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Speak About Your Work

Lesson 118 from: Fine Art Photography: The Complete Guide

Brooke Shaden

Speak About Your Work

Lesson 118 from: Fine Art Photography: The Complete Guide

Brooke Shaden

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Lesson Info

118. Speak About Your Work

Next Lesson: Branding for Video

Lessons

Class Trailer
1

Class Introduction

19:06
2

Storytelling & Ideas

27:34
3

Universal Symbols in Stories

03:19
4

Create Interactive Characters

02:16
5

The Story is in The Details

04:13
6

Giving Your Audience Feelings

05:49
7

Guided Daydream Exercise

04:20
8

Elements of Imagery

02:19
9

The Death Scenario

01:47
10

Associations with Objects

03:01
11

Three Writing Exercises

06:39
12

Connection Through Art

30:35
13

Break Through Imposter Syndrome

07:40
14

Layering Inspiration

23:13
15

Creating an Original Narrative

07:42
16

Analyze an Image

04:12
17

Translate Emotion into Images

04:31
18

Finding Parts in Images

06:02
19

Finding Your Target Audience

04:05
20

Where Do You Want Your Images to Live?

12:01
21

Create a Series That Targets Your Audience

32:43
22

Formatting Your Work

06:08
23

Additional Materials to Attract Clients

07:24
24

Which Social Media Platforms Will be Useful?

04:17
25

How to Make Money from Your Target Audience

11:27
26

Circle of Focus

07:55
27

The Pillars of Branding

06:18
28

Planning Your Photoshoot

09:05
29

Choose Every Element for The Series

07:38
30

Write a Descriptive Paragraph

09:37
31

Sketch Your Ideas

17:27
32

Choose Your Gear

02:50
33

How to Utilize Costumes, Props & Locations

26:18
34

What Tells a Story in a Series?

13:06
35

Set Design Overview

01:43
36

Color Theory

19:50
37

Lighting for the Scene

12:05
38

Props, Wardrobe & Time Period for Set Design

06:00
39

Locations

04:31
40

Subject Within the Scene

07:26
41

Set Design Arrangement

05:46
42

Fine Art Compositing

03:46
43

Plan The Composite Before Shooting

10:29
44

Checklist for Composite Shooting

18:52
45

Analyze Composite Mistakes

12:11
46

Shoot: Black Backdrop for White Clothing

10:42
47

Shoot: Black Backdrop for Color Clothing

08:36
48

Shoot: Black Backdrop for Accessories

08:17
49

Shoot: Miniature Scene

09:59
50

Editing Workflow Overview

01:57
51

Add Fabric to Make a Big Dress

08:35
52

Edit Details of Images

08:09
53

Add Smoke & Texture

10:47
54

Blend Multiple Images Into One Composite

24:58
55

Put Subject Into a Miniature Scenario

17:55
56

Location Scouting & Test Photoshoot

22:10
57

Self Portrait Test Shoots

22:30
58

Shoot for Edit

04:21
59

Shoot Extra Stock Images

10:01
60

Practice the Shoot

25:07
61

Introduction to Shooting Photo Series

03:33
62

Shoot: Vine Image

10:40
63

Shoot: Sand Image

09:50
64

Shoot: End Table Image

04:59
65

Shoot: Bed Image

06:18
66

Shoot: Wall Paper Image

05:54
67

Shoot: Chair Image

08:02
68

Shoot: Mirror Image

06:57
69

Shoot: Moss Image

05:48
70

Shoot: Tree Image

07:33
71

Shoot: Fish Tank Image

04:09
72

Shoot: Feather Image

09:00
73

View Photo Series for Cohesion & Advanced Compositing

07:35
74

Edit Multiple Images to Show Cohesion

36:55
75

Edit Images with Advanced Compositing

29:33
76

Decide How to Start the Composite

09:35
77

Organize Final Images

21:37
78

Choosing Images for Your Portfolio

08:19
79

Order the Images in Your Portfolio

16:28
80

Why do Some Images Sell More Than Others?

16:03
81

Analyze Student Portfolio Image Order

11:42
82

Framing, Sizing, Editioning & Pricing

02:19
83

Determine Sizes for Prints

16:44
84

How to Choose Paper

13:56
85

How to Choose Editions

07:18
86

Pricing Strategies

18:59
87

How to Present Your Images

13:26
88

Example Pricing Exercise

09:39
89

Print Examples

08:23
90

Licensing, Commissions & Contracts

04:44
91

How to Keep Licensing Organized

06:07
92

How to Prepare Files for Licensing

07:28
93

Pricing Your Licensed Images

12:33
94

Contract Terms for Licensing

12:07
95

Where to Sell Images

04:55
96

Commission Pricing Structure

08:23
97

Contract for Commissions

12:17
98

Questions for a Commission Shoot

08:45
99

Working with Galleries

08:58
100

Benefits of Galleries

07:39
101

Contracts for Galleries

10:32
102

How to Find Galleries

05:22
103

Choose Images to Show

08:53
104

Hanging the Images

03:38
105

Importance of Proofing Prints

08:04
106

Interview with Soren Christensen Gallery

21:59
107

Press Package Overview

04:35
108

Artist Statement for Your Series

18:20
109

Write Your 'About Me' Page

09:04
110

Importance of Your Headshot

03:55
111

Create a Leave Behind & Elevator Pitch

20:19
112

Writing For Fine Art

04:44
113

Define Your Writing Style

14:49
114

Find Your Genre

06:41
115

What Sets You Apart?

02:25
116

Write to Different Audiences

05:10
117

Write for Blogging

39:57
118

Speak About Your Work

14:21
119

Branding for Video

07:37
120

Clearly Define Video Talking Points

14:27
121

Types of Video Content

31:45
122

Interview Practice

13:22
123

Diversifying Social Media Content

22:32
124

Create an Intentional Social Media Persona

24:48
125

Monetize Your Social Media Presence

18:46
126

Social Media Posting Plan

04:01
127

Choose Networks to Use & Invest

02:57
128

Presentation of Final Images

19:13
129

Printing Your Series

09:16
130

How to Work With a Print Lab

13:39
131

Proofing Your Prints

10:11
132

Bad Vs. Good Prints

03:32
133

Find Confidence to Print

10:50
134

Why Critique?

06:55
135

Critiquing Your Own Portfolio

10:39
136

Critique of Brooke's Series

16:18
137

Critique of Student Series

40:07
138

Yours is a Story Worth Telling

02:09

Lesson Info

Speak About Your Work

We get to talk about one of the scariest things that anybody will ever have to do, which is speaking about your work. I know how challenging this is. I have a lot of sympathy for anybody who is afraid of this topic, because it's something that I also have a ton of anxiety about, but hopefully, I can walk you through how I have overcome that anxiety, because I have, tremendously. Speaking about your work does not necessarily mean public speaking, so I'm not trying to prepare you to get up on a stage and speak in front of a thousand people or anything like that, or even ten people, 'cause that's just as scary. But what I do want you to be able to do is to speak about your work in an intelligent and communicable way that will enhance your brand, that will market your images better, that will market your persona better, because, as we know, we just recently talked about writing, and when we talk about writing for your work, that's one whole thing, right? Just a way of getting your brand ou...

t there, of accentuating what you have to offer. Speaking about your work is the same. It's another way of putting yourself out there in a different medium in way that might attract more people to what you're doing, and that's why it's so important. I mean, you'll notice on social media that all of these social sites are moving in the direction of video. I remember the first time I put a video on Facebook, and I was shocked at how many people saw it compared to a regular photo post that I would make, and I realized, well, they're probably promoting video, because that's what everyone's promoting right now, is video, video, video. Instagram is obviously really big into promoting video, with their stories and things like that, and it's just the way that people are sharing now, so we have to talk about it, because if we're going to get our work out there, and if we're going to speak about it intelligently, we have to learn how to do that. Now, I don't mean to intimidate you too much, but I do mean to intimidate you slightly, 'cause this is a hard thing to do, and I know that. So, I used to be extremely shy, grossly shy. I would not talk to strangers, let alone pitch myself to them, let alone be able to talk about what I was doing. And we did do elevator pitching, which was fun, but not quite as in-depth as we're gonna go right now. Speaking about your work might be in peron or it might be on video, and we're going to focus a lot on video, because that's the trend that things are going in, but everything from being able to go to a job interview and present yourself well, to talking to people in a room about your work, to making a video about it, so important. So, that's what we're going to do. We also have a guide for download with this one, which goes in detail with questions that will help, hopefully, everybody just in terms of being able to market yourself, visually and through your words. So, hopefully, you're going to find that really helpful, and help you to just sort of hone in on the type of content that you should be producing, and the words that should be coming out of your mouth. Okay. So, here are ways to speak about your work. Different things that you'll need to keep in mind, we've got elevator pitching, which we already did, okay? Gallery meetings, which will happen if you're on that fine art path. We've got portfolio reviews. Now, this is a big one, portfolio reviews, which I'm a big fan of, and we're gonna talk about that in a second, so we've got portfolio reviews, portfolio reviews where you sit down with somebody who's going to review your work, and then, you're going to have to speak about it. So important in this situation. This is like the artist's job interview, basically, and it's importan to get right, so we'll talk about that. Giving a lecture, a Q & A, an artist talk. I mean, if we're all so fortunate, we will be invited to give artist talks, to speak about our work, you have to know how to do it. Negotiating and hiring, just another way that you would want to be able to speak about your work and this goes back to knowing your worth. If you're going to enter into a deal with a client, it's so important that you know your worth and you can communicate that to the person that you're dealing with, and then social media and video, which I mentioned. So, here's just more in-depth about these things. An elevator pitch would be a random chance meeting. A gallery meeting, you're gonna wanna be able to talk about your prices, editions, sizes, and things like that. For a portfolio review, you wanna talk about your concept and technique. That's gonna be most closely related to your artist's statement. We've got a lecture, a Q & A, an artist talk, and that's where you're going to want to have opinions formed about what you're doing, what your work is like, and your motivations, because, if you think about it, we've got all these different ways of speaking, but the motivation behind what you do is relevant in every single one of these, negotiations and hiring, things like that. We've got pricing, methods of creating, contract terms, things that you need to be able to speak about, and then social media, where I think it's good to focus on your uniqueness, or it's good to focus on what makes your process interesting, and things like that. Here are some pitfalls in public speaking, and these pitfalls, I do not blame anyone for. I have the same ones, and I'm going to hopefully just talk you through a little bit of how we're going to overcome that. So, do any of you guys have any anxiety about public speaking? Okay. And I have a good feeling that you represent, also, the larger community who might be watching, and I also feel the same. I mean, there are many different events that I do where my armpits start to sweat, and I get really nervous and anxious. I remember I did this one lecture, and it was in front of a few thousand people, and I was really nervous, and it wasn't recent, it was sort of more in the beginning of my career, and I was shaking nervous, and I was about to go on stage, and they go, "It's so exciting! "Did you know that 85,000 people "are livestreaming this right now?" I was like, "Oh, wow. "That might be the worst thing "anyone's ever done to me in my whole life," and then I was way extra nervous, and I realized after that experience that I need to find ways to calm myself and to be okay with this, and there are ways that I've done that, and I'm gonna talk about them. So, this is what people struggle with, is confidence, to be able to speak about your work. We often get up on stage, I do the same thing, and we say, "So," and, "um," and try to fill the gaps with anxious words, something to really keep in mind, but I do it constantly, and it's hard not to. It's really hard to get those extraneous words out of your dictionary. Inflection is another one that people struggle with. It's really frequent that I see people getting up on stage, and they'll keep one tone as they talk, they don't have a lof of excitement in their voice, it becomes very monotonous to listen to this type of voice inflection. I'm not trying to put you to sleep, but you're looking rather sleepy. Okay. Having concise thoughts. It's really hard. Have you ever been to a lecture where you feel like somebody's rambling a little bit? Where you're just like, "Okay, get to the point, "get to the point, I wanna know what you're trying to say." All the time, we see this. I am definitely guilty of this. My problem is actually mostly with stories. I tend to tell stories all the time, and then I forget that we're trying to have a point that's being made. So, stories are another thing that can help you tremendously when it comes to public speaking, or you can get lost in them, and we'll talk about that. Eye contact, so I'm trying to make eye contact with all of you guys, I could look straight in the camera and talk to the camera as we do this, so it's good to know where you're supposed to be looking and being able to maintain that eye contact, because obviously, I want to engage with you guys, but I also don't want you to fall asleep, so I'm gonna keep looking at you, so then you'll know that you'll be in trouble if you do, okay? All right, and then, being relatable. This is another thing where I've been to a lot of artist lectures, and there are times when the ideas and the work is just so abstract, and it's never brought down to my level, so I feel, where I'm just like, "I cannot connect with this, "because this is so heavy and intellectual "that I just don't know what the point is. "I'm not understanding," so making things relatable when you're speaking about your work. Now, how do we solve these pitfalls? One way is to realize that nobody cares as much as we fear that they do, nobody. We care way more than anybody else cares. It is a well-known fact. You know, if I stood up here, and I tripped, fell on my face, got up, and couldn't remember what I was trying to say, trust me, I'm going to carry that with me a lot longer than you are. You're not gonna lose sleep over it tonight, I am. You're not gonna remember that ten years from now, except as something silly that happened, I am, and I'm going to start sweating, and I'm gonna remember what it felt like to be in that position. Nobody cares, okay? People want to hear what you have to say. People really do want to hear what you have to say. The problem is not that they don't wanna hear you. The problem is that they wanna hear you be interesting, okay? So, it's not the content, it's not the sentiments, it's the way that you present it, more often than not, that isn't interesting for people, and that is fixable. Everything is fixable, the content, everything, but especially how we present ourselves. Learning how you like to present best is also a really important thing. You know, maybe your style is never going to be to stand up and give a speech to somebody, or to a room. Maybe you love Q & A's, though. Like, you love being interviewed, and that's how you communicate your vision best. Know that ahead of time, so that you can create scenarios where you're going to shine when you're speaking about your work. Not everyone can do everything most of the time. Some people can, they're amazing, but not everyone. Having talking points laid out, so important. I could not get through a single video or lecture or anything without having talking points. I don't have the memory for it, I'm not an actress, I have to have bullet points in my head, so that's really important, we're gonna talk about that. Focus on one main theme. That's another thing that's a real pitfall for people when they're speaking about their work, or about their life, or anything, is that it's so all over the place, and it never really gets tied back to one main central point, so have a theme. Write down audience takeaways. It's important to consider your audience, and if I'm going to give a lecture, if I'm going to give a class, for goodness's sake, I'm gonna make sure that I know what you're going to take away from my words that I am spitting at you. Literally, I keep spitting, I don't know why. I need to know, and if you walk away not knowing, that's bad, right? Like, maybe I could fudge my way through it, but if you walk away like, "I'm not sure what I was supposed to be learning from that," that's not good. Okay, cater to your favorite format, as I mentioned. If you wanna show yourself in action, show yourself in action. If you wanna show yourself standing still, talking to a room, do that. Interview style, go for it. You have the power to do whatever you need to do to get your words out there. And then, finally, learn what's editable. So, if you're making a video, learn what you can do in that video that you can take away, and learn what you can't. I did a video recently where I did not expect to be on camera. I thought it would just be a voiceover, and then I ended not having enough content to fill that video, so I had to put myself speaking in it, and I was still in my pajamas, I looked ridiculous, and I had to do it, because there was nothing else to be done. I'll explain that later, 'cause I'm gonna show you the video in which I look like I just rolled out of bed wearing my pajamas. You'll see! (sighing) I'll explain the circumstances, but learn what's editable. So, no one cares as much as we fear. Just going over these one more time. I really, genuinely believe that we are our own worst critics, that people won't remember, it just doesn't matter, so always remember that. Someone wants to hear what you have to say. If you don't believe me, just know that you're wrong. Okay, great. Covered that point thoroughly. No, I really do believe that someone wants to hear what you have to say. I think that we all have very interesting pieces of ourselves that we could put out there, so it's a matter of marrying the content that you choose, the most interesting content, with delivering that in an interesting way, which is really hard. Learn how you like to present best, for example, there was a long time when I had a really difficult time speaking to a small group of people. I became very comfortable speaking in front of very large audiences, and I became way more comfortable with that, because there was more likely to be somebody in that audience that would connect with what I was saying than a small audience. I just started becoming really scared of small rooms, like this! Now I'm not, and the way that I got over that is to remind myself that it doesn't really matter. It just doesn't matter. I'm gonna say what I have to say in the most genuine way possible, and if you guys don't like it, then it's not the end of the world. You know, I tried my best, and that's it, that's all I can do. Talking points, we're gonna go over talking points in more detail, because this is extremely important with public speaking. Focusing on a main theme. If you have that one thing that everything falls under, you'll have a really nicely structured talk, very likely. Takeaways for your audience, another thing that we're gonna go over, and then catering to your favorite format. So, how would you like to work? What way do you wanna be showcased? And then, what is easily editable in post, and this is things like, if you accidentally stumble over your word, you know that you can probably edit that out later. If you wear your pajamas, you probably can't edit that out.

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with Purchase

Guided Daydream & Writing Exercises Workbook (Lessons 1-11)
Creating an Original Narrative Workbook (Lessons 12-18)
Finding Your Target Audience Workbook (Lessons 19-27)
Planning Your Series Workbook (Lessons 28-34)
Set Design Workbook (Lessons 35-41)
Compositing Workflow Checklist (Lessons 42-49)
Editing Workflow Checklist (Lessons 50-55)
Location Scouting Workbook (Lessons 56-60)
Stock Image Downloads for Practice (Lessons 61-72)
Organizing Your Portfolio Workbook (Lessons 77-81)
Pricing & Editioning Your Work Workbook (Lessons 82-89)
Writing Contracts & Licensing Images Workbook (Lessons 90-98)
Gallery Best Practices (Lessons 99-106)
Pitch Package Workbook (Lessons 107-111)
Writing Your Brand Workbook (Lessons 112-117)
Marketing Workbook (Lessons 118-122)
Social Media Workbook (Lessons 123-127)
Printing Methods Checklist (Lessons 128-133)
Self Critique Workbook (Lessons 134-137)
Bonus Materials Guide
Syllabus
Image Edit Videos

Ratings and Reviews

April S.
 

I tuned in for most of Brooke's lessons in this course and watched some of them more than once as they were rebroadcast. First I want to say that Brooke is a very good instructor. Her easy-going, friendly, down-to-earth, somewhat quirky manner cannot be mistaken for unprofessional. She is very prepared, she speaks well (not a bunch of hemming and hawing), she is thoughtful, she is thorough, she is very relatable and at ease, and she is definitely professional in her presentation. I really thought when I first tuned in that it would mostly be background noise while I was at work, sound to keep me company. Not because I didn't like Brooke but I really didn't think I was into fine art photography nor did I think I cared about the business side of things much. Not now anyhow. I was really wrong. Brooke sparked a deep interest in me to delve into fine art photography, to consider creating images for myself, from my imagination. In fact, I realized that this was something I'd been thinking about for a couple of years though I hadn't put a name to it (the idea of creating pre-conceived images based on my own creative goals). I gleaned many little treasures from her about image sizes, working with printers, different types of paper, selling, interacting with galleries, and so much more. I may not need all of what she taught right now because I'm definitely headed in another direction at the moment, but she planted ideas and information in my head that I know will be useful at some point. Things I may not have thought of on my own, but that seed is in my head now so when the time comes, I'll know. I'd really like to buy her course but at the moment, with the holidays right around the corner, it's not in my personal budget. I'm grateful to have caught the live and rebroadcast lessons though, and her course is on my list to own. I think it's a great reference to be consulted over and over again, not watched once and forgotten. Kudos Brooke for really putting together an excellent course.

Ron Landis
 

I'm retired now, but spent decades in the people and training business. Brooke is extraordinary! Even though this course is extremely well organized and she's left nothing unattended, she moves through it with friendly conversational manners and without a sense of it being stilted. It's as though we are all her friends, not students, as she shares her heart and passion with us. What a joy it is to listen to her. And what a clear, unambiguous command of her subject. Wow! She explains it with such ease using explanations and techniques that won't overwhelm artists just starting their portfolio or the Photoshop-squeamish among us; but despite its simplicity her resulting art is breathtaking and beyond original. I wish more of my professors at school were as engaging. This was by far my best buy at Creative Live yet.

Angel Ricci
 

When the title says comprehensive, it means comprehensive! I loved every part of this course. It's inspirational, motivating, and insightful towards creating art work. Even if you are not necessarily considering a fine art specialty, the concepts discussed in this course are applicable to many areas! I find this super useful as a videographer and photographer and look to apply all of these exercises and concepts for my personal and business work moving forward. It is lengthy, but you will not regret a single minute. Brooke Shaden is an amazing artist and educator. I recommend keeping up with her work, presentations, and any future courses that may come in the future.

Student Work

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