Week 1: Terminology, Camera Settings, Synchronization, In-Camera Flash & Various Flash Modifiers
Week 2: On/ Off-Camera Flash Units, On/ Off Camera Diffusers, Ring Flash Units, Flash Control Units, Balancing Mixed Light
Week 3: On & Off-camera Flash Combo’s, Master /Slave Operations, Multiple Off-Camera flash Units, Group Operations
Week 4: Putting it all together, Indoor Shooting, Outdoor Shooting


This program is for photographers who want to create photographs with artistic lighting without buying or carrying lots of lighting equipment. Learn how to control the flash unit in your camera and accessory flash units available for your camera. Investigate and practice the operation and configuration of various flash units to achieve desired lighting in various photographic conditions.

This class meets four separate times over the course of one month (once a week: every Thursday night from 6:30-9:30pm). This is not studio photography, instead it is dedicated to using on camera flash to enhance lighting conditions, in any situation, to creatively improve your photography and become a more versatile photographer in any lighting situation. Below, you will see a list of topics we cover, each week. The cost is $120 per person and the class is held in the same building as Advance Camera, on the upper half, but on the opposite side of the building.

May: Wednesday night’s 7:00-9:30pm
Intro to HDR - May 12th, The Art of Tone Mapping-May 26th

June: Tuesday night’s 7:00-9:30pm
Intro to HDR -J une 8th, The Art of Tone Mapping-June 15th

I. Intro to HDR - This two hour course is designed to: educate you on what HDR is, how to use your camera to take HDR images and how to download a free trial version of Photomatix. Your camera is required for this class because John will be teaching us how to determine your cameras specific dynamic range, which will help you maximize image tonal range. $50

II. The Art of Tone Mapping - This two hour course is based on the program Photomatix, where John will be covering all the adjustment tools Photomatix offers. These tools consist of General Adjustments (strength, color saturation, light smoothing and luminosity) Tone Adjustment (white & black point gamma), Color Adjustments (color temp and saturation in both high/low light) and Micro Adjustments (Contrast and smoothening). How all these fine adjustments play together, becomes subjective to the artist. $50
*Photomatix offers a free 30-day trial, which can be purchased at 20% off after attending this class.

The cost for each class is $50 (handout included)

John Griffiths, an artist and our instructor is very passionate about photography. Read John’s Artist Statement below.

“My Primary focus as a photographer is to combine strong compositional elements together with synergy that direct and reflected light creates. This synergy results in an image that conveys the depth, form and feeling that existed in the original scene. I strive to create images that make a strong initial impression and possess lasting appeal through details that become apparent over time.

The Limitation of Photography is its greatest strength, the credibility that comes from reality. The advent of digital manipulation is leading to some “photographs” that are no longer photographs but creations more akin to graphic art that should be called photo-illustrations. My photographs reflect what I saw and felt at the moment of exposure.”

The newest studio lighting class Advance Camera offers is called “Posing People in Studio.” This class was designed by Dave Hutt to show portrait photographers how to create a variety of images through various poses and lighting ratios. Dave will demonstrate how to master these techniques by making minor adjustments that create an entirely different image. The class includes a handout that Dave has provided with pictures of different poses and how they are created. After Dave demonstrates each pose, you will have the opportunity to take pictures with your camera to go along with the handout. Because this is a hands on class, make sure to bring your camera!

*Studio Lighting 101 is a prerequisite for this class.

Studio Lighting 101: May 25th $99.99
Location: Bliss Studio- located on 7693 SW Cirrus Blvd #32 Beaverton, OR 97008
To register for this class, call (503.292.6996 x.21) or stop by the store.

Beginners & Pros: This is a three hour course designed to help all types of digital photographers understand light and how to control it. Maybe you’re a working professional whom wants a different perspective on external lighting, or you’re a beginner just getting into photography that is interested in learning about various lighting techniques that may help you take better pictures. In this class Dave shows us various forms of lighting equipment and light modifiers (such as soft boxes, umbrellas, beauty dishes and reflectors) and how they are used.

The class is held in a large studio, where we have a young attractive model pose, while Dave explains various ways to bend and modify light. He starts off by showing us various forms of diffused light, whether it be through a softbox, umbrella, snoot or colored gel. He talks about spacing, how far away and where the lights should be positioned, how to create different affects to enhance ones image when photographing a wide variety of people.

He also talks about camera settings, lighting ratio’s and his thoughts on how lighting should be done. He shows us how to set the lights with a light meter and as the setting changes, or he adds more lights to the mix, he tells us what ratio’s he is changing and why.

The thing I like most about this class is, Dave teaches from a ‘minimalist” standpoint, with one light, then he adds a second, a third and then a forth. Since Dave does all of shooting tethered to a monitor, we were able to see the differences each light makes. And by the time you get to the forth light, I was really able to identify what a “timeless” portrait really is. After he goes through his handout (everyone gets to take one home), he lets us on an individual basis plug into his lights and take pictures. That in itself is an entire experience… what you may ask? When your in charge of directing whom your photographing, it can be intimidating if your unsure of what to do or how the light should look. Believe it or not, the model (Amanda) actually helped me communicate with her so that I could position her body and head the way I wanted. It was a great experience and I would highly recommend this class to anyone, if you have questions, please email me at jordan@advancecamera.com

“The Studio”
Sophisticated portrait techniques are not difficult to master and studio lighting and equipment can be affordable. Due to Dave’s easy going personality and years of experience, he is able to help photographers of all levels understand light and how to direct or diffuse it. He will also discuss equipment that will help you take better pictures. You will learn how to:position lights in the right place,how to pose people correctly, how various forms of lighting equipment are used.

About Our Instructor

Dave Hutt is a professional photographer with nearly 30 years of experience in studio and commercial photography. The past 6 years he has been mainly involved in the sales and training of various digital cameras and lighting systems for law enforcement, commercial photographers, and dental professionals. www.davehuttphotography.com

Topics of Discussion:

Main light
Direct Light “Specular”
Indirect Light “Diffuse”
Reflector light
Fill light.
Background Light
Hair Light
Rembrandt Light
Lighting Ratios
Custom White Balance
How to use a flash meter
Camera settings: i.e. Shutter Speed 1/125 Aperture f/8 ISO 200
Various forms of lighting equipment and when and how they are used

In order to sign-up for this class, you must stop by or call the West Slope Library. The classroom can accommodate up to 25 people, but tends to fill up fast, so call and get on the list today!

You can find the West Slope Community Library on Facebook or on the world wide web.

1) Re-set the camera- Turn off the camera and take out the memory card and battery. Let the camera sit for 10 minutes and then reinstall your accessories. This will cause the camera’s “brain” to reset itself and will sometimes fix the error. If this doesn’t fix it then try the next option.

2) Remove the lens from the camera and use a BRAND NEW pencil eraser to gently rub the gold contacts on the back of the lens. It’s best to do this with the lens mount facing down (opposite of the lens picture below), which will prohibit debris entering through the rear mount. Clean contacts will insure proper communication between the camera and the lens. Dirty contacts can result in interference with the auto focus and or metering systems. Fingers crossed, this does the trick!

Unfortunately, these procedures will not fix the error 99 in every case. It’s a good idea to give them a try before taking your camera or lens in for repair since its not a difficult or time consuming process. If these procedures dont fix your error 99, head over to our repair department and let one of our qualified technicians evaluate your camera.

For digital SLR users, dust on the cameras sensor is a fact of life. The web is filled with tips on how to minimize the build up, and some of them will actually help. We suggest making sure the back of your lenses and body caps are clean, and to vacuum out your camera bag every so often to minimize the amount of dust in your cameras storage environment. The truth of the matter is that no matter how careful you are, eventually you will see some spots on your photos.

Dust will show up as small gray or black spots in your photos, like in the example above. More often than not, the spots will show up the most in portions of your image which contain sky or solid white areas. Many people think this is a problem with their lens, but more times than not this is not the case. However, lenses can collect small amounts of dust which are visible to the eye, but due to the distance between the rear element and the camera sensor the dust does not show up in the image.

There is an easy way to check for dust on your sensor, and chances are when you look for it, you’ll find it! All you have to do is put the camera in “aperture priority” mode, and stop it down to F22 or so. Set the lens to manual focus and adjust the focus to infinity. Now your ready to take a picture. Try to shoot something with plenty of light which is a solid color like a wall or the sky (if possible, keep the image free of objects). Open the image in your image editing software (Adobe Photoshop) and perform an auto levels adjustment. At this point, if there’s dust, you’ll see it. Whichever cleaning method you choose, use this procedure to check your work after each attempt at cleaning your sensor to monitor progress.

I’ve been cleaning my own camera sensors for a while now. As the proud owner of a Canon 5D and 30D, I’ve noticed quite a difference in the amount of time spent on cleaning their respective sensors. The full size sensor on the 5D takes me much longer to accurately clean than the smaller sensor of the 30D. The larger sensor has much more surface area, less area around the periphery of the sensor, and is much higher resolution. All of these factors play a role in how much dust will show up in the photos, and ultimately how tough the job is.

We currently offer a variety of products which don’t involve touching the sensor for sale in our store. The Green Clean uses an attachment with a small hose to convert a can of air into a vacuum to suck out dust particles in the sensor area. (Never use a can of air to blow air directly on your sensor!) Delkin offers a product called the Sensor Scope which is a loupe-like device with LED lights on it to help you spot dust particles on your sensor before cleaning. This reduces the need for the test shots described above. Also included in the box is a mini-vacuum cleaner which is powered from the USB port on your computer. This is a non-intrusive way to rid your sensor of small to medium amounts of dust. Our skilled technicians used non-abrasive wipes and an instant dry cleaning fluid to swab the sensor. This method involves physical contact with the camera’s sensor and it is not recommended that you attempt it without proper training. It does, however, seem to be the most effective method of sensor cleaning out there.

If you have a dirty DSLR censor and want it cleaned by professionals feel free to bring it by the store or ship it in. We can usually get the cleaning done within 1 business day. Our sensor cleaning service includes a full external clean, external lens cleaning, firmware update (if available), and sensor cleaning with before/after test shots. Standard sensor cleaning is $40, for full frame cameras the fee is $80.

Check out the blog when you get a chance… www.stumptownblogger.com

Here is a direct link to the service award winners. http://stumptownblogger.typepad.com/stumptownblogger/2009/10/5-star-service-award-winnersprint-this-list.html

5 STAR SERVICE AWARD WINNERS….(PRINT THIS LIST)

Like you, I really appreciate great service and a job well done. These merchants exceeded my expectations.

Auto Works- Auto body repair at 7516 SW Macadam-503-246-2200

All Oregon Landscape Co-(from really big to small, they do it all-call 503-646-6426. Talk to Tony Prunty.

Advance Camera Repair- 8124 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Highway. 503-292-7298. Terrific people if you have a camera on the lam!

Furniture Clinic Of Oregon- 503-598-3453 (nick in the furniture, problem with a select comfort bed? They do it all and come to your home.

Silvian Nita- Master Tailor. Located in the old Morgans Alley on Broadway, Silvian is your guy for alternations & professional tailoring. 503-223-1400.

The Presenters
You can check out the work of many of the speakers on their websites:

Sean Bagshaw – www.outdoorexposurephoto.com

Jon Canfield – www.joncanfield.com

Michael Durham – www.durmphoto.com

Michael Henley – www.contimages.com

Ron Kaplan – www.ronkaplanphotography.com

Lewis Kemper – www.lewiskemper.com

Don Lyon – www.cuephoto.com

George Ostertag – www.ostertagphoto.com

Terry Tallis – www.terrytallis.com

On April 4th, over 200 members from both Oregon and Washington congregate at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham for the biannual spring meeting. Tamron, ProPhoto, Advance Camera and Trek-Tech helped support this event while Don Gale, a successful commercial and industrial photographer taught various techniques that have earned him national recognition. If you care to see Don’s work, check out his website www.photographybydon.com. In addition, there is a photo contest that consists of up to 4 of your favorite images consisting of scenic’s, wildlife, and plan life. Members were allowed to bring up to two prints, 48’’ in size to the event to be judged by If you are interested in becoming a member of this group, or want to know more about the organization, check out their site. www.nppnw.org

Prior to the even, registered members were reminded to bring there cameras in for cleaning. Members started arriving promptly at 9am to drop off there camera with Dave for cleaning, and by the end of the day all of the cameras had been cleaned, tested and if needed the firmware was updated. This year, Dave cleaned almost 50 DSLR’s and helped many with various technical questions. With that said, when problems or questions arise, feel free and stop by Advance Camera for help. Everyone here wants to help.

Below are pictures taken at the NPPNW biannual meeting. The main photo shows the Advance Camera booth with owner Dave Sleeth in front. You’ll also see him smiling, busy at work cleaning cameras and checking them out. The bottom right picture is of the Tamron booth, shared with ProPhoto. Tamron had several knowledgeable reps showing off their latest high-end lenses.