How to Make Love to Korea...With Your Camera
(What did you think we meant? Sicko.)

By: TheYeogiyo.com | May. 08, 2009

You might have come across American expat Michael Hurt in your travels through the numerous highly-readable blogs online. He’s responsible for The Metropolitician, featuring his writing, and the bilingual FeetManSeoul, which feature his pretty much kick-ass street fashion photography. The man has even published a book, Seoul Fashion Report, while you’ve been laying around watching a rerun of Lord of the Rings, again.

Obviously Michael knows his way around a camera, as well as the country, so TheYeogiyo.com (who you love and trust, naturally) strongly recommends taking a look-see at the very popular photography lessons he has to offer. They’re ideal as a birthday gift for the camera enthusiast, for professionals looking for some fine-tuning, or for people who have absolutely no idea what to do and could use a little help getting started.

Michael offers classes on Saturdays (including tomorrow) or Wednesdays as reported on The Metropolitician, which you should check out regardless of whether or not you’re into photography. The classes work in “four 3-hour sessions, as well as shooting sessions, photo discussions, and critiques. An individual photo essay will also be done as part of the ongoing class assignments” and the group of avid photographers uses a huge studio.  

Session 1:

-- The Basics of Photography and Your DSLR
The basic and for many, most essential course, described in other posts and in the right menu. Unless you REALLY know the ins and outs of the relationship between aperture and shutter, exposure and flash compensation, as well as the other functions and buttons on your camera, taking the more advanced courses first might not be too beneficial to you.  
Meets on Saturday at 11.

Session 2:

-- Action Photography!
For those of you needing to cover events, use big lenses, or just really want to catch life in motion, this course is for you. More than just knowing the basics of how to take pictures in everyday situations, certain photographic situations require a specialized skill, experience, and even equipment set. Now, you've got to get as much speed as you can out of your camera, since shutter speed is a premium at sports events, in front of the fashion runway, at the dimly-lit concert. Every shot counts and you don't have a second chance. Do you know how to shoot predictively? Or what to do with the color temperature when the runway switches to spotlights from track lighting? Or how to mix ambient with flash lighting to get dynamic images at a night concert? You will.
Meeting place/time TBD.

Session 3:

-- Studio and Strobe Photography
Studio strobes. Soft-boxes. Beauty dishes. Main, fill, and kicker lights. All the stuff you see used for real professional portrait, fashion, and art photography, but you'd swear you'd never be able to understand how to use all that stuff. Don't stress -- learning the basics of how to properly light for the studio isn't as hard as you think -- you'll get the foundations with us, learn that putting together a basic studio setup of your own isn't so hard nor prohibitively expensive. It IS within your ability to learn to make the kind of pictures that will make your friends go "oooh" and perhaps even make your wallet start to grow.
Meeting time: Weekend TBD

Session 4:

-- Photoshop for Photographers
We put the "photo" back in Photoshop. Most people know how to twiddle around in what Koreans call "Po-Shap", but very few people know how to properly adjust pictures to realistic (and publishable) photographic standards. We're not talking about using "poshap" to make one's eyes bigger, put a lightsaber in your hand, or otherwise fundamentally alter reality. Learn how to properly process pictures, especially from DSLR's, color balance, adjust levels and curves, properly sharpen, work in adjustment and element layers, understand masking, prepare images for print, etc. The nitty-gritty of what Photoshop is ACTUALLY usually used for -- from a photographer who actually knows what she's doing, not your friend next door from freshman year who showed you some cool tricks on his computer. Like the guy says, you probably suck at Photoshop -- just admit it. And if you don't, you don't need our class, anyway. But most humans DO suck at it. We don't. Take the class, foo'.

Session 5:

-- Street, Documentary, and the Photo Essay
Photo essay? Anyone can put together a photo essay, right? Just take some pictures and put 'em in order. M'kay? Right? Err, no. This class is designed around the model of a Minor White-era photo group, in which a group of working photographers shoot and critique each others' work, which is a photo essay that is being shot over an extended period of time. We will take a look at photo history and classic photo essays and pictures, even as we focus on our own work and group-critique ourselves into making braver and better pictures. You should come into the course with at least some idea of essays you might want to shoot during the timeframe of the class. The class will meet on a staggered, bi-weekly schedule to allow for ample time gaps between classes, so it will last for 8 weeks, but still meet 4 times. If you ever needed the structure, support, and specialized guidance to do a photo essay on something, but never bothered to do it, this class is the perfect solution.
Meeting time: Weekend TBD

He offers classes at very reasonable rates, especially for what it gives you in the long-term – decent photos to impress the bejeebuhs out of your friends on Facebook. Give it a shot and show us photo evidence of your improving skills, for sure.