Ever wonder how to get your camera to work just right, or where to find that creative motivation? Here, you'll learn from talented and successful working professionals, so you can make stunning photographs just like our coaches do for their clients. Whether you're just starting out or looking to fine-tune your skills, we have a course for you.
We offer classes for everyone, from beginners with phone cameras to those with advanced skills and high-end cameras. If you have questions about whether a specific course is right for you, please contact us.
Head Coaches
Aaron Clamage
Story-telling is my passion. Whether capturing an intimate portrait, shooting an advertising campaign, or documenting a corporate event, there is always a scene to be painted and a story to be told. Growing up as the son of a filmmaker has informed the way I approach photography. In the highly controlled confines of a studio or tucked away in a remote location, I always have same approach. Assemble and craft the pieces, but let the subject do the talking.
Born and raised in Washington, DC, I go anywhere for an interesting photoshoot. Some of my clients include NBC, The Kennedy Center Honors, Scholastic Magazine, PBS, Linkedin, The Sierra Club, L’Oreal and The National Academy of Sciences. When I’m not creating content for magazines or businesses, I can be found photographing my favorite subjects — my beautiful wife and children. Since the day I first picked up a camera when I was eight years old, I've never lost my love for making pictures.
Mark Finkenstaedt
My first proper job after photo college was as a cruise ship photographer. It wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for my viewfinder, but it was relevant experience to pressure, speed and super-high volume. After that, I returned to London and spent two years in a West End corporate and advertising studio, but soon fell hard for news and action.
Washington DC presented entirely new opportunities. So, I made it my home-- 12 years as one of the main “stringers” for the Washington Post. Soon I cut my teeth on everything else. It was a terrific time. Celebrity, food, interiors, breaking news, editorial, sport, fashion and of course, politics. Just 35 short years later, I still love the whir of the camera and the intimacy with the subject. And now, the immediacy of digital. How can you not love photography and all it’s complexities? It’s still magic.
Michael Stewart
I fell in love with photography at age 12, and after 40 years of intense commercial experience, I still have a burning passion for it. I have always enjoyed sharing my passion for photography with like-minded students. I teach the art, science, technology and -- equally importantly -- the fun of photography.
Not long ago, photography experienced a massive change, it transitioned from film and chemistry to digital sensors and software. Creating passable pictures is now within easy reach of all with a modern smart phone. However, to expand the quality of your photographs and create high quality works of art, it is essential to know how cameras work. It’s also essential that you learn to use a good camera and lens to support your creative vision.
Since the ability to make good photographs is both technical and artistic, it is important for the photography coaches to both educate and inspire their students. I do my very best to accomplish both technical and creative learning in my fast-paced and fun classes. I hope you will join me in my online classes……and consider me as both an effective photography coach and a good friend.
Audrey Lew
I’ve been working in the photo industry for 20 years, first as a photo-assistant and then a photographer. I’ve worked on 100s and 100s of commercial shoots from portraits in magazines to architectural shoots to corporate portraits and events.
Even when I’m not working, one of my favorite things to do is pick up my camera and take pictures. It’s my main creative outlet, and it’s been a great source of joy for me since I got my first camera as a kid.
Over the years, it hasn’t been uncommon for me to give tips and tutorials to friends and family on how to improve their picture taking skills. Enjoying this process, I jumped at the chance to be a part of the Photo Coaches.
My goal is to share the knowledge that I have gained, which will prove practical and helpful in improving your picture taking, while hopefully imparting the joy, fun, and creativity of photography.
Adam Auel
I started photography with the seventies equivalent of the brownie box camera, a Kodak Instamatic found at a yard sale for two dollars. This was an amazing sum of money for an eight year old, whose primary source of income was from change found in the sofa and the occasional lucky penny on the street.
Those early pictures were very typical of any other eight year old: my dog, a scary looking tree, a blurry picture of my mom, but I was enthralled by capturing those fleeting moments in life. The story telling, the memories looking through the images evoked and the ability to communicate through the art of photography all became a part of me.
For over thirty years, I have been producing imagery for advertising, corporate and editorial clients. I enjoy the challenge of creating images that communicate ideas and express emotions. Images that tell my client's story.
Being able to share all I have learned with students has become a new passion. Let’s work together so that you too can find a way to approach your photography that is creative, organized and most of all fun.
Sometimes I wish I still shot with that wonderful Instamatic, but using modern tools, even your phone and some software, photography has never been more accessible.
Chris Spielmann
I took my first picture with my grandmother’s Kodak Deluxe Twin Lens Reflex camera. Upon graduating from high school I bought my first serious camera and after college I used that camera to launch my career. More advanced bodies came along, but as photographing architecture became more of my work I gravitated to larger formats. And then the photographic world became digital and I moved along with it.
I’m always looking forward to the next photo that I’ll be taking. What will the challenges be? What will I have to bring in terms of experience, composition, lighting, and post-production to produce in the final photo what I see in my mind? Each new assignment is exciting to me.
I’m also passionate about teaching others about the craft of photography. From being an adjunct professor at Boston University’s Center for Digital Imaging Arts to holding numerous PPA Photography Workshops to being an invited speaker for a number of camera groups, I always enjoy passing along to other photographers the knowledge and experience I’ve gained to help them create their own images.
