The Ultimate Photo Storytelling Workshop with Finn Beales
The Ultimate Photo Storytelling Workshop with Finn Beales
Finn Beales and Wildist will teach you how to tell stories through photography, crafting a professional shoot from start to finish. Finn is a master storyteller, having worked for brands like Apple, Land Rover, and Cartier. In six hours he will teach you all his techniques, secrets, and tips to running a professional shoot. From building a story, to shoot prep, to pricing your work, to directing models, to editing, to final production. More than a class, this is an online workshop that will help to get your professional photography career started.
**Important: All lesson purchases are final in consideration of the creator's hard work. To learn more, click here.
What You'll Learn
Finn wants to take you through his process, step by step. You'll learn why stories are so important to your work, and how to use characters, events, and location as elements to drive the story. Then, you'll learn how to plan, shoot, and edit like Finn does.
Introduction
Welcome to the newest Strohl.Works workshop with Finn Beales - a never before seen deep dive into how he works.
Introducing Finn Beales
Finn works with some of the world's most demanding brands who are attracted by his cinematic style and the narrative he weaves throughout his work.
Coffee with Finn & Alex - Q&A
Have coffee with Alex and Finn and learn about how they met and why they're making this workshop together.
Welcome to the Workshop
Finn introduces the format for this workshop and goes over the reasons why it's important to include story in your work.
Gear
Take a look at the gear Finn has brought on this shoot: cameras, lenses, storage, bags, toolkit, and an H.
What is a Story?
In this episode Finn deconstructs the essence of a story so you can learn and then apply some methods and techniques to improve your own.
Essence: Location
Finn discusses the importance of location, which includes supporting details and props and the impact it can have on your story.
Essence: Character
Finn shows how you can use characters to drive events in your story by identifying their desires, the importance of credibility and also how he likes to work with models.
Essence: Events
In this segment, Finn teaches you how to use obstacles to build events, crafting a journey and incorporating product into a story.
Photography as a Medium
Finn talks about generating mood and feeling using your characters, and how to involve your audiences own experiences in your work.
Recap
Finn recaps on his steps for building a story from scratch.
The Importance of Shot Type
Finn discusses his key shot types and the qualities each on can bring to a story.
Preparation
Finn explains how he approaches a shoot and manages clients expectations from the onset.
Asking the Right Questions
Finn breaks down his approach for responding to prospective enquires and gives you a list of questions you can put to clients to help you price and produce a shoot.
Identifying your Locations
Finn explains how he uses 3 criteria to identify locations and how you should keep a story at the heart of everything you do.
Treatments & Moodboards
In this segment Finn walks you through the treatment he has developed for this workshop and also the moodboard he will use to ensure everyone involved is on the same page.
Creating a Call Sheet & Shot List
Finn walks you through an example call sheet and creative brief he made for a job he shot last year.
Meeting your Subjects
In this episode Finn talks about the steps he takes before he meets with someone he is due to photograph, steps that will help him capture natural portraits.
The Board Room
Finn shoots the first part of his story in Dan Costa's board shaping room. He walks you through his thought process when capturing a person at work and the shot types he's looking for.
Location Recce
Follow Finn and the rest of the crew as they conduct a location scout ahead of sunset.
The Roadtrip
In this episode Finn shoots the transitional elements for his story involving the Land Rover and the surrounding landscape.
Surf Day
Follow Finn as he shoots the culmination of his story at the beach as Dan prepares for a sunset surf session.
Shooting Technique 1: 50mm & Stitch
Finn breaks down one of the key techniques he uses when working with a 50mm lens.
Shooting Technique 2: Tracking
Finn breaks down the process associated with shooting from car to car so he can generate a sense of movement.
Alex Shoot Day
Watch Alex shoot for the same client but produce different results.
Introduction to Editing
Finn explains his approach to editing, filter Lightroom catalogues to speed up workflow and also grading images using presets and Photoshop plugins.
Making Selects
Finn gives you an insight into his digital post-production process, and shares the system he has developed for filtering image catalogues to help him easily locate files.
Grading in Lightroom
Finn's editing process in Adobe Lightroom: Basic Adjustments, Tone curve, HSL Panel, Split Toning Sharpening, Camera Calibration, Gradient & Radial filters.
Analog Film Elements
A step-by-step approach to adding inconsistencies like film grain and light leak effects into a digital file to give your image a nostalgic feeling.
Building the Story
Finn walks you through the story he has creating using the images from his shoot and explains his thinking behind the images he has chosen.
Using Squarespace
Finn shows you how he builds his photo stories using Squarespace and also the settings he uses when exporting from Lightroom.
Q&A: Editing with Alex & Finn
Learn how Finn approaches editing, grading, color theory, and developing a style for you photography.
Q&A: Pricing your Work
In this segment Finn and Alex discuss the tricky topic of pricing your photography and give you examples and advice to help you value your work.
Q&A: Shooting
Alex asks Finn about his processes to shed some light on why he approached this shoot in the way he did.
Q&A: Photography Today
Alex and Finn discuss the photographic industry, creative fields in general, and how it pays to adopt new technology.
Q&A: Stuff that Alex is Curious About
Finn discusses his back story, what drives him to make photos, and how living in a remote place informs his approach to life and his photography.
—JOHAN RAVILO
Class Extras
Get more out of the lesson with exclusive presets and downloadable content.
6 Lightroom Presets
Get the Lightroom presets Finn used for the images in this workshop plus some bonus ones he made especially for you.
Lesson Guide PDF
A downloadable PDF accompanies the workshop with segment recaps, notes, and links to Finn's favorite tools.
Moment Shop Discount
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Finn Beales
Finn is an award-winning travel, lifestyle and commercial photographer based in the United Kingdom where he lives with his wife and two children.
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