Every off-season I make a point to attend a photography workshop in a new location. Last year I spent a week in January at Nirav Patel and Ed Peers' workshop in the Marin Headlands of San Fransisco. You can read more about that life-changing experience here.
This year, I flew out to the Los Padres Mountains (two hours north of Los Angeles) for Ben Sasso's FOSTER Workshop with Benj Haisch. Afterwards, I spent five days with best gal pal heading up the coast to San Fransisco. Can you tell I am a big fan of this part of the country?
About a week out from the trip I realized that a photog friend from Nirav's workshop would be attending FOSTER too -- Marina George, one half of the duo Two Foxes Photography. We really connected at the previous workshop but we only stayed in contact through the likes of Instagram and the inter webs.
Then there was FOSTER. Little did I know I would spend most of my time with Marina and my other soul sister Steph Crocker. Oh, and that I would meet so many other ah-mazing people. Seriously, these workshops are invaluable to the creative process and the building of creative community.
There is way too much to share. Ben and Benj crushed it. They both were so open about their process and approach -- it was refreshing to say the least. Here are the points that I took home that affected me the MOST:
1. My photography style isn't made up of what I shoot, it's made up of what I share.
2. Experimentation fosters progression. Time to get out there and try something different.
3. As my taste changes, my style should too.
4. My brand is the sum of everything connected to my business. Cough, cough...reality check.
5. Comparison fully minimizes anything I am doing. Can't let that thief in anymore!
I could go on about what else I learned... like the "why" behind my work, the new understanding of different elements of Adobe Lightroom, the addition of Alien Skin Exposure grain to my workflow, finally learning the Brenzier Method, etc. Seriously guys, workshops are the best.
I think it was in the time of spring 2012, when I came across David Shiyang Liu's lovely piece of work about Ira Glass. It was the most inspiring and motivating video I had ever seen in my life. I watched it over and over again, listened to Ira Glass' voice, and told myself, that I am not the only person who is constantly disappointed about the gap between one's taste and one's skills. Later in 2012, I decided to do my own filmed version of Ira's interview - using my own language to tell his message. It took me about a year from concept to upload. I made it for myself and for anybody who is in doubt about his/her creative career. I also think that Ira Glass' message isn't only limited to the creative industry. It can be applied to everyone who starts out in a new environment and is willing to improve. THANK YOU Ira Glass, whom I've never met in real life, but who had such a big influence on my development. Thank you for telling beginners what nobody else does. David Shiyang Liu for the video that inspired me to start the project. You all should watch his awesome kineticTypo-version here: http://vimeo.com/24715531 The people from current.tv who originally recorded the interview with Ira Glass. See the relevant part here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI23U7U2aUY The people from Magic Lantern who gave DSLR videography a new dimension (I chose this project to be a test run with the RAW plugin)! Steven Sasseville for painting the "taste" painting for me. Pedro Sousa for his advice and working his ass off at the "creative work" chalkboard. Wolfgang Kraus for letting me borrow his sound equipment. Kai Löhnert for working out on his birthday in the "fight" take. Wolfgang Hendrik Schnabel for giving me the museum-like atmosphere and his silhouette in the painting takes. Hermiyas Ötztürk for his hairy "good enough" hand. Orange Hive Studio for light equipment and location. Mima and Heinz Sax-Schmitz for the location of the "ambitions" take and finding me the "finish 1 story" typewriter. Joyce Chen (https://vimeo.com/clownmori), Soufiane Mabrouki (http://vimeo.com/user21466567) and Andrej Mikula (http://amara.org/en/profiles/profile/65015/) for taking the time and patience to create Chinese, Arabic and Slovak subtitles and dissolving language barriers to make even more people understand Ira's words. A SPECIAL THANK YOU Solveig Gold for being the most patient and supporting person in my life. She appears in a lot of scenes in this video. Jutta and Uwe Sax for several pieces of equipment and their support.
Also, Ben introduced us to this video and it blew me away. Just gotta keep hustlin' to close the gap.
Here are some of my favorite images from the first part of my trip out west.
