• I love teaching – and yet have limited time.
• I have several photo projects needing work – and yet have limited funds.
• I have many people asking to assist and intern and put on classes and workshops – and yet there is only me.

Stepping up to the plate

I recognize I’m not the best photographer and so my establishment of a school should not be a belief that I am the most qualified.
Merely that I’m the most willing to actually make it happen, the most creative to think it up, and the most crazy to actually try it.

Not sure what the name is, so for now it’s either Jarvie U or jDigital U – I’m open to input

I have grand ambitions how this project/school/opportunity can help everyone

• Help each student become great photo editors and great photographers
• Help with my work on my photography
• Help with the ATP and ETW projects
• Build a community that exercizes pay it forward learning
• Build a community that actively seeks new, exciting and creative learning experiences
• Build a school experience that actively promotes the students and a community that promotes eachother.
• Build a community that can point to an achievement that garners respect and attracts attention for the members of the community.
• Build a community of photographers who believe excellence of craft before deception, who improve their craft and respect for their clients and therefore improve the name and the art of photography.
• It can also help other photographers and of course people looking for photographers.

It’s more than an internship becuase it includes

• Classes
• Field Trips
• Photo Trips
• Assisting experiences (with many photographers)
• Reviews, critiques, QA
• And many more benefits

Yet it is still somewhat an internship

• Because student-interns still come and assist in the office learning first hand Photo Editing and Photo workflow and also emphasize in another area of their choice.

How this can be done? (How can Scott stay sane)

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Continue reading about Jarvie U – What is it?

These are all the Weddings of 2009 (not bridals, formals, or engagements)

jan 2 – Las Vegas

Jan 16 – SLC

Jan 30 – Denver

Feb 14 – SLC

March 7 – Ogden

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Continue reading about 2009 Review – Brides and Grooms

Apparently I like to see how far I can stretch myself.

Previous instances of going big.

• Doing long wedding day shoots … up to 14hrs once.
• Doing shoots I’ve never done before is always a fun challenge and stretch.
• Going to a new location is a fun stretch I’ve done so many times it’s not that stretchy anymore.
• Like when I shot 60,000 pictures in 3 months and drove 12,000 miles while I was in europe.
• Or when I had like 8 weddings in a couple weeks in several different states and drove almost 5k miles with several plane flights all during the Christmas season equaling an insane amount of pictures.
• Or when I did 2 weddings in one day at 2 different locations
• Or when I did 3 weddings in one day (only one reception)
• Or when i did 32 shoots for the 2nd annual charity shoot
• And at the same time bought and used for the first time studio equipment the day before all these shoots.

Another fun challenge. 

This week I’ll be shooting 50+ photo shoots.

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Continue reading about Go Big or go Home

Yes a FREE photo shoot from yours truly…

Hard to believe this is the 3rd year of my yearly tradition of shooting pictures for FREE

But I’m excited to do it again and have some new changes to spice it up a ton!

I’m going back to my roots like the first year and doing a Fall Colors theme.
Last year I did a week long of studio shoots and I’ll also offer that during the week as well.

So here’s the deal for those who don’t know.

I do quick shoots all week long for FREE … which for no financial gain on my part.
My way of saying thanks to my friends. Thus the charitable part.

The Charity

But last year I started a new tradition of taking donations which were given to a charitable organization.

The organization will be FFHE (Family to Family Humanitarian Expeditions)
It does a lot of great work in Mexico for families in need and also affects the lives of those that go on the expeditions

Check them Out http://ffhe.org/

I also end up donating a week to shoot for this organization in Mexico.
Here’s some pics from the expedition from last year.

i will note that some of the cost will go towards some equipment needed for the shoots

Survey

In any case… this post is to announce that the event will be held from Oct 5th to the 10th

We are not scheduling quite yet but you can help to give us get that together.

The theme is FALL COLORS + Studio

Which canyon would you prefer (we’ll do all of them just need to see demand)

• Provo (Sundance) Canyon
• American Fork Canyon
• Little Cottonwood Canyon
• Big Cottonwood Canyon
• Other Canyon
• Studio

Which Day

Monday through Saturday

What time

10-2 (Studio) or 3-7 (Canyon)

Minimum donation

I’ve found over the years that those paying nothing do not seem to appreciate the offer
Plus it goes to a good cause.

So would everyone be willing to donate a minimum of $30
This is not only a charity for a good cause this is a charity for YOU so I don’t want to exclude those that can’t.

So the questions are is $30 acceptable and secondly what would a short shoot be worth Donating for you?

FAQ

I will do another post when i get a few minutes and announce how to sign up for a shoot spot.
They will fill up fast and I will let those doing the survey get first choice

Send survey to accounts@jarviedigital.com or just respond here.

I will also post pictures of previous years.

One quick note is that I won’t be doing any wedding shoots for Free and the time periods will be somewhat limited to fit everyone in.

Last years many people showed up to do family shoots, roommate pictures, individual shoots, model pictures,

BE Creative!! I wan’t this to be fun… it’s your chance to do shoots you wouldn’t have done if you had to pay $500 to get done.

Continue reading about Announcing the 3rd Annual Charity Photo Shoot

Albion Basin photowalk

Saturday 5AM (Tomorrow)
Find more information on flickr page , Blog Page

Ann torrence is leading us up to a beautiful spot early early in the morning.
This promises to be an awesome trip for only those tough enough to get up that early and hike.

I don’t have any trouble waking up and I love mornings, so I plan on being there.
Small groups like this make for a great way to get to know each other… hikes are specially great.
No one should be able to use the excuse that they have a wedding going on at that time of the day, you don’t come it’s because you’re not tough enough. haha J/K

Bring your best toys but I’m assuming we should pack light for the hike.

I’m still deciding what to bring. One camera and a couple lenses.
14-24 for the great panoramic views. 70-200 in case some critter needs to be shot and the 24-70 because I’m buying it today.
And maybe even the 50 1.4 because it’s so light anyway.
I’ll also get to try out my super lightweight carbon fiber tripod.

So i guess I’ll be trudging along with all that stuff… but oh well… I’ll probably convince someone to shoot with the 70-200 for part of the hike.

Ann Torrence says:

“Nautical twilight is when we need to be working out compositions, to be ready for things to start to color up by civil twilight.”

“Then after sunrise, as the sun races across the valley, you can track with it to do flower portraits, or trundle up toward Secret Lake (about a 1 mile hike). Possibility to see moose, perhaps closer than you’d like.”

Photo by Ann Torrence

Find more information on flickr page , Blog Page

Photographer BBQ

Tuesday 6PM

Further information can be found at the event page on Facebook

Jeremy hall is the great organizer.
He plans in advance and always has a great turnout… if he can’t do it really well, he doesn’t do it at all.
He is the master organizer of Utah’s highly successful PhotoCampUtah (P.s. sign up to be notified about PhotoCamp 2010, we’re gonna plan an even bigger better one this next year)

It’ll be at his house, bing some food and mingle without the pressure and need to take pics.
Of course there will most certainly be a lot of us being geeky and talking techy.

Photo Editing SHOWDOWN

Facebook event page

This wednesday at 6pm the gloves come off when up to 10 local photographers compete at the Draper Pictureline

177 w 12300 Draper Utah

They will be editing the same batch of photos and then the audience (which is guaranteed to be standing room only – so come and expect to stand)

We will all vote on our favorites and in the end crown this month’s champion.

There is still time to sign up to compete as most people just want to watch.

It will be a great learning experience and I will be presenting the pictures at the end and using it as a teaching moment. Showing what the photogs did to achieve their results.

Send Pictures
We will be accepting pictures for use in competition. If you’d like to see your picture edited in about 10 different ways send them to me jarvie@jarviedigital.com
They must be in DNG format and not already edited. That’s about the only requirements.

JaG Conclusion

Facebook event page or official blog post describing in full, the event

The Jarvie Game is a competition, primarily to win a workshop, and it will be concluding early next week and the winners will be announced.
The competition is in the form of a game that ends Tuesday at Abt Midnight

There are over 50 people competing for several options of prizes, foremost among them is an all day long photography workshop.

The person with the highest point total in this game is awarded an automatic spot.
Then up to 8 other spots will be given, some at random, some to those who’ve competed well.

There is still time to enter, winning the most points will most likely not happen now, but at least get yourself in this drawing.
Even if you don’t need a photo workshop. Other prizes include a 1 on 1 in lightroom training or a 20×30 print etc…

Assisting Opportunities

As a note primarily for JaG competitors

There has been lots of response to past assisting opportunities on weddings and other related jobs.

In this next week there are several more available.
Those with high points in the Jarvie Game will be given more consideration

I will be accepting people to assist in the following

Tonight(Friday) bridals – 6:30pm
Tuesday – wedding – 3pm- 7
Thursday = Bridals  - 6:30
Friday = wedding – most of day
Saturday = Wedding – most of day

Respond on the Business page on facebook

Need more persuasion the Utah photographic community is among the best in the world??

We just had a Strobist group meetup at the great Salt Lake where a lot of people showed up.
A couple weeks ago with the World Wide photowalk there were over 5 photowalks in the Northern Utah area, with full capacity on a couple of them
There are a couple consistent groups who meet on a weekly basis.
There are great stores like pictureline and pixels who serve the community well.
Lots of photographers who share quite a lot.
The first PhotoCamp here was way way sold out and over 300 people came. When 200 were expected.
Probably great percentage of photographers in Utah than any where else.

And I’m here… so take that.

Continue reading about This week in Utah (photo edition)

The creation of the first annual Jarvie Game

Aka JaG  - “Jarvie’s Awesome Game”
View bottom for details on game

A chance to win super duper prizes

BACKGROUND (Yesterday)

I went on a photowalk yesterday.
I was around of a lot of awesome photographers, plenty of seasoned professionals.
But there were also a few photographers who were new to the game.
Some were brand new… having bought a new DSLR camera a week before and in one case the day before.

I have taught a lot of editing workshops recently.
Lightroom editing stuff: For beginners, intermediate and advanced.

But it’s been a while since I’ve taught actual photo skills and camera tech knowledge.
How to take better pictures stuff.
I did some yesterday and I remembered how fun it was.

You can ask Suzanne and Steph about it… we did an unorganized 2-3hr session back when I first met them.
I used to do it all the time for friends years ago when I wasn’t so busy.

I want to do it again. But I don’t want to charge and I want people to earn it.

THEREFORE >> Workshop

I think I want to do an all day kinda photo workshop thingy.
There are other winning options for those not needing or can’t make it to a workshop

If you would like to know more…
see the rest of the post to learn about the prizes and how to win

(more…)

Continue reading about JaG – The Jarvie Game

UPDATE: Tuesday’s class was a success… in my humble opinion. Great write up found here

I’m busy and stuff… so I’ve just decided if you haven’t signed up for thursday yet… JUST COME.
Leave the nice tables for those who’ve already signed up. But there will be chairs and stuff.

Also please send an email to lightroom@jarviedigital.com to list things you want me to cover in intermediate class.
I’ll try to cover them all. 

Intro/Beginning Class

(Those wanting the intro and the basic rundown of Lightroom)

Tuesday 14th April
7pm-9:30pm 

Intermediate Class

(Those who have used it for projects &/or gone to a previous long workshops.
We’ll be learning some tips and tricks, guest presentations and a more extensive Q&A for me and other Advanced Lightroom users) 

Thursday 16th April
7pm-9:30pm 

Advanced Class

There is no workshop or class
But we will be a monthly meetup.
Lightroom Advanced User Group Meetups – “Jarvie’s fellow Lightroom Geeks”

You must have a good deal of lightroom experience
If you want to be involved or help organize these meetups email lightroom@jarviedigital.com and specify your interest 

There is a cool special format for these meetups.

Location:
East Bay Studios
85 Eastbay Blvd
Provo, UT 84606 

How to register – Follow directions exactly

Send email to lightroom@jarviedigital.com – Or leave a comment on this blog post
Write out the following items 1,2,3,4

Email Title: “April Workshop” 

1. Name
2. Which class you’ll be attending (1 class only, you pick)
3. If you want to be on the waiting list for the other class. (The one you didn’t pick.)
4. Whether you expect to want to go in for Pizza &/or Rootbeer Floats
   5. Notes/Comments – Anything you want me to cover, thoughts, inspirations, resources, ideas! Everything else I can skim through for kicks. Or questions.

Extra: If you’ll be bringing anyone else please supply their information as well – including email 

Example:
Title: “April Workshop”
1. Scott Jarvie
2. Tuesday Class (beginning)
3. Yes (for waiting list on thursday/intermediate class)
4. Yes, Pizza (Yum Yum)
5. My question and ideas: Are you going to give away all your presets?  Have people there to talk about their experiences, share their workflow.

80 person Limit

… so RSVP soon. (Specially since it’s only 1 week away)

Questions?

If there are further questions please try to use lightroom@jarviedigital.com – or twitter @jarvie
I will try to refrain from doing much chatting on facebook or gmail chat about the subject to help save me some time to get pictures edited to free up time to do these workshops. 

FAQ

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Continue reading about Lightroom Workshop #3 April 2009

This next entry is from a photographer I met recently. He’s never been one of my workshops and he actually teaches lightroom where he works. So not only is it a fresh perspective but it’s a pretty knowledgeable viewpoint

SAM SCHOLES

What types of photography you do: Urban Decay, Landscape/Scenic, Portraits, Travel/Lifestyle

Vist Him Here>>: http://samscholes.carbonmade.com/ & http://www.flickr.com/photos/pictobox/

(more…)

Continue reading about Editing at the speed of Light(Room) Day2

I’m not to into taking family portraits…
There’s a lot of stressing out going on in portraits.

Feeding Each other STRESS

Parents get stressed because they want things to go perfectly.
When kids get grumpy or distracted… the parents start to freak.
Which in turn makes the kids freak out more… which in turn…
I’m sure you get the picture.

Not “Good” Money

Besides family pictures aren’t really good money (comparatively)

It’s my opinion that the price structure for family pictures was based on buying prints.
This mindset of wanting mainly prints is largely disappearing for most families.

Prints aren’t as “big” as photographers would like

Heck I personally would rather have the disc than a print on my wall… specially since I move more often and I use blogs, websites and facebook mostly and I can print stuff up myself just fine.

So people don’t want as many prints but the sitting fee for portraits has largely stayed the same.
Then there’s the people who think that because a CD costs $1 (which it doesn’t more like .15 cents) that charging them $100 for a CD is next to highway robbery.

Personally I don’t like being in charge of printing… I want to be paid for what I do (photograph) I don’t want to push products (like prints, albums etc)

I understand that the market and the abundance of new photographers will push prices down for photographers as some raise their prices (like I do all the time)

Not For me

All I’m saying is Traditional Family Picture sessions are not worth it for me.

I put up with boring weddings because they’re a lot of money and they’re very important.

Go to a studio for the traditional Shots

But i think if people are looking for good prices for family pictures they should go to studios, that’s their thing.

The Exception

That being said I have actually had a couple of families that were all right and enjoyable experiences
And in down times I’m sure I’d say yes because the money is nice… I’m just saying I don’t like it much.
But I like a “real” job…. way way less!

Continue reading about Family Portraits Suck… for photographers.