Words and Pictures Course at Newspace Center for Photography

I will be teaching Words and Pictures: Photoblogging and Web Publishing for Photographers at Newspace Center for Photography for 4 Wednesdays, May 11 – June 1 from 6:30-9:30PM in Portland Oregon. This is an intimate teaching location and limited seating, so register now for your spot.

Teaching WordPress at the client, college, and workshop level for 13 years, I’ve found that once people get a handle on how WordPress works, they don’t know how to make it work for them. After the novelty has worn off, it’s down to the business of web publishing and blogging, and they’re lost.

My class “Words and Pictures” puts the magic back into the publishing process, teaching you to enjoy the experience of sharing your words and images with the world. While this course is specifically designed for photographers, it is open to all wishing to take their site to the next level.

The course explores your online persona and various ways words are incorporated into a website, and how to choose reader and SEO friendly words, in the site title, tagline, purpose, mission statement, categories, tags, and header, sidebar, footer, and content areas. In depth information is covered on preparing images for upload and incorporating images and video into your content and site.

We discuss various storytelling techniques including standard article formats, editorial, tutorial, commentary, interview, general storytelling, galleries, slideshows, and audio and podcasts. Legal policies are also covered, critical to every professional site.

The course also explores writing for social media basics including calls-to-action and links, and offers tips, tools, and techniques for research, planning, scheduling, and publishing your work.

This is an ideal class for artists, crafters, writers, authors, photographers, and anyone wishing to rekindle their creative spirit on the web. It is about you and what you wish to share with the world. Each course is customized to the needs of the students to help them learn how to publish easily and with courage.

Please join us for this unique and creative course at Newspace Center for Photography in Portland, Oregon.

While you are at it, check out their amazing list of classes in photography, both analog and digital. Newspace is one of the last places in the world with a real darkroom, so if you are into black and white photography, or photography in general, this should be top on your resource list.

WordPress and Web Writing Classes at Newspace Center for Photography

I’ve been teaching at Newspace Center for Photography in Portland, Oregon, for a year and it is one of the most fun programs and educational institutions I’ve worked with in a long time.

Newspace Center for Photography is more than a gallery, though it is an outstanding gallery with powerful exhibits often based upon Pacific Northwest or related issues and topics. It is one of the last photography studios for both analog and digital photography offering a wide variety of workshops and classes every quarter. It also hosts one of the last film processing labs in the country if not the world for black and white. Their darkroom classes often fill fast if you are interested.

The caliber of instructors is humbling to know that I’m one of them. These are well-vetted and experienced teachers, and many are leaders in their industry as well. The offer classes on a wide range of photography aspects including lighting, equipment, darkroom, digital, and an extensive list of youth programs for both families and individual kids. They also offer a series of educational lectures with many free to the Center members and only USD $15 for the public, exploring a wide range of photography topics.

Currently, I’m teaching two classes with the occasional workshop, and we are exploring more for the fall. The next classes coming up are:

Introduction to WordPress: April 6-April 27, 2016, 6:30-9:30PM, on Wednesdays. Four weeks to learn the basics of WordPress focusing on photography. Set up a free site on WordPress.com and learn how to publish, add images, and make wise design decisions about your site and content. We also cover the basics of social media integration, writing for the web, legal considerations, and how to build content and community on your site. Requirements: Familiarity with web browsers and Internet sites in general. Familiarity with graphic programs like Photoshop highly recommended.

Words and Pictures: Photoblogging and Web Publishing for Photographers: May 11 – June 1, 2016, 6:30-9:30PM, Wednesdays. This unique program is specifically designed for photographers but applies to a wide range of bloggers with a focus on imagery and graphics. We cover the basics of writing for the web, developing an online persona, different web publishing formats and techniques, and how to incorporate images and imagery into your content through creative storytelling. Requires a website and familiarity with web browsers and Internet sites in general. Familiarity with graphic programs like Photoshop highly recommended.

The class size is limited for both of these courses, about 12-14 people. Newspace specializes in intimate educational experiences with hands-on help from the instructors.

You are welcome to use their computers (Mac) or bring your own laptop (recommended if not familiar with Mac).

Check out the Newspace Center for Photography Spring Class list for more information and to register, and find out what other great programs they offer.

WordPress Basics Half Day Workshop at Newspace Photography Center, Portland

Saturday, September 12, 2015, I will be teaching “Building a Website with WordPress” at the Newspace Center for Photography in Portland, Oregon, from noon to 5PM.

I know most of you in the Portland area will be heading to OMSI for the Maker’s Fair, but do that in the morning and spend the afternoon with us at one of the most exciting photography galleries and educational centers in the Pacific Northwest for an afternoon of learning the basics of WordPress.

I will be teaching about how to use WordPress to create a photography site, but more than just a portfolio site. We will be exploring several site models for photographers in WordPress.

Copyright Brent VanFossen - Red-legged Frog under leaf in Olympic National Park.

Red-legged frog in the Olympic National Park, photography by Brent and Lorelle VanFossen.

As a long-time professional nature and travel photographer and instructor, this brings my two favorite worlds together, photography and WordPress. I’m so excited to be working with Newspace. Expect more WordPress and photo-blogging workshops to come out of this relationship in the future.

There are a few seats left, and this course will be small and intimate, a great opportunity to dig into what WordPress can do for a highly visual site.

WordPress and Blogging Community Course in Forest Grove, Oregon

Attention all on the west side of Portland and around the Portland Metro area. Beginning February 18 through April 8, 2015, I’m honored to be teaching an 8-week community WordPress and blogging class in Forest Grove, Oregon, on Wednesdays from 6:30-9PM at the Forest Grove Senior Center. I rarely present community-based WordPress courses in the Portland area very often, so this is a great opportunity to learn WordPress and blogging basics at your pace with an experienced instructor.

Home to the beautiful and historic Pacific University, I will be teaching a thorough overview of the WordPress publishing platform for individuals seeking to create websites for personal or professional use.

The course covers the basics of WordPress usage, features, installation, content management, site configuration, and social media integration as well as an introduction to site customization, WordPress Themes, and Plugins. I customize community-based classes like this based on the needs of the students.

Students working together on a WordPress project in class. The course is open to anyone. The course is ideal for writers and authors, genealogists, small business owners, personal bloggers, and those wishing to share their thoughts and skills with the world. Prior web publishing experience is not required. Familiarity with web browsers (Firefox and Chrome) and email is highly recommended. A laptop is required. Free WIFI will be available.

The course is typically $550 for an 8 week program, but to benefit and support the Forest Grove Senior Center, it is available for a special price of $300.

You may register at the Forest Grove Senior Center in person, or via PayPal on my Classes and Workshops page.

I’ve been teaching WordPress for eleven years, and web publishing since 1993. I also teach a full-credit WordPress course at Clark College in Vancouver, Washington, as part of their Web Development and Web Design degree programs.

The course is limited due to space, creating an intimate learning experience. Register immediately to reserve your spot.

NOTE: This is an in-person class, not Lorelle’s WordPress School year-long project.

WordPress and Blogging Workshop in Forest Grove, Oregon

On Friday, October 10, 2014, from 1-5PM I will be presenting a WordPress and Blogging Workshop in Forest Grove, Oregon, at the Forest Grove Senior and Community Center as a fundraiser for the center and part of the Writers in the Grove group. The price for this 4 hour event is $30 ($5 discount with non-perishable food donation).

The program is designed to help the novice to WordPress and web publishing create their own free WordPress.com site and set up the site for personal or business use. Participates learn how to write articles, add images and video, create galleries, how to link and cite sources, social media integration, and site organization and basic management.

The workshop will help you overcome your fears about online publishing, too.

If you have something to share with the world, be it your memoirs and stories, experiences, expertise, family history, or writing, this is an ideal workshop to help you get started.

Bring a wifi-enabled laptop or tablet and an idea for your site. We will put your idea into action with this hands-on workshop. If you do not have a laptop, extras may be available, but you are welcome to come and learn and to share a laptop with others.

To register, contact the Forest Grove Senior and Community Center at 503-357-2021. Here is the address and map to the center.

If you live and work in the PDX area, please help to spread the word. This is a fundraiser to help support the Forest Grove Senior and Community Center, a center that provides free and discounted meals to hundreds on the west side of Portland, and a variety of free and low cost events and activities for the community.

Writers in the Grove is a writers workshop group offering a variety of free writing workshops and educational events and activities in the Forest Grove area. The group meets Mondays at the Forest Grove Senior and Community Center from 9-11AM to work on creative writing and poetry skills, as well as at the Forest Grove Library on weekends. Check with the library for dates and times.