Shoot the Centerfold – the best photographic workshop there is. Period.
Why on earth did they not think of that before? I mean, you have people like Arny Freytag, who is an absolute Playboy photography legend. You have Jarmo Pohjaniemi, who, apart from amazing photo skills also has an amazing nose for business. Now just add some great guest speakers, such as Ric Moore, Gary Cole and Jeff Cohen, and season it all with a couple of amazing ex-centerfolds and gorgeous models - what you get is a perfect recipe for three power-packed January days in Miami Beach. It is called »Shoot The Centerfold« and it just celebrated its' first birthday.
The Idea came from Jarmo Pohjaniemi. He is an ex-model from Finland and a great Playboy photographer, shooting girls for Playboy, Cyber Club and more, but also doing a lot of fashion and commercial stuff all over the world. One day Jarmo woke up in his supercool Miami villa and said, hey, knowledge is power, let's finally share the things we know and do for Playboy with the entire photography world. That day Shoot the Centerfold was born.
The workshop (I'll call it STC) is an amazing beast. You get to participate in every man's ultimate dream – a one-on-one with Playboy photographers. You get to find out all the little lighting secrets from the masters, hear stories about great shoots, production caveats, tricks of the trade and also have your portfolios reviewed in detail. The tipping of the cake is the actual chance to shoot those amazing models yourself, all lit with beautifully detailed lights we see in Playboy magazine and posed by Arny, who has been working as a Playboy photographer for 35 years, Jarmo and Ric.
The best thing about STC is that it is not there to show off. Everyone feels like a big family for those 3 action-packed days of seminars and shootings. STC's sole purpose is for you to benefit from all the knowledge and 80 years of common experience and to get all the information necessary to get you to that next level agencies and editors are constantly demanding from top photographers. STC's approach is unique – the philosophy is to make everything perfect IN CAMERA and only use a little Photoshop to enhance already great pictures. Here, as Jarmo puts it, you will learn not how to take a photograph, but how to make it. And if you get stuck there is always backup – just buy a copy of lighting diagrams and posing guides made exclusively for STC by Arny, Jarmo and Ric.
I am extremely proud to be invited to the STC seminar in Miami as a guest speaker and to be a part of this ever-growing family. Can't wait to to see STC appearing in Europe any time soon.
(All photos of me (C) Morgan Miller 2012)
