Teaching

I am available for post-processing and landscape photography instruction. This can be individual lessons, image reviews, coaching sessions, or more formal talks and classes for a group audience. We can meet either in person (greater San Diego area) or online with video conferencing software. I tailor my teaching to your specific needs so please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions and would like to discuss this further.

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Why Learn with Stephen?

I have been involved with teaching for my entire adult life and I'm thrilled with the opportunity to share my photographic knowledge and expertise. It's extremely satisfying and inspiring to see your students progress and start producing amazing work. I can look back and say that I helped them on their journey.

I'm patient and easy-going. I think it's important to use a mix of teaching methods, although I tend to prefer hands-on learning and have students actually try the technique I'm demonstrating. It's one thing to see how a method works on a well-groomed example, it's another to try it yourself for the first time and run into all kind of issues.

Finally, I'm always learning myself and testing out new approaches and methods. In photography there's almost always multiple ways to achieve a goal. I experiment with each method and test them to understand the pros and cons. Personally, I tend to be pragmatic and switch my approach based on what makes sense for the given situation. There's no such thing as there being just one right way to do something.

What Students Are Saying

"Coaching with Stephen was an outstanding experience, and his expertise really helped push my photography skills to higher levels. Not only was his technical expertise amazing, but his critique was super constructive and getting compliments from a pro really helped motivate further photo shoots. He was a very accommodating person to work with given my full time job, and really made photography as a hobby an enjoyable learning experience." — Matthew Z.

"Stephen, that was as good as any tutorial I have ever seen!! You made it all flow so well, because of course you have done those kinds of adjustments many times. I am not that good with Lightroom, and would likely do the whole thing in Photoshop, where I am more comfortable, but you have encouraged me to get INTO Lightroom more. I will anticipate any other tutorials you may create, as they are so very helpful." — Bob K.

"Fantastic seminar. From a wannabe photoshop user who's managed to start her journey and have some features that I'm definitely looking forward to using. Before the seminar I opened photoshop and didn't know what to do or how. Now I can open it and start. Feeling empowered and ready to play productively" — Phyllis S.

"I wanted to thank you again for doing a great job on the online workshop for Sierra Photo Club. I definitely gained some depth in Photoshop from your presentation and used some new techniques on a photo of mine. I am very impressed with the extent of your knowledge of PS." — Mark O.

"Excellent class. You did a great job clearly explaining all aspects of astrophotography. This class has been one of the best photo classes I've ever taken. Thank you!" — Patti B.

"Thank you so much for the rewarding webinar and sharing the recording and slides. It is one of the best webinars I have attended in a long time. Perfectly paced. Great content. My husband and I watched it together and he said, 'Next time PPS has a trip to do Milky Way, let's go.' He hardly ever wants to go to things like this. Great compliment to you. Thank you for sharing your expertise." — Mary L.

"Great presentation. You are a gifted, natural speaker with a stunning photo archive. I found the behind the image storytelling most interesting. I especially loved the part where the guys got swamped by incoming tide at Sunset Cliffs but you had the whole thing figured out. Full wetsuit, special shoes, helmet, submersible dry bag, all the stats on tide and sun position. Your post processing skills are as vast as it gets! Thank you for creating a memorable evening." — Steve C.

"Really great. Nicely organized & presented. A lot of complicated info given in a very easy way to understand. Thank you!" — Danny P.

"Thank you ever so much for all your work! Your efforts have enlightened me in regards to hopefully, successfully, gaining an awesome Milky Way Image in the not too distant future!" — Pam C.

"I have had the pleasure of working with Stephen Bay over the last two years, including receiving some teaching about night photography/image processing, him providing extensive help regarding optimization/cmyk conversion regarding photographs for a book I recently published, and he created the website for the book. He has also given me miscellaneous advice regarding computer related issues, including backing up data. He has done a great job with everything he has ever done for me. He extremely smart, kind, skilled, responsive, and a good listener. I recommend him highly." — Jeff L.

"Thanks for the excellent presentation on the Fair at George's [George's Camera] on Saturday. I think this session was the most helpful of any I have been to over the years. I especially appreciated your comments about the various categories that draw stiff competition from professional photographers and other highly skilled competitors. I also appreciated that the critique session included some discussion of the best category for each of the images as I think that is the most difficult part of entering for me." — Janie A.

"Great class, well organized, clear & concise! Very well done! Thank you" — Tanya S.

"I am new to photography but you have inspired me!" — Tracey S.

"Nicely done, Stephen! Thank you. You really covered a good range of topics, and you blended methods well from examples, practical tips, apps & software, and equipment" — Cheri P.

"Fantastic amount of information clearly given in a short amount of time -- would love a longer workshop" — Judy D.

"Very informative. The concepts & processes were clearly explained" — Dawn A.

"Thanks again for giving me the best present ever! What a treat that was for me. YOU ARE A GREAT TEACHER!!" — Laura M.