Photo courses help people in business

By Ken Castle, Special Advertising Sections Writer

More than a few women are chagrined when Amy Michelson eyes them with interest, removes a small digital camera from her purse and says, “I love that dress. May I take a picture of it?”

For Michelson, a wedding gown designer based in Burbank, inspiration can strike anywhere, and she never goes to a party or other social event without her “research tool.” Constantly on the prowl for fashion ideas, Michelson is unabashedly camera-happy.

“I might see an interesting sleeve detail or a ribbon or a bow that could be incorporated into a new design,” she said. “Usually people don’t mind if I take their picture.”

At her studio, she’ll assemble a few weeks’ worth of these paparazzi-style snapshots, and then begins sketching. From this flurry of creativity comes a contemporary, sophisticated design with influences of Hollywood’s golden era — the Greta Garbo and Jean Harlow days — that represent Michelson’s signature look. Not surprisingly, she has won fashion awards and has attracted such celebrity clients as Halle Berry, Michelle Pfeiffer, Salma Hayek and Geena Davis.

“We’ve built our business using digital images,” she said. “When we go to the couture bridal shows in New York, I shoot pictures of models in our gowns, create a PDF (Portable Document Format) file of our new styles, and then e-mail it to buyers who aren’t able to come. We get sales that we would otherwise never be able to make.”

Michelson also uses the photos for her online catalog, for ads in bridal magazines and for public relations efforts aimed at fashion editors. She said she made the switch to digital seven years ago, when she began her bridal collection.

The tools of her trade are a pair of fixed-lens digital cameras, a Canon PowerShot 530 and an Olympus C-5050, which have resolutions ranging from 3.2 to 5 megapixels — more than adequate for 8-by-10-inch prints.

As traditional film begins to fade from the world of photography at an accelerated pace, people are discovering that digital is an easier and more economical substitute and that knowing your way around a digital camera can help you get ahead in your chosen profession. Real estate agents, insurance adjustors, market researchers, graphics designers, retail merchandisers, product managers, dentists, newsletter writers and, yes, most professional photographers, have made the transition.

Roman Salicki, a noted Los Angeles studio lensman who specializes in celebrity and fashion photography, teaches courses in beginning digital photography at the Westside Extension of West Los Angeles College. His typical student arrives with a new digital camera, a thick and sometimes confusing instruction manual, and a lot of questions about how to capture and store an image. Salicki divides his instruction into two sections: mastering the camera and manipulating the digital files.

“Everything is hands-on, with practical applications instead of theory and technicalities,” he said.

Salicki, who has photographed such stars as Nicolette Sheridan (“Desperate Housewives”), Michael Caine, Pierce Brosnan and just about every “Baywatch” babe on the long-running TV series, said digital has completely streamlined his business.

“The turnaround time is amazing,” he said. “Clients can come in for a six-hour shoot, enjoy a glass of wine while I do some touch-up and burn the images on a CD, and then walk out with a complete portfolio.”

Introductory digital photo courses are popular, Salicki said, because even small cameras can have menus, settings and other adjustments that are more complex than analog film cameras.

“I advise students to read the manual thoroughly before they pick up the camera,” he said. “If you pull it out of the box and start trying to take pictures right away, you will easily get frustrated.”

No camera? No worries. Salicki also covers how to shop for and buy a digital camera. For details on his courses, contact Salicki at romansalicki@sbcglobal.net.

Rick Sammon, a noted nature photographer who has authored 25 books and gives full-day seminars each year for Los Angeles-based PC Photo and Outdoor Photographer magazines, said that the demands of each profession determine what type of digital camera is needed.

“For example, those in law enforcement and traffic agencies must be able to use cameras that can shoot what is known as an unprocessed RAW file,” he said. “That’s the only type of digital image that is admissible as evidence in a court of law because it cannot be altered, unlike the more popular JPEG files.”

Among his own works, “Rick Sammon’s Complete Guide to Digital Photography,” with its profuse illustrations and simple-to-understand text, is a good place for new camera owners to start. In fact, the book is frequently used as a textbook in digital photo courses. Information on Sammon’s workshops (one of his venues this year was a Mediterranean cruise ship) can be found at www.ricksammon.com.

Many Southland universities, community colleges and adult education schools offer courses that can range from one day or a weekend to two hours a week over several weeks. Among them: Los Angeles City College, Pasadena City College, West Los Angeles College, UCLA and USC. Also, Brooks Institute of Photography, with its main campus in Santa Barbara and a filmmaking facility in Ventura, offers year-round weekend and summer weeklong digital photography workshops (http://workshops.brooks.edu).

Ken Castle is a freelance writer based in Burlingame.

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