I got back from Tampa a few days ago- I was presenting a seminar at the DWF Convention entitled “Diamond in the Rough”- and what an incredible experience it was! I met so many wonderful people from all over the world! My seminar was well-attended — there were probably around 180 people in attendance! I have received so many nice emails thanking me and asking me for more information, so I wanted to blog about the experience! For those of you that missed the seminar on taking photographs in less than stellar locations, I will be giving another one at Mystic on January 28th.

I will be also offering a two day workshop called “Get Real with Michelle Turner”. Dates are yet to be determined, but I will be offering the workshop in South Carolina, Boston, Tampa, and Maine. The cost is $500 for both days, $450 if you book before March. If you are interested in hosting a seminar or receiving more information, please contact us at info@michelleturnerphotography.com or michelle@michelleturner.com.

Back to the DWF Seminar. Essentially I talked about making pretty images anywhere in any kind of light. We talked about making images like the following and the process of enhancing them:

Shot in an abandoned lot:

Shot across from the elevator in a parking garage with really bad light:

Shot down on some stairs:

Against a crumbling cement wall:

Junkyard:

It also encompassed a very brief shoot. My beautiful “bride” and “groom” roused themselves from bed at an early hour to go to some of the uglier locations at the hotel in some of the ugliest light possible. I really wanted to get raunchy and go to the hotel’s parking garage, but it was not to be since all of the spectators wouldn’t have fit! So, with about 20 minutes to shoot, we stayed within a few steps of the convention. Here are a few pics:

And then here are a few of my shooting at the seminar, courtesy of Sam dePoy, a fellow photographer from Maine.

A special thanks to my cheering squad, my friends Alicia Williams, Virgil Bunau, Scott Henderson, and Lauren Griffin.