THE PORTRAIT SUMMIT
Inspiration and Technique for the Portraits You Want to Create
This full-day summit is designed to help you create portraits that feel intentional, expressive, and uniquely yours. You’ll learn how to guide authentic expression, develop compelling concepts, shape mood through lighting, and use styling to strengthen the story. By the end of the day, you’ll have fresh ideas, stronger technique, and the confidence to elevate your portrait work.
LEARN FROM THE MASTERS
Spend the day with Kelly Brown, Jerry Ghionis, AB+DM, Lara Jade, Julia Trotti, and Caroline Tran, and learn from artists who shape the standard of modern portrait photography. Their insight and creative depth will encourage you to explore your voice, trust your vision, and create portraits that feel more connected, more honest, and unmistakably your own.
Kelly Brown
AB+DM
Jerry Ghionis
Caroline Tran
Lara Jade
Julia Trotti
In-Camera Creativity: From Concept to Capture
Kelly Brown
Step behind the scenes with Kelly Brown as she shares how meaningful ideas become beautifully crafted portraits. She takes you from the first spark of inspiration to the final in-camera image, blending story, set design, and technical skill in a way that feels natural and expressive. You will learn how she develops concepts, builds sets, and uses lighting, composition, and exposure to create portraits with depth and impact.
Broad Contrast: Shaping Light for Modern Portraiture
AB+DM (Ahmad Barber and Donté Maurice)
In this hands-on session, AB+DM will reveal how to use broad lighting to create portraits that feel both polished and authentic, balancing softness, contrast, and dimension for modern editorial and commercial-style work. Whether you’re shooting for brands, magazines, or personal projects, you’ll learn how broad lighting can elevate your creative vision and expand your potential.
Attendees will learn:
- How to position your subject and light to flatter the “broad” side of the face while maintaining depth and texture
- Techniques to control contrast and shadow for high-end, editorial-style portraits
- Small lighting adjustments that shift mood from lifestyle to fashion-forward
The Fashion Eye: Mastering Editorial Vision in Portraiture
Lara Jade
What separates a great portrait from a stunning editorial image? The answer lies in developing The Fashion Eye. Drawing on her years of experience photographing high fashion for global brands and magazines, Lara Jade shares the creative and technical foundations that will transform the way you approach portrait photography. In this dynamic lecture and live demo, Lara reveals how to:
- Craft portraits that captivate through light, composition, and styling
- Direct subjects to achieve confident, authentic editorial poses
- Apply high-fashion lighting and production techniques to everyday sessions
- Choose gear and setups that deliver a polished, high-end aesthetic
- Elevate your portfolio, redefine your creative vision, and learn to see every subject through the refined lens of fashion.
Effortless Posing for Powerful Portraits
Jerry Ghionis
Experience Jerry Ghionis at his most creative as he reveals how to craft portraits that feel effortless, intentional, and uniquely expressive. Learn how to direct anyone with confidence, build genuine connection, and design poses that flatter and empower. Jerry’s blend of artistry and real-world technique will refresh your creative toolkit and give you new ideas for every session. You will walk away inspired, confident, and ready to create portraits your clients will treasure.
Behind the Portrait: Planning, Shooting & Editing
Julia Trotti
In this live workshop, portrait photographer and YouTube creator Julia Trotti will take you behind the scenes of a complete portrait shoot from concept planning and model direction to shooting and post-production.
Watch as Julia works with a fully styled setup, sharing her creative process in real time. You’ll learn how she approaches lens choice, posing and directing to create a cohesive visual story. Then, follow the workflow through to editing as Julia demonstrates her signature colour grading and retouching techniques to bring the final image to life.
This session is perfect for photographers looking to level up their portrait work by refining both the shooting and editing sides of their process.
What you will learn:
- How to plan and style a portrait shoot with intention
- Lens and lighting choices that shape the final image
- Posing and directing techniques
- A live look at Julia’s post-production workflow
- How to create a consistent look from concept to final edit
The Art of the Pivot: How to Build a Portrait Brand That Evolves With You
Caroline Tran
Your life changes, your business should too. In this empowering course, photographer Caroline Tran shares how she’s turned every personal and global shift into new opportunities for growth. From becoming a mom to navigating a pandemic, she’s learned to pivot with purpose, not panic. You’ll learn how to anticipate change, reinvent your offerings, and create a sustainable business model that grows with you. Caroline will pull back the curtain on her marketing playbook — how she keeps clients coming back year after year, fills her calendar through every season, and continues to evolve her brand while staying true to her artistry.
Register for The Portrait Summit before it sells out!
$199 for a full day of hands on learning with the leaders in portrait photography