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Photo Training Overseas (PTO) Cuba Feb 2017 30th Anniversary - part 1 of 1 2 3

Published 01/04/2017

By George Dawber

Delegates were stunned when at the 29th Anniversary PTO trip in Lanzarotte when told the 30th Anniversary would be held in Cuba in February 2017. And so George and Glenys Dawber jetted along with 100 delegates to the fabulous Holguin Cuba resort hotel, Playa Pesquaro. I was one of the lucky delegates to join this wonderful training trip with a two week option. One week of intensive training followed by a week of leisure and seeing the sights enabling the training programme to kick into practice.

George Dawber Hon FIPP FMPA Master SWPP (and many other accolades) with wife Glenys are the owners and organisers of PTO. They flew straight from the Societies’ Convention in London having been awarded yet another accolade ‘Lifetime Service to Industry’. With their able team of helpers: Simon Jones who on PTO acts as personal assistant to the Dawbers; son Howard; Faye Collyer who has a thriving Brighton studio and Nicola Rolls looked after all the AV and slide and video presentations for the week; John Burgess who took all the official event photographs; and of course, the sponsors and models who all flew out to support the team. In their private lives George and Glenys, and Howard and his wife, Laura are foster carers. They have looked after several hundred young and vulnerable children over many years.


In week one we were in the hands of some world famous tutors and sponsors. Marian Sterea and his wife Daniela from Bucharest held separate workshops for the wedding and new born photographers in the group. Marian demonstrated his amazing skill using under-exposure with camera techniques and strong lighting to give a wonderful surreal effect to quite ordinary poses. Guy Gowan showed us how to stop ‘wanging’ the Photoshop sliders and use his incredible, self-found technique to enhance shadow and highlights. John Miskelly, from Ireland, who shoots masterpiece landscapes gave on-the-spot location tuition using the amazing beaches and views of Holguin. Richard Walton (Ritchie) youngest ever photographer to achieve FSWPP Fellowship status of the Societies took us to a market place for practical street photography. His enthusiasm and energy left me breathless. From Cuba Ritchie flew to Los Angeles where he had a booked shoot. Simon Burfoot and Brian Collier of The Flash Centre …… the ‘Ant and Dec’ of the photo industry demonstrated with great skill and amusing presentations latest lighting techniqes, showing us how to make good shots ‘GREAT’ and they loaned lots of equipment to delegates so we could carry on the learning in our own time. Their excess baggage must have been extraordinary. Jenny Johnston from 3XM Solutions and Photo Value stunned the audience with her seminar on Facebook marketing. She demonstrated how we all use Facebook but few of us know how to market and promote our businesses properly using it.


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1st Published 01/04/2017
last update 09/12/2022 14:58:20

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