I went into Jeffrey's photography class knowing next to nothing about how to operate a camera, and…read morecame out feeling knowledgeable, confident, and genuinely inspired. Jeffrey is an absolute pro... he can look at any camera and instantly show you how to take beautiful photos with it. The class was made even better by the group itself! It was a diverse mix of people, all with different cameras but a shared goal of learning and creating. Everyone was kind and supportive, which made the experience all the more enjoyable. The class was hands-on, engaging, and packed with practical tips I'll be using for years. The pricing is more than fair considering the amount of knowledge and confidence you leave with. I can't recommend this class highly enough! Thanks, Jeffrey.

What an amazing experience working with Jeffrey!! I knew absolutely nothing about my digital camera…read moreI had for 8 years, taking his class has opened up a whole new world for me. Now I know how to use it!! He explained everything and the experience at the Walters Museum was epic!! Thank you Jeffrey!!

LOVE LOVE LOVE this new space. For photographers who may need a studio space but don't want the…read morehaggle of their own, this is great. Equipped with lighting and even has a green room area, this is a great idea. You can get a monthly membership or even rent time by the hour. Best part is the FREE classes. (Free is my favorite four letter word.) My teenager is a budding photographer, so i am always looking for something to expand his skills, and the classes here are perfect. Catering to all skill levels, he was welcomed with open arms (despite being the youngest), learned tons, and everyone was helpful and friendly. They answer emails quickly and efficiently. Nothing to lose by reserving your spot for a free class.

I honestly did not know what to expect... I was truly expecting some bland and boring senior…read morephotos. I am blown away by the quality of my daughter's photos. The photographers used for our sessions were very young and they seemed to be very hip on taking great photos (sharing photo posture tips). The photos I'm sharing on yelp do not do justice to the other photos my kid took; she looked amazing! She was able to change into three different outfits and get various poses. High quality and some! Worth every dollar spent! What I gathered from my experience vs what other students who were not satisfied with their photos shared with me is it all depends on the photographer you get for your session. My personal suggestion is taking early morning photos (early bird gets the worm) I believe the photographers are more upbeat and energetic than after lunch lol. PRICES- these are mine $60 service upfront fee prior to taking photos $40 -4 keychain photos (paid at time of service) $400-$500 photo bundle (they have others for less)

Overpriced. They use cheap equipment and the photographers are not professionals or knowledgeable…read moreabout camera settings. Invest somewhere else.

Justin is such an awesome photographer to work with! He made me feel so comfortable I could make…read morefaces, be goofy and relaxed! It wasn't awkward one bit! He is very reliable, delivered all the images quicker than promised (quick turnaround)!! (Also the photos are super high quality!) I first met Justin last year (2016) and loved how the pictures turned out! I have some amazing portraits (advertising styled) and action shots for my website. I really LOVE the pictures he stitched of me bouncing the golf ball! It shows my fun side, yet very professional and I look good! SUPER satisfied on how I look! Justin captured a lot of good moments where one can see how I love doing what I want! Also took some amazing intense action shots where one can see a lot of details! So I am back this year to get more pictures taken by Justin. I want to make a portfolio and update my website! I highly recommend Novak Photos for any types of photo shoot whether it's athletic portraits, professional headshots, family portraits, business websites, I mean pretty much anything for professional photography!!!!

Justin does an amazing job and is extremely talented! I have worked with him for professional head…read moreshots and an on-site shoot at the beach. He has a great eye and is very detail oriented especially when it comes to lighting which is hugely important. I definitely recommend him! You won't be disappointed in his work.

More experienced photographers may disagree, but as a beginner, I found WSP's "Focus on…read moreComposition" course super helpful. The class tried to instill a habit of thinking through a checklist before taking a picture (or evaluating it afterwards). The checklist included, among other things: * What's the subject? * Do the direction and quality of light work for your subject? * Does the background distract from the subject? * Check the frame's edges: Is the cropping awkward? * Is there comfortable spacing between the elements of your photograph? Our class was small, so in addition to the lectures and the pithy, informative handouts, we could spend more time going over our homework, getting concrete suggestions for how to improve. For example, the instructor (Joe Yablonsky) would sometimes suggest moving the camera up, down, right, left, closer, or further, to get a cleaner background, a more flattering portrait angle, or more interesting "directionality" in the photo's lines. Other times, the instructor would notice patterns-- that my ISOs tended to be too high, or that there's dust on someone's sensor, or that the focusing was sometimes off. He'd then ask how we took the shot, and suggest new settings or focusing methods (or suggest cleaning the sensor!). Sometimes he'd ask the class to weigh in on the critique, so we could also benefit from our talented (and opinionated!) classmates. One session was a fun field trip to the National Mall. At the National Gallery of Art sculpture garden,we chased photogenic squirrels and captured tourists' hilarious reactions to Joan Miro's Personnage Gothique, Oiseau-Eclair. (Google it if you don't know it). I watched as one classmate got several amazing portraits of strangers, just by walking up and asking. The instructor also gave me a demonstration of how to get my camera to focus with a neutral density filter. (I had been having trouble with that). The course just ended last week, and I still need a lot of practice. But it's made my photos noticeably better. (One of my homework assignments even got published last week, as the page 2 photo in the Washington Post Express!) The downsides: Classes can be expensive! (Luckily I had a gift certificate). Sometimes you can find coupons or Living Social deals, e.g. here's one that's on right now (as of late March 2014): http://conta.cc/1jNpdud Washington School of Photography can be a pain to get to without a car. It's somewhat walkable from Twinbrook Metro, but the commute from DC (especially with weekend red line schedules) took me more than an hour.

Love these guys...they've taught me so much about the technical and functional aspects of…read morephotography, from how my DSLR works to how to better frame and compose my shots. I'll be taking my third class, on composition and design, next month. The 2 teachers I've had, Joe Yablonsky & Cortney Jackson, are instructors that I would recommend to anyone who wants to pursue photography as a hobby or as a profession.

September 2017 I'm…read moreupdating my previous review only to say Shira will be our family photographer for as long as she will have us. She was just as kind and thoughtful with our now almost two year old and new six week old baby. I had to reschedule this time and she completely understood. I was also very impressed with how she dealt with our toddler. She's a handful and quite independent. I don't know how she did it but the pictures she captured of her were amazing! December 2015 We decided to take family pictures of our six week old with Shira and we were not disappointed! She was so pleasant and professional. We definitely enjoyed working with her. The baby responded very positively to her. I definitely would recommend her to others looking for someone to work with their family. Her edits to the picture were great because they were minimal but enhanced the natural beauty of the pictures. We were able to make great Christmas cards and provide prints for our family across the country. As an aside, she had to reschedule and was very apologetic. We understood but she still compensated us with additional pictures because she knew we were slightly stressed about the timing. She also stayed a little longer to make sure we had options. I'm just sharing as an example of the kind of customer service she offers. Not many are good at that part of the business these days.

Yesterday I had a 2 hour private lesson with owner Shira. She was completely open to anything I…read morewanted to do. My priority was to learn how to use my DSLR without relying on the automatic setting. I had a little experience with some things so first Shira gave me an excellent review then pointed out aspects of the camera completely new to me. AND she wrote out notes on what we discussed! I now have a valuable tailor made cheat sheet. After the camera review we walked around Columbia's Lake Kittamaqundi to apply the lessons learned. Shira is friendly, patient, calming. She is a born teacher. With her help I have become a more confident photographer.

I've worked with Jeff Martin of Martin Studio Photography several times and he has never let me…read moredown. He is professional, gives the models great directions, provides some humor to loosen things up, has dope music and his photos are top notch. His studio in Baltimore is amazing and he'll travel to you as well. I could go on and on and on about how magnificient he is. I recommend him to all of my friends and colleagues. You should definitely check him out.

Martin Studio Photography is the best of the best! Jeff was incredibly accommodating and I had an…read moreamazing experience. I called that I needed a photograph for a professional proposal I was working on and he was able to get me in quickly, got me the photograph the same night, and had very reasonable rates. This all in a very relaxing and cool studio atmosphere. He also lets customers easily book appointments online and uses an easy online app for you to view the photos later. Oh, and he is a pro's pro - amazing pictures! Will be back!

I signed up for Washington Photo Safari to learn basic photography for my social media job at…read moreHonest Tea. I wanted to have fun doing it so i signed up and I made a great decision. David, the tour guide, started this business as our Nation's first ever photo safari and has been running it ever since. He knows photography and knows how to teach it and practices what he teaches. On top of that, he's lived in DC for 45 years and knows the city and will share all of its secrets with you. If you do the half day, you'll start by the White House and visit the Einstein Statue, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial Korean Memorial and will send at Union Station. Highly recommend!

I signed up for a course at the Marine Corps Silent Drills. David was friendly, but there was no…read morestructure to the course at all. He basically explained what the Silent Drill Platoon would do, and then left us to our devices. He spent most of the time chatting with one of the students who it seemed like he knew. I didn't learn anything. I'm not exactly sure what I got for the course fee, I could have just showed up myself and would have had the same experience.

I was having a bad day yesterday, and I have to say that the Bird City Improv virtual event pretty…read moremuch completely turned that around. This event was so much fun! The hour flew by as we did solo and group improv. Tavish is an excellent teacher. He started by talking about what improv is, and asked for input regularly from the class. I'm also glad that, despite not being able to teach in-person classes right now, Bird City Improv is continuing to teach classes on Zoom. Zoom actually is well-suited to this kind of class, because if you're in the large group everyone but the teacher can be muted, and if you're in a small group you can hear each other clearly. The level of the class I thought was appropriate for both beginners and people who have done improv before. As an actor, it's always good to brush up on this sort of skill and HAVE FUN, so thank you Bird City Improv for being there and including everyone!

Bird City offers such wide variety of improv classes-- so many to choose from! Got me through the…read moredry spell of in-person improv classes during 2020, and the online format works really well! I was pleasantly surprised. Tavish is such a great, respectful, inclusive teacher and has a well-rounded background in both theatre and comedy. Definitely recommend online or in-person classes, so glad I found Bird City!