Jonny Edward

SESSION | 8 AM - 1PM

Platform: 8 AM - 11 AM | Hands-On 11 AM - 1 PM

Portraits with Presence | An Immersive Creative Portraiture Experience

Layer light, shadow, color, texture, and tone to craft compelling visual narratives and create captivating, emotive editorial and fine-art portraits. 

What transforms a portrait from technically sound to truly unforgettable? Presence. Expression. Authenticity. Intention. 

In this deeply immersive, hands-on workshop, you’ll step beyond surface-level techniques and belabored formulas  into the art of creating powerful portraits that resonate—imagery that’s mesmerizing, emotive, and humanistic. Portraits with Presence is designed for photographers of all levels who are ready to elevate their craft, embolden their creativity, build their confidence and bolster their connection to the individuals they photograph.

Over the course of five dynamic hours, you’ll explore Jonny’s complete creative process for producing compelling editorial and fine-art portraiture. This is not just about lighting setups or camera settings—it’s about vision, intention, and the subtle details that elevate work from good to great and transcend a photo into expressive art. Together, we’ll dive into:

• Human Connection & Direction — Learn how to build trust, draw out authenticity, and guide your subject into moments that feel real, grounded, and compelling.

• Light as Language — Shape mood and emotion through dramatic, intentional lighting that adds depth, dimension, and narrative.

• Set Design & Visual Storytelling — Craft environments that support and elevate your subject, transforming simple spaces into immersive visual stories.

• Styling with Purpose — Understand how wardrobe, texture, and color influence the emotional tone and visual impact of your images.

• Creative Mindset & Process — Break free from formulaic thinking and develop a more intuitive, expressive approach to your work.

• Live Demonstrations & Guided Shooting — Watch the process unfold in real time, then step in and create your own work with hands-on guidance and mentoring from Jonny. 

This workshop is designed to challenge, inspire, and expand the way you see—not just your subjects, but the world, your creativity and your role as the artist and director from behind the camera.

Whether you’re just beginning your journey or refining an established voice, you’ll leave with new techniques, deeper clarity, heartfelt inspiration, and a renewed sense of passion and purpose in your work.

This is more than a class.
It’s an invitation to create with intention—and to produce portraits that reveal presence, capture essence, and celebrate the individuals in front of your camera. 

BIOGRAPHY

For me, portraiture is a sincere conversation, a wonderfully surreal collaboration between light, shadow, trust, and truth. It is a way for me to make others feel seen, heard, safe, loved, accepted, and celebrated; to tell their singularly unique stories and, in the process, tell a bit of my own. Ultimately, it's the alchemy of humanity and reciprocity.

To that end, over the last 11 years, I've photographed tens of thousands of people — artists, rebels, entrepreneurs, rock stars, leaders, dreamers, the everyday folks, and uncannily uncommon individuals, those at the very top of their game and those navigating the lowest points in their lives, the shy and the bold alike. I've created and taught around the country and across the globe, exploring the poetic interplay of light and shadow, how contrast and narrative intertwine, and at times, combine to reveal who we truly are. My camera has been a passport to new worlds, a powerful conduit for heartfelt connection with fellow humans, and a mirror through which I've come to know and love myself.

I adore the dance between technical precision and creative intuition: shaping scenes, invoking emotion, layering light, and crafting narrative. But at its core, my work is about energy, trust, and presence. When those elements align, a photograph becomes so much more than a mere image; it becomes art, an honorific to the essence of an individual.

I don't want to make pretty, perfect pictures.
I want to create heartfelt, soulful, authentic art.
And I aspire to mentor and support fellow photographers to do the same.