, how to effectively use key and fill lights, and how multiple light sources can work together for dramatic results. We’ll help you gain confidence to make the most of your lighting equipment and get better pictures.

Prerequisites: an understanding of photography fundamentals, including adjusting shutter speed and aperture settings on your camera.

Cost: $49.99

One three-hour class

Class size is limited to approximately 14 students.

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Kidography: Indoor Portraits

Everyday snapshots are essential for documenting our memories, but planned portraits add a new dimension to your photos and gifts. Through a combination of camera techniques and savvy planning, we can help you get better indoor pictures.

See how simple settings on your camera will help with the challenges of indoor light. Review class samples on how the creative use of some common household items can help you compose a great shot. With a few easy hints, some knowledge of lighting, and a couple inexpensive items, you can turn your home into a do-it-yourself studio. Warning: Once your family and friends realize what you can do, you might become the family photographer for everyone else!

Cost: $24.99

One 2½-hour class

Class size limited to 20 students.

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No sessions currently scheduled. Sign up for our e-mail newsletter to learn about new classes as soon as they’re announced.

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Kidography: Outdoor Portraits

Outdoor portraits look great, and are easier to master than you may think. Join us for this hands-on class to learn simple techniques for taking great pictures of your kids outside. We'll cover both traditional and creative approaches to kids' portraits through a blend of basic camera techniques and general instruction.

Learn about choosing camera settings, how to create special effects like blurred backgrounds, and composition suggestions for more compelling pictures. We'll also talk about how to manage the challenges kids can present when you want to take their picture.

After the class, you have the option of meeting us at a local park for an on-location shoot. Bring your kids and your camera to start putting what you learned into practice. We'll be there for hands-on instruction to help you get picture-perfect photos.

Cost: $39.99

2½-hour class, 1½ hour photo shoot

Class size limited to 20 students.

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Capturing Baby's First Year

Your baby's first year has more memories than any other, yet it goes by so fast. This class will teach you how to better prepare yourself to capture these precious moments. We will discuss a combination of photo topics and general considerations you might not have thought about and you'll leave class with a bunch of great ideas. Photo techniques covered include choosing your camera settings, managing various types of lighting and must have accessories to simplify your shooting. General suggestions include how to plan your photos, using props and ideas for managing all those pictures. You'll most likely be taking hundreds, maybe even thousands, of photos in the first 365 days. Let Dan's help you turn more of them into treasured photos you'll be proud of.

Cost: $24.99

One 2-hour class

Class size limited to 20 students.

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Kidography: Kids in Sports

Playing sports often creates some of our best childhood memories, and is one of the most challenging situations to photograph. Great photos that tell the story of your child's adventures become treasured keepsakes. As part of our Lifestyle series, this class focuses on a blend of camera techniques and real life suggestions to get the photos you'll want to share. Easy to follow techniques including how to freeze action, getting sharp focus on moving subjects and handling indoor and outdoor lighting challenges. We will also review suggestions for composing images with impact, planning how to tell a season's story, and great ways to display and share all your photos that you and your family will love. We recommend an interchangeable lens camera for this class.

Cost: $34.99

Two 2-hour classes

Class size limited to 20 students.

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Better Pet Pictures

Pets are some of the most photographed subjects, but they present some unique photographic challenges. In this class, we'll take you beyond simple snapshots and help you get great photos of your pets.

We'll start with basic camera modes to help you capture moving subjects, and how to use focus creatively to put the emphasis on your pet and not the background. You'll also learn some simple flash techniques to avoid distracting glowing pet eyes, and composition techniques to turn basic snapshots of your pet into amazing family memories.

This class is best for people with DSLR cameras or enhanced point & shoot cameras that let you manually adjust shutter speed and aperture for more creative control (most compact digital cameras do not have these features).

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Organizing and Archiving Your Pictures

Are you overwhelmed with boxes of photos, memory cards that are full and a computer with duplicate photos in several different places? This is the class for you! We will be sharing tips on how to get organized with everything from prints to negatives, and most importantly hundreds or thousands of digital photos. Equally important is keeping all of these important memories safe and archival. We will explore a few different ways to organize and how to figure out what might work best for you.

For your digital image files, we'll demonstrate the powerful organizing and search features in Adobe Photoshop Elements. Options for additional backups of your images include CDs and DVDs, as well as External Hard Drives. You'll leave with a better idea of which route is best for you. Our goal is to give you tips on how to get organized with your photos right now and develop a plan on how to keep you organized and be able to easily retrieve the pictures you want in the future. Imagine how good it will feel when you are done with this project and can find any photo in just a few minutes!

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Intro to Picasa

Picasa is free photo software from Google that gives you a great, simple way to edit and organize your pictures. You'll learn the basics, including how to import photos from your camera or computer and see how easy it is to get organized with your digital photos. Then, with live demonstrations in class, we’ll show you how to use Picasa to get creative with your photos. You'll see how to crop photos to a specific size, fix red eyes, and add fun special effects to your pictures.

This is a lecture-based course demonstrating features and functionality of the software. Students should already be familiar with basic computer concepts.

Cost: $24.99

One 3-hour session

Class size limited to 14 students

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No sessions currently scheduled. Sign up for our e-mail newsletter to learn about new classes as soon as they’re announced.

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iPhoto for Beginners

This class will help you organize, enhance, and share your digital photos efficiently using iPhoto software. We'll show you how easy it is to use this software for the Mac to store your photos and organize them in a way that allows you to find them quickly a month from now or a year from now. You'll see how to enhance the color and exposure of your images to make them pop and get them ready for printing or fun projects like a professional-looking photo book. We'll also cover how to burn CDs of just the images you want for sharing on any Mac or PC and show you other ways to share and show off your photos!

Cost: $24.99

One 2½-hour session

Class size limited to approximately 20 students

How do I use a coupon or gift card?

No sessions currently scheduled. Sign up for our e-mail newsletter to learn about new classes as soon as they’re announced.

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Adobe Photoshop Elements for Beginners

Photoshop Elements is the more affordable cousin to Adobe Photoshop. But don't be fooled, this best-selling photo editor is no lightweight. Learn how to turn everyday snapshots into great photos with this powerful yet easy-to-use software. You'll get a broad overview of the most useful features of Photoshop Elements, including:

• Cropping your images for a variety of uses
• Basic retouching techniques
• Adjusting exposure, highlights, and shadows
• Removing unwanted portions of an image
• An introduction to using layers, and more

In this lecture-based course you'll get detailed handouts and have an assignment to complete between sessions, for hands-on experience with the program and instructor feedback on your work.

Prerequisites: Students should own Photoshop Elements version 8 or newer, and be familiar with computer basics

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Adobe Photoshop Elements Intermediate

Go beyond the basics with Photoshop Elements with a class will help you understand more of the tools available and spark your creativity. You'll develop your skills with several different image editing projects, including:

• Retouching imperfections in photos
• Creating a collage with several images
• Creating a photo business card

Part lecture and part hands-on computer lab, you'll gain experience and get immediate instructor feedback on your work right there in class.

Prerequisites: Students should own Photoshop Elements version 8 or newer and have attended Photoshop Elements Beginner class or have equivalent knowledge.

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If you're not using Camera RAW, you're not using the full potential of your digital camera! (enlarge photo)

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Shooting RAW for Better Images

This introductory course is a great way to find out why more people are shooting in RAW mode, then editing the images in software like Adobe Photoshop Elements or Adobe Photoshop CS4/CS5. Working with RAW files in these programs has many advantages, including controlling exposure, adjusting color, highlight & shadow detail, and more.

We'll walk you through the key workflow steps, from capturing RAW files in your camera to making simple software adjustments that will have a big impact on your images. See the power of working with RAW files and how you can save time by correcting multiple images in just one click. We'll make recommendations on which steps to do first, and which are best for later in the process, all to help you maximize every image you capture!

Cost: $39.99

One three-hour session

Location: Dan's Camera City

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Getting Started with Adobe Lightroom

Learn how to get started with one of the most versatile and powerful photo applications on the market. We'll walk you through the core basics of importing and organizing your photographs into the library module of the program. Then we'll use the develop module to make adjustments to your images in a fast and efficient way. We'll also explore the develop preset feature that gives you quick artistic control. Then you'll learn how to export your finished images to use them in different ways, and how to back them up to keep them safe.

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Principles of Design and Composition

Learn to improve your pictures with better composition! Whether you're photographing people, landscapes, or other subjects, this class will teach you how to use simple elements and principles to give your images incredible impact. Gain a better understanding of how to use color, shape, line and pattern for better pictures that capture the viewer's attention.

This two-session class helps you learn the rules of good composition… and when to break them. Session two provides an opportunity for students to review the concepts, receive feedback on their images, and learn how good design may improve them. Inspiration from the instructor's personal work and important photographers past and present will show how traditional design and composition concepts can be applied to photography.

This class is recommended for anyone from those with basic camera skills to pros looking to take their images to the next level. Basic understanding of camera operation is required.

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Cost: $59.99

Two three-hour sessions

Class limited to 14 students

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High Dynamic Range (HDR) Photography

This introduction to HDR photography will explore an exciting alternative for photographing high-contrast (high dynamic range) scenes. Get tips on how to look for subjects and scenes that work well for HDR and which ones may not, as well as tips on camera settings and shooting techniques. Learn how to shoot a sequence of photos quickly of the same scene (some dark, some bright) to get one great final image. See how software like Photomatix and Adobe Photoshop (CS2 or newer) let you blend the best parts of each image to create a traditional photo look, but with better highlight and shadow detail. If you'd like something more creative, see lots of examples of how to go for a hyper-realistic or even surrealistic effect.

HDR allows you to bring out the vibrant colors, incredible detail, and texture of the scenes around you that are otherwise impossible to capture. We'll demonstrate how to control the amount of the effect applied to your blended images and how to get the final look you want. Once you see what can be accomplished with these techniques, you're likely to find a new way of seeing and a new way of shooting.

Cost: $39.99

One three-hour class

Class size limited to approximately 20 students

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Our classes sell out quickly. Sign up for our e-mail newsletter to learn about new classes as soon as they're announced.