View of the Altopiano at the top of world-renown Sass Pordoi.  Photo: Daniela Anderson

WELCOME TO THE MOST UNIQUE PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP VACATION IN THE WORLD!

Have you always wanted to master shooting breath-taking photographs of your subject in ANY location and in ANY situation? Do you want to learn how to augment your lighting when there's no outlet nearby, and recognize instantly the best compositions for your images and subject?

If you answered YES to any of these questions, then you will want to join professional photography instructor, Tony Cooper, in this once-in-a-lifetime, dream photography workshop vacation located in the Italian Tyrolean Alps and Venice, Italy!

This unique workshop will center on location portrait photography. A special emphasis will be placed on using existing surroundings and finding the light, angles and compositions in which to pose your subjects. Location bridal photography also will be explored, with a chance to photograph a beautiful Italian model in a full wedding gown in a variety of exotic locations.

The goal of this unique photography school vacation will be to use our incredible, exotic destinations and pick the group's  "spots" from there, adapting to surroundings, overcoming any lighting or background problems, and improvising on lighting to take care of the needs of our composition.

During our six three-hour sessions, we're going to take thousands of images with Tony guiding you through the best posing, lighting, composition and arrangements. This photography vacation will teach you how to handle each unique location with the flair you can only get from the creativity that lies deep within your artistic mind.

All you need to bring along is your camera, lens and LOTS of memory cards (you will want to take pictures of everything you see). Tony's teaching style and total photographic control over his surroundings lends itself well to our relaxed environment, and this incredibly unique photography workshop vacation is one of the most interesting and useful classes held in an exotic location available to professional photographers and camera buffs alike!

View from the peak of Sass Pordoi. Photo: Daniela Anderson.

FINDING COMPOSITION:

The only way to make a portrait that focuses well on your subject is to be certain that your composition is free of distractions. We  will learn how to identify all the major distractions and then show you how to eliminate them one by one. By the end of this class session, you will be picking out your compositions almost completely by instinct.

CLASS TWO

POSING YOUR SUBJECT:

The absolute worst thing you can do to any subject is to give them a boring pose. You have to be creative and inventive... and explain to your subject exactly what you want her to do. From body position, to legs, arms, hands and feet, we'll explore the places for the body parts and the use of surrounding elements to create even more interesting poses and moods.

CLASS THREE

EXPLORING LIGHT:

Light is everywhere, and you only need to find it, reshape it, refocus it and use it in any way you want. We're going to show you  how to make the light work for you, and then make it pay YOU to do so. There is so much that you will learn in this segment of the workshop that you will wish we could do it over and over. Remember, by this point we are all taking photos... our model will be happy to accommodate us for the workshop period, but after that I strongly suggest that you experiment on your own! Practice makes perfect!

CLASS FOUR:

ANGLES AND STUFF:

Great photography is about the angles, and we're not talking about the edge of a fence, or the frame of a doorway. Angles exist everywhere, even in an open field. We're going to show you how to identify those angles and how to use them to make your image SPEAK to you with volumes beyond what you've ever photographed up to this point. The objective is to learn from your surroundings and explore how the nuance of your environment (and not always nature) lends itself so well to the beauty of imagery.

CLASS FIVE:

APERTURES, SHUTTERS AND THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE:

There are three things that will make someone look good when you're shooting close up images. The first is how much of the image is in focus. The second is how much light you can see. The third is the subject's expression. We are going to show you all the great things you can do with close-in images and then apply these skills  to everything else you want to photograph. Tony has three tried and true methods of getting the kind of expression you want on your subject's face. Whether it's laughter and smiles, sultry or sassy, or contemplating and soft... it's easy to learn and use.

CLASS SIX

FAST-PACED SHUTTER HOGGING:

The last of our classes will cover the fast-paced working environment. In the fashion world, top models get paid thousands of dollars an HOUR, so you want to hurry through and get them on their way. In our more relaxed world, we want to combine everything you've learned in the first five classes and give you the opportunity to apply them all quickly and accurately to create the kind of images you've always wanted to produce. This is the "no-fooling around" workshop class that will bring together everything you've learned so far and teach you that working intelligently almost always involves working quickly once you have everything in place.

Photo courtesy of Tony Cooper and TLC Photography

Photo courtesy of Tony Cooper and TLC Photography

Tony's love for photography began at a young age, influenced by his father and other family members who spent many family outings and gatherings taking photos of family members for the scrap books. Tony was also one of the photographers on his high school's yearbook staff, contributing a host of images from clubs, sports, and other activities. He also spent a lot of time photographing friends, family members and classmates growing up.

In 1982, Tony photographed his sister's wedding, and the seed was planted. From there, Tony began to accumulate the knowledge and skills necessary to take on the role of wedding photographer. In 1984, Tony took on his first professional job as a wedding photographer. Throughout the next couple of years, Tony studied the works of Ansel Adams, Monte Zucker and the influences of the days, often apprenticing with other photographers to study their style and methods.

By 1986, Tony had become well established as a photographer who had what it takes to compete with those with more experience. By 1989, Tony had well exceeded his own expectations by photographing over 60 weddings in one year. But that wasn't enough. With the recent and ongoing trudge into personal computers and processing, Tony spent several years working in the computer industry in an effort to gain a distinct skill set that would prepare him for what was inevitably the digital age of photography.

During the years 1990-1994, Tony spent time studying databases, digital storage methods and computing in general. In 1995, Tony and his wife, Diana, started TLC Photography in the basement of their home, beginning a new chapter in Tony's passion to become the kind of photographer he always wanted to be. Within three years, they realized that their basement studio was too small to handle the workload they had amassed, and they moved their studio to a retail space in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

Only a short time later, Tony was asked to become the adjunct professor for Studio Photography at Shepherd University. Two years later, he was asked to head up the Sports Photography program there as well. Another of Tony's passions was realized while at Shepherd University: He loves to teach. And with an effort toward detail and finish, Tony's teaching method included techniques of demonstration while teaching, explanations of methods and not just lectures. Many of his students even today thank him for their education in Studio & Sports Photography.

In 2008, Tony & Diana moved their photography studio from Shepherdstown to Martinsburg, West Virginia, into a state-of-the-art studio that boasted a camera room three times bigger than the one in Shepherdstown, and included separate meeting rooms, production, office space and much more. That same year, Tony temporarily retired from teaching at Shepherd University to pursue a more intense role in the development of his photography business. It was also during 2008 that Tony & Diana photographed 21 weddings, over 100 seniors, over 60 families and babies, and countless other sports, corporate and group events, including three dance studios.

In 2009, Tony decided to go back to teaching. But instead of limiting himself to the college community, Tony ventured out into the world of professional seminar and workshop education. While primarily designed for photographers (amateur and professional), and those who just wanted to learn more about photography, Tony developed courses that had complete information about the kinds of things that interested his audiences. The design of these courses are all hands-on and interactive... a teaching method borne from Tony's own learning methods.

Photo courtesy of Tony Cooper and TLC Photography.