Welcome!

The NikoniansAcademy is a photography training institution specialized in a small class environment -typically of 12 to 15 students- to provide personalized photography training in all topics related to modern photography in North America. Our workshops are led by the best instructors who teach on the most advanced topics. We aim to shorten the learning curve and help you to master your camera, your tools, your workflow and your vision. Toward that aim, we also offer field photography travel workshops and photo safaris.

Click on this link to learn more about us, our values, philosophy and faculty

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Below you can find the latest news. Scrolling further down this page you will find all the current classes offered which still have seats left, or you can use the menu at left to see what is available as of this moment by topic, city area or date


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Problems? Questions?
You may find answers to frequently asked questions here


Daily Schedule
All of our one-day classes start at 8:00 AM and end by 5:00 PM

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Featured Travel Workshops

By Michael Mariant:
- Big Sur - From the Coast to the canyons on April 15-18, 2010
- The Ultimate Travel Workshop on May 27-June 10, 2010

By Winston C. Hall:
- Garden of the Gods, Nikon D700/D3 & HDR Imaging on April 1-3, 2010
- Moab, UT - Arches, Dead Horse Point and Canyonlands National Park on May 18-21, 2010



2010 Schedule
We are half way with posting our schedule of workshops for 2010. We have a number of superb classes and photo adventures by Winston C. Hall and by Mike Hagen including camera workshops, flash workshops, software workshops and travel adventures. Here's just a quick sampling of what is already posted and is coming:

On the Master your Nikon Camera Series:
- Nikon D90 & D80
- Nikon D300 in Depth and Nikon D300 Advanced
- Nikon D700/D3

On the Master your Tools Series:
- Nikon i-TTL, CLS In Depth and Advanced
- Nikon Capture NX2
- Creating HDR Photographs - 2 Day Workshop

On the Master your Vision Series of Travel Workshops:
African Safaris, a Day on the Ranch with the immediately after Triple D Game Farm - California Special

We'll be posting more over the next few weeks. These always sell quickly, so don't hesitate to sign up!


Feedback
Students keep on emailing to let us know how pleased they were with our classes. We encourage you to go to the Nikonians Academy forum to see what people are saying about our workshops or to share your own experience

 
Winston C. Hall
Michael A. Mariant
David Tejada
Mike Hagen

Moab, UT

Join us for a photographic adventure in the Four Corners.

Moab attracts photography enthusiasts to the Four Corners Utah area. Located in southeastern Utah along the banks of the Colorado River between soaring red sandstone cliffs, Moab is the gateway to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Dead Horse Point State Park, the Colorado River and the beautiful La Sal Mountains. There are more National Parks, State Parks and other major attractions within a 200-mile radius of Moab than any other location in Utah. And Nikonians Academy is going for a series of workshops and field shooting to both Arches and Canyonlands National Parks....

Learn more about this workshop


 

Big Sur: From the Coast to the Canyons

Join us for a photo adventure along California's most rugged and beautiful coastline.

Workshop Dates: Thursday, April 15 - Sunday, April 18, 2010...

Learn more about this workshop


 

Master Nikon Capture NX2

Learn how to use Nikon's premier photo processing software to get the very most out of your images in this one-day workshop.

Learn how to use Nikon's premier photo processing software to get the very most out of your images in this one-day workshop. Capture is an impressive program, but it can be a bit daunting to most users. We'll use Capture and learn how to utilize it to its full capacity. We'll also learn how it should be integrated with Photoshop and where Capture fits in your digital workflow. Starting August 2008, we are fully converted to cover Nikon Capture NX2...

Learn more about this workshop


 

Master Nikon i-TTL Flash, CLS

Learn to use Nikon's innovative wireless flash system!

For anyone who owns a SB-600, SB-800, SB-900 flash and wants to understand how the i-TTL (intelligent Through The Lens) system works and what Nikon's Creative Lighting System (CLS) can do for you. We'll have lots and lots of flashes, and will set up many different types of shots using the i-TTL system (speedlights, cameras, gels and filters). You will learn flash techniques that will help you solve difficult lighting scenarios. We'll cover methods on how to creatively light situations that arise in studio photography, outdoor portraits, product photography, closeup and flower photography, web and product photography, travel photography, fill-flash photography and night photography...

Learn more about this workshop


 

African Photo Safari - November 2010

Join us for the adventure of a lifetime to photograph Africa's amazing wildlife and landscapes. 11/4/10 - 11/15/10.

We'll be photographing the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara, Tarangire and at private luxury tent camps throughout Northern Tanzania. All with private Land cruisers, professional wildlife guides, catered meals and excellent accommodations. Yes, it is a long ways off, but start planning now for the trip of a lifetime! We are limiting the size to 12 participants....

Learn more about this workshop


 

Death Valley Photography Workshop

Join us for an unbelievable trip to one of North America's most impressive locations.

Death Valley is regarded by some as desolate and empty. But the desert lovers know that the beauty of the park lies not on the paved road but in abundance away from the tourist spots. Death Vally might to some be an appropriate name for what they see; but there is so much more. Framed by the Armagosa and Paniment ranges, the valley harbors a delicate and fragile ecosystem that changes spectacularly in front of your eyes from day to day. Here, timing is everything. We will see breathtaking cliffs inside box canyons, remote ghost town dwellings, salt flats and bizarre formations, the infamous 'Sliding Rocks' of The Racetrack, and towering sand dunes that are constantly evolving, never photographed the same twice....

Learn more about this workshop


 

Eastern Sierra & The Owens Valley

Come with us to one of the hidden photographer's gems in California

California's Eastern Sierra, a jagged and prominent escarpment rising over 10,000 feet above the Owens Valley, is one of the hidden photographer's gems in California

Many prominent landscape photographers, including the late Galen Rowell, have called Bishop and the Eastern Sierra home and their base for their photographic expeditions into the stunning surroundings

No other region in the country offers the dramatic granite peaks, glacier-carved valleys, dense foliage and roaring mountain streams. And the Fall Season is the time of year prized by all Sierra photographers, as the colors of the Eastern Sierra explode into a visual contrast against the stark gray of the granite, bleached white of the mountain glaciers and the deep blue sky

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Triple D Game Farm - California Special

Photograph amazing wildlife models in California with a side trip to Yosemite National Park.

This is a special photo shoot that we've arranged with the Triple D Game Farm. We'll be photographing Triple D's wildlife models just outside of Mariposa, California which is on the doorstep to Yosemite National Park....

Learn more about this workshop


 

Day on the Ranch

Photograph a working dude ranch in the Sierra Foothills

Our day will start with the first available light with a running herd of horses and colorful wranglers along a crystal clear lake providing opportunities for beautiful reflections. Next, participants will photograph the horse herd accompanied by western dressed wrangler running through beautiful meadows....

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Master Nikon D700 & D3/D3s/D3x In Depth

Join us as we go in depth to unlock the potential of the amazing Nikon D700 and D3 cameras!

The Nikon D700 and D3 cameras are the top professional workhorses in the Nikon digital SLR family. This course is aimed at improving your skills with Nikon's amazing new digital cameras. You will learn directly from one of our Nikonian Professional photographers in an intensive hands-on environment....

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The Ultimate Travel Workshop: 14 days, 9 countries

May 27 - June 10, 2010

Are you interested in travel photography — in capturing the flavor of a culture and its people? Are you desiring to travel to exotic ports and bring back photos showing the beauty and splendor of the location? Are you unsure how to go about getting these photos, all the while seeking the methods, tips and techniques that will catapult you to the next level in your photography skill set? Does the thought of walking up to a stranger in a foreign land, aspiring to take their picture, strike fear in you?

Then this workshop is just for you!

In a unique collaboration with the global study-abroad program Semester at Sea and led by Nikonians Academy instructor Michael A. Mariant, we are proud to bring the "Ultimate Travel Workshop" to you.

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Learn more about this workshop


 

Master your Nikon D300/D300s - Advanced

Join us as we go into the advanced functions to further unlock the potential of this superb camera.

By popular demand, we've added an Advanced D300/D300s workshop to our schedule. There is so much more to the D300/D300s than we can cover in our In Depth Day 1 workshop, so we felt the need to add this Day 2....

Learn more about this workshop


 

Garden of the Gods, Nikon D700/D3 & HDR Imaging

Learn your D700/D3 in the classroom, in the field and learn HDR photography!

This three day workshop will cover an amazing breadth of knowledge in one of America's most impressive locations....

Learn more about this workshop


 

Master your Nikon D300/D300s - In Depth

Join us as we go in depth to unlock the potential of the amazing Nikon D300/D300s Camera

Learn more than you thought possible in this one-day workshop that will unveil the potential of Nikon's incredible D300/D300s Digital SLR. We'll help you navigate through this technological wonder so you are comfortable with its operation and setup....

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Slot Canyons and Page, AZ - Sept. 14 - 17, 2010

Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend and Glen Canyon. It'll be an amazing week of adventure.

September 14, 2010...

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Professional Lighting on Location with Nikon CLS

Learn the secrets of professional location lighting with David Tejada.

During this two-day workshop you will learn professional techniques on how to use your shoe mounted strobes off camera....

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Master your Nikon D3000 & D5000

For Nikon D3000 and D5000 owners who want to move beyond Auto mode and learn their cameras in depth

We really go into a lot of detail with these impressive cameras. We start the day with an indoors tutorial and Power Point Presentation. We cover the camera's main dial operations, menu controls and custom function screens....

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Creating HDR Photographs - 2 Day Workshop

Spend two days learning HDR photography on location and in the digital darkroom.

What's the next big thing in digital photography? High Dynamic Range photography is one of the hottest techniques in the digital photography realm....

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Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta - October 4 to 8, 2010

Join us for spectacular Hot Air Balloon photography at one of the USA's most famous events.

Originally conceived as a competition with the balloonists performing challenges and being rated on their success, the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta began in 1972, with 13 intrepid balloonists. Today the emphasis is on fun and good times. The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is the largest hot air balloon rally in the world with as many as 700 balloons participating in the 10-day festival....

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Master HDR Photography

Master the secrets of High Dynamic Range Photography and learn new techniques for creating amazing HDR images.

For years, photographers struggled with how to go about capturing the full range of light in a scene when film only could record a fraction of what our eyes saw. Ansel Adams took the well-known steps of Zone System in compressing or expanding the tones in a scene to match that of the final print. But now with digital, we can do the color equivalent of the Zone System by using High Dynamic Range Photography in capturing dramatic and not-so dramatic scenes that are then rendered into realistic and at times surreal visions of colorful imagery....

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Master your Nikon D90 and D80

For Nikon D90 and D80 owners who want to move beyond Auto mode and learn their cameras in depth.

We really go into a lot of detail with these impressive cameras. We start the day with an indoors tutorial and Power Point Presentation. We cover the camera's main dial operations, menu controls and custom function screens....

Learn more about this workshop


 

Master Nikon i-TTL Flash - Advanced Workshop

Learn advanced wireless flash techniques in this full-day, hands-on workshop.

You already know how to make Nikon's wireless flashes operate together, but how about applying some new techniques to your skill set? This day-long event is chock full of great ideas and real world applications....

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Nikon iTTL and Creative Lighting System Weekend

Imagine two full days of flash photography, lighting setups and hands on shooting experiences. This workshop is a great opportunity to learn new flash techniques, refresh your skill set and try new lighting setups. Learn how to balance flash and ambient light. Controlling exposure in Manual Exposure Mode. Using gels to balance the white balance. How to properly use the non-TTL flash modes. Models will be available to photograph on the second day. Experiment and have some fun!

Join us in this two day flash workshop as we work to fully understand all the Nikon Creative Lighting System has to offer....

Learn more about this workshop