The May 2011 workshop is complete and most of us survived.
Each year the workshop takes on a life of it's own. This dynamic comes from the synergy of the wildly varied personalities involved. Wild is a good word here I think.
Workshop is a term loosely applied on these gatherings. We have to call it that, because, if we didn't you wouldn't send us money and come. But if you've been to other tightly structured workshops in the past, it soon occurs that this one is going to be different. However, once you get the hang of what we're doing, I think almost everybody came up to me and said "you're not charging enough." That's OK, and I'd far rather hear that than the opposite!
What went well:
This year we rented a large room to gather in for portfolio reviews........and drunken debauchery. The reviews were the best ever. Nothing helps your vision better than looking through other peoples eyes. I was inspired and challenged.
Instruction is largely one on one. I tried hard to make rounds, talk to folks and see where they were at and what they had come to try to learn. Per does this much better than I do so hopefully no one went home without getting something of what they came to acquire.
What we need to do better: a LOT better!:
Next year on day one meet and greet everybody is going to get good cell phone lists of everyone else. We lost poor Al Olson on the second day and never saw him again until late that evening. Every time we were going west, Al was going south, and vice versa.
Second, next year I'm going to insist on a more formalized structure of what the different attendees would like to go home with. What is it that you hope to learn and take back home from this type workshop?
Third, I will encourage the folks more strongly to bring a portfolio. We had 4 or 5 really great ones. 10 or 12 would have been better and the discussions would have helped us all.
There is a mountain of material to shoot in the Tonopah area. The days are exhausting! I hope everyone went back home with some great images. You'll see stuff here that you just don't see anywhere else. Nope, the little green men are off limits.
Each year the workshop takes on a life of it's own. This dynamic comes from the synergy of the wildly varied personalities involved. Wild is a good word here I think.
Workshop is a term loosely applied on these gatherings. We have to call it that, because, if we didn't you wouldn't send us money and come. But if you've been to other tightly structured workshops in the past, it soon occurs that this one is going to be different. However, once you get the hang of what we're doing, I think almost everybody came up to me and said "you're not charging enough." That's OK, and I'd far rather hear that than the opposite!
What went well:
This year we rented a large room to gather in for portfolio reviews........and drunken debauchery. The reviews were the best ever. Nothing helps your vision better than looking through other peoples eyes. I was inspired and challenged.
Instruction is largely one on one. I tried hard to make rounds, talk to folks and see where they were at and what they had come to try to learn. Per does this much better than I do so hopefully no one went home without getting something of what they came to acquire.
What we need to do better: a LOT better!:
Next year on day one meet and greet everybody is going to get good cell phone lists of everyone else. We lost poor Al Olson on the second day and never saw him again until late that evening. Every time we were going west, Al was going south, and vice versa.
Second, next year I'm going to insist on a more formalized structure of what the different attendees would like to go home with. What is it that you hope to learn and take back home from this type workshop?
Third, I will encourage the folks more strongly to bring a portfolio. We had 4 or 5 really great ones. 10 or 12 would have been better and the discussions would have helped us all.
There is a mountain of material to shoot in the Tonopah area. The days are exhausting! I hope everyone went back home with some great images. You'll see stuff here that you just don't see anywhere else. Nope, the little green men are off limits.
