Sunday November 8, 2026

Behind the Magic: From Disney to the Art of Glamour with Rick Ferro

Master Photographer and international educator Rick Ferro brings more than 40 years of experience in lighting, posing, photography education, and retouching to a day of education that takes you from behind the scenes at Disney to the creation of a finished glamour portrait.

Rick begins with stories and images from his remarkable photographic journey with Disney. Beginning with the development of the Disney Photographic Studio and expanding into Disney Fairy Tale Weddings and ABC's Weddings of a Lifetime, Rick will share the experiences, challenges, and lessons that helped shape his approach to professional photography.

From there, the focus turns to speed, accuracy, lighting, and posing. Rick will demonstrate how preparation and confident decision-making allow photographers to work efficiently while keeping their attention where it belongs: on the person in front of the camera.

Working live with a model, Rick will demonstrate a variety of lighting modifiers and show how lighting and posing work together. You'll see how refinements to the head and chin, shoulders, hands, body position, expression, and light can take an image from successful to exceptional.

Creating the Glamorous Headshot

Rick will bring the entire process together as he creates a glamour portrait from start to finish.

You'll watch him analyze the face, choose lighting and modifiers, pose and refine the subject, and demonstrate different approaches to flattering the face. Special attention will be given to hand posing, along with the use of kicker lights and controlled accent lighting to create separation and dimension.

Then you'll see what happens after the shutter is pressed. Rick will take an image created during the live demonstration into EVOTO and walk through his retouching process, including creating a complementary background that works with the subject's wardrobe and the mood of the finished portrait.

You'll see the complete progression:

Lighting  Posing -> Expression -> Capture -> Retouching -> Background -> Finished Portrait

No camera is required for Sunday's program. The emphasis is on watching Rick work, understanding the decisions he makes along the way, and learning techniques you can apply to your own photography.