One last winter anniversary trip for everyone today! The latest is Rebecca and Chris, who celebrated in a very intimate ceremony with only their parents (and of course us!) at St. Matthew’s Cathedral a year ago today. After their ceremony and celebration with their parents, we took off down the street with a bagpiper for some fun portraits with them. We walked along M Street and watched as cabs stopped and the drivers get out to take pictures of the procession, and people pressed their faces against the glass windows of their office buildings above to see the source of the bagpiping. Here are a few of their favorites…
Their joint favorites:
Chris’s favorites:
Rebecca’s favorites:
Mark your calendars! If you couldn’t get in to the Foundation Workshop 7 earlier this month, then mark your calendars! FW8 will be held in Dallas, Texas on February 21-26, 2010. We’ll be posting additional information about tuition and registration within the next couple of weeks, but I wanted to let everyone know so they can set aside the time.
To read more about the workshop, go here:
http://www.fwforum.com/blog/fw8/ or visit the Foundation Workshop Forum (trial memberships available). We’re going to have an amazing group of talented and caring faculty members this coming year, and I look forward to seeing many of your smiling faces next February!
There are few experiences that one can have professionally that encompass pushing yourself beyond your fear, learning your strengths and weaknesses in your art, and finding a path toward more fulfilling work, all within the warm confines of a loving workshop environment. Each February for the past several years, I’ve been lucky enough to be a part, first as participants with Anne, then as faculty, and for the past few years as workshop director/coordinator of the Foundation Workshop. And each year I look forward to returning to Dallas, to the friends and colleagues that I know and love, and those I’m meeting for the first time, and feel what it is as people and as photographers they have to offer.
The workshop serves to teach principles of photojournalism to wedding photographers so that they can make better images. That’s the surface way of describing it. But it’s a little deeper than that, and the approach to it is a little different than most workshops. Whereas you might otherwise be able to just sit and listen, and perhaps ask a question or two here or there, or even shoot a model, Foundation gives you a day’s worth of classroom training and exercises, then sends you off into the field to create a story from your assignment. This could range from documenting a wild cat sanctuary, to visitors to the oldest diner in Texas, to an organic tree farm, to an interstate truck stop. The assignments are wide ranging and made specifically to challenge the participants who come. They receive in-field feedback from mentors, and then listen to the team leaders with the rest of their five-person team at night to go through each image shot during the day to discover strengths and weaknesses and to help identify the story. In this way the participants are better able to approach their own photography by overcoming those obstacles to creating better images.
Everyone is different in this regard, and everyone learns at a different pace, but everyone comes to Foundation with an open mind and an open heart. We’re there to share and to learn and, while the hours are very long and the assignments and editing sessions tough, to also have a good time. I can’t possibly think of another way I would rather spend a week each winter, and this workshop is something I look forward to every year. I believe in the concept, because I’ve seen the results in both Anne’s and my work, as well as those of others. I believe in the people, as the vast majority of our faculty members return year after year to continue to give of themselves. And I love them all for it.
I’m so grateful to continue to have the opportunity to direct the workshop, and look forward to collaborating with the faculty over the coming year to make FW8 next February the best one yet. If you’re a photographer and interested in pushing yourself in ways you never thought possible and in ways you’ll not get anywhere else, please visit fworkshop.com or just give us a call. We’ll soon set dates and tuition for 2010, and if last year is any indication, we expect to sell out the available slots very quickly (last year it sold out in 24 hours).
I can’t wait for next February, but in the meantime have only this to say to FW7’s cadre of incredibly talented faculty and staff:
Traveling home
On the way back from Dallas, we stopped briefly in Memphis because we had never been, and of course took in much of what was to see at Graceland, wandered around and got some great BBQ at Corky’s, and headed downtown for a short bit before leaving that night for home. Here are a few images from our afternoon there.
Starting out at Graceland, this was in the area where Elvis enjoyed entertaining (the bar is to camera-right):
The pool room. It’s the first one we’ve seen covered in fabric like this.
Lots of visitors to the mansion posed for this kind of picture, which made us laugh.
A good number of people visit the gravesites of Elvis and his family, and many bring flowers, trinkets, and other items to lay on the ground.
A quick grab shot outside the front of the mansion.
This totally made us laugh!
It’s hard to see here, but the mansion is in the background above and to the right of the rock’s apex.
We visited Corky’s for lunch. Sorry, Tyler, but we’ll have to hit Rendevous another time (but honestly, I think Corky’s BBQ might be giving them a run for their money.)
We then headed downtown to see some of the sights near Beale St. Here was a dog waiting for passengers to enjoy for a horse-drawn carriage ride.
These street acrobats wowed the crowd with their antics.
There was music everywhere, as you can imagine.
Anne and I are returning home later from our annual trip to Dallas to participate in the Foundation Workshop. It remains one of the highlights of our year. From a creative standpoint, the love we feel among our colleagues here sets us new and higher paths for ourselves, culminating in more original work in the coming year. I’ll be writing more about this unique experience from a more personal standpoint shortly, but in the meantime, here is a video short of the event shot by the ever-talented Vladimir Chaloupka followed by a few images I took from the editing sessions done on second night of the workshop. Enjoy!
And here are a few from the second-to-last day:
David Pullum makes us laugh with funny British sayings over a dinner of Thai food…
Scott, Aga, and Ashley have a laugh with Huy about their assignments.
Verna sneaks a peek at Nic’s assignment while Jenn looks on.
Joe and his socks.
Greg holding forth.
John trying not to be camera-aware.
David looking like it might be time for bed. (I think it was about 2am when this was taken.)
Brooks demonstrating how to use a pinhole camera for Brian’s assignment. Just kidding. Not really. Just kidding.
Marcin looking at his work on the screen with Britt watching.
Anja reacts to a joke’s punchline.
Scott actually paying attention during Amy’s editing session. Not sure what everyone else is doing in this frame though.
Erin and Daniel get comfortable.
More shenanigans in Amy’s suite with Britt and Marcin.
This was posted on a wall-sized post-it. I’m not sure what one of these lines means, and I’m not sure I want to know. It’s certainly a Foundation first.
Stacy looks on while Janine checks her texts.
Duncan relaxes a bit.
Mark’s beard helps drive the slideshow.
A whole lot of lounging goin’ on.
Mark reacts to an image on the screen.
Dan watching while Jerry’s in the hot seat.
Jerry having a good time.
Katrina and our resident baby watch during Brooks’ editing session.
Courtney: “I’m not camera aware. I’m not camera aware. I’m not camera aware!”
Anahi has a brew to cool herself while in the hot seat.
Joe’s twittering while he watches the edits.
Taken about 3am. Folks are starting to get tired.
Jim reclines while awaiting his turn in the hot seat.
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