Throughout my career as a professional photographer, I’ve been asked to speak about creativity to multinational corporations and advertising agencies, to address high school and college students about my career, to consult as a visiting artist, to present my imagery and provide portfolio reviews at international photography festivals and to lead product talks and lead photography workshops for global camera brands.
Over the years I have also collaborated with many dozens of global brands and international media outlets to develop and deliver custom presentations, targeted talks and visual storytelling workshops for their employees, customers and readers.
Further, my presentation experience hosting a travel and photography television series on The HISTORY Channel, as well my coaching skills attained while making myriad host-led instructional photography content for multinational brands, inspired me to create and guide bespoke and immersive photography workshops in magnificent locations around Asia
I am also an artist in residence at 1880, a private club in Singapore, and while travel was not permitted during our national COVID-19 lockdown, I designed and taught a three-part (6 hour) virtual photography masterclass for the club’s membership. This in-depth workshop was oversubscribed and very well-received by the participants and I enjoyed sharing my passion, knowledge and experience with this engaged group of amateur photographers.
Around this same time I was contacted by Microsoft in Singapore and asked to provide to their Asia-Pacific staff working from home a remote talk about harnessing and inspiring creativity along with a mobile photography workshop. A colleague from Microsoft’s London office joined our discussion and asked me to deliver the same session for some of his colleagues in the UK.
And shortly after this I was commissioned by Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer Experiences — a collaboration between the airline and Mastercard designed to offer the airline’s frequent fliers ways in which to transform their air miles into experiences — to deliver a series of interactive online mobile photography workshops for their members.
From there, my list of clients seeking remote experiences for their employees and clients has grown to include leading global brands such as Apple, Adobe and Oracle as well as notable private members clubs internationally like Soho House, The Battery and Fitler Club.
These experiences delivering online creativity talks, mobile photography classes and immersive instructional storytelling workshops for private clubs and corporations within the region and around the world has been a pivot that I didn’t expect. But it has provided me a platform in which to meet fellow photography enthusiasts while engaging partners’ staff and customers in creative conversations, cascading and mastering a skill with them and encouraging “armchair adventure” during this unprecedented global environment. Following are brief overviews of the custom discussions and courses I have created and am currently delivering remotely to private club and corporate partners internationally.
MOBILE PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP
“THE BEST CAMERA
IS THE ONE THAT'S WITH YOU”
MOBILE PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP
“THE BASICS OF
PHOTO RETOUCHING”
Join me as I inspire you to reframe our everyday using the camera that’s always with us: our mobile phone.
I believe that photography is the most accessible and democratic form of artistic expression, and the mobile phone revolution has been a wonderful thing for photographers: the ubiquity of mobile phones has made it more convenient and ever simpler to make photographs, tell stories and share them with the world, anytime, anywhere.
I have been honoured numerous times by the prestigious iPhone Photography Awards, the world’s first and the longest-running international iPhone photography competition.
During this engaging 90-minute workshop, I share my top 10 demonstrable tips, tricks, insights and hacks to help move participants’ mobile photography from good to great. And the final experience is an interactive editing lesson where attendees are guided through a real-time retouching session using only their mobile devices.
The objective of this workshop is to introduce participants to the fundamentals of editing photographs using only their mobile phones. Using Google Snapseed, a powerful, free editing mobile app, this interactive 45-minute session will teach and demonstrate real-time retouching tips, tricks and hacks for taking participants’ photographs from good to great. Together we will learn how:
i) to use filter presets more powerfully
ii) to do a basic retouch of a portrait photograph
iii) to do a basic retouch of a landscape photograph
v) to fix a backlit/underexposed picture
iv) to convert images from colour to B&W
v) crop photographs for greater impact
vii) to remove unwanted objects from photographs
PHOTOGRAPHY MASTERCLASS
“THE BASICS AND BEYOND”
INSPIRATIONAL TALK
“CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE”
This immersive photography bootcamp offers participants both a fundamental introduction and a deeper dive into the principals of photography and narrative storytelling. Over three separate 2-hour workshops — which are designed for smaller, more intimate groups — I teach the basics of operating a DSLR or mirrorless camera, share how to create inspired imagery and explore with participants the critical evolution from taking pictures to making them.
Module 1: Fundamentals of Exposure — The “science” of photography and the most critical component of picture making — exposure — including shutter speed, aperture and ISO and their interconnectedness and relationship to one another.
Module 2: Basics of Composition — Understanding the “art” of photography with an emphasis on the softer compositional skills such as experimental light interpretation, imaginative composition and compelling framing.
Module 3: Visual Storytelling Insights — Exploring narrative storytelling and sharing more abstract insights for developing personal creative styles and making original photography with unique voice.
Using my journey as a photographer as the basis for this presentation — from my business education in Canada, to my decade working in marketing and branding for Coca-Cola and American Express in Asia, to my life-changing decision to leave the corporate world and follow my creative passions as a photographer for the past 17 years — this 45-minute intimate discussion explores how to harness and inspire creativity in our everyday lives through four key insights that I have learned and adapted into both my personal and professional life:
i) Identifying a passion
ii) Taking risks on someone or something
iii) Seeking feedback, setting goals and persevering
iv) The undeniable power of partnership and collaboration
COMMUNICATIONS + PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS
