Fine, and by the way welcome to the forum. It would good to be specific in your questions, ie describe what your level of experience is, your experiences with workshops in the past, what you hope to get out of it, etc. Otherwise you may just get "He is a great inspiring guy!" type of responses.Originally Posted by Lilly of the Nile
Jon
my black and white photos of the Mendocino Coast: www.jonshiu.com
Given the question you asked, I would hope that the article was not written by you !
Or did you mean instead it was not written by the photographer's PR team ?
thank you Jon.
i'm an avid wanna be. shot 35mm for years, took up 4x5 a couple years ago. still have my canon 20d, don't shoot me.i'd say i'm OK, but not ready to 'share' anything yet because, well, i'm just a bit shy as to what others might say to be honest.
what i'd like to know, specifically on this workshop question, is: has anyone taken one from this guy, and did you learn anything of use? did you have fun? was it physically hard? would you do it again? sort of the normal stuff one might want to know about it. i've never taken a workshop before, but feel it's time, i think i've gotten to the point where i can feel comfortable around others, showing off my compositions, and seeing what others have/are doing.
it's a wonderful art form and i love it!
thanks,
lilly
QT - shame on you.
the fellow who wrote the article, his name is: Eric Rudolph. he has been a long time contributor to PopPhoto and has over the years written some very wonderful articles. he did one last Feb on Thomas Mangelsen, very good one in fact - "King of the Beasts", look it up - it's a very interesting discussion about who's who and who's the KING.
to suggest that the article was written by a "PR team", hmmm....have you read the thing? it talks about 2, count them, TWO master level photographers: Clyde Butcher & Rodney Lough Jr.
it most certainly was not written by some PR team.
QT - have you taken a workshop from Mr. Lough? would you, ever, take a workshop?
Lilly
I don't understand why you would find my reply so shameful (unless you have some connections with Mr Lough, which of course is not the case). You state that "you didn't write the article", which seems so obvious that I was wondering if that's what you meant, that's all.
I have not taken a workshop from Mr. Lough, although if he offered one on marketing (rather than photography), I may consider it. There are many talented landscape phographers out there (including in this forum), and what sets Mr. Lough's apart from them has been his apparent ability to sell his work, rather than the work itself, which I must add, is beautiful.
well, i must have misunderstood you then, my apologies.
Lily, I think Jon was asking is what is it you expect to learn from the workshop. I haven't taken one of his workshops, but have spent some time visiting with him before at a local art show. I can share with you my experience from a workshop with another big name (would prefer not to name names, though). The workshop was very good - from the standpoint of learning little tidbits on how the photographer works, how he 'sees' as well as the good old technical stuff like sunny f16, what tripod works, which one does not, and lots and lots of slide shows - that gives you an idea how long ago it was.
Today I would guess that there is a video presentation or a/v rather than the slide show (which was very good). When it was all said and done, I felt like it was a good time - to meet and greet these talanted peoples, but I did not learn that much - it was all 35mm back then. What I want from a workshop, may not be the same as you want so it may be a great value for you. On the other hand, I really don't want to spend $$$ on a workshop that really on provides me with chance to go out and shoot with other photographers. This may be due to the fact that on any given weekend I can go out and shoot with some very talented people.
In the end the choice is yours, if you decide to go and have a great time then it will be worth it. If you go, just because you admire someone's work - well my guess is that is what you would like to know. Sorry I can't help you with your question directly, but hope you will consider that there are several people here that are just as good as Rodney or Clyde. Take a look at the foto3 conference and see if there is anyone you might be interested in taking a workshop from, it would be a very good chance to meet with a lot of people that share the same interest and will be at all levels.
thanks for that very insightful advice.
i would ask though, when you did take that workshop (where now you wouldn't), is that because of where you 'were' at that time in your photography vs. where you are now?
i'm asking because, although i'm sure there are a lot (and boy aren't there) photographers out there that would fancy themselves as great teachers; i don't remember seeing many (if any) written about lately; at least either of these guys have been.
i don't mean to make that sound like a criticism of anyone out there, but these guys are getting talked about in a very very good way.
i'm not sold either way; still waiting to hear from someone that has actually taken one with either of these guys.
thanks.
lilly
Lilly,
I think one of the keys to finding a good workshop is understanding where you want to go with your own work, and seeking out those who can help you along the path.
There are many excellent, and very well known photographers, who offer workshops and are very fine teachers.
Some questions:
What do you hope to gain from the workshop experience?
Where are you "at" in your work now?
Where do you want to move your work to?
What style of photography to you admire and want to master?
Who are some photographers you admire and do they teach workshops?
Other than the article you read on Clyde Butcher (whose work I am very familiar with) and Rodney Lough Jr. (whose work I am not familiar with), what drives you to want to take a workshop from one of them?
Have you checked out places like the Ansel Adams Gallery, Maine Photographic Workshops, Anderson Ranch Arts Center and others to look at their workshop offerings? They offer many, many workshops to fit all levels of ability and are generally taught by well known and well regarded professionals.
Lilly,
A good question, I was indeed drifting with my photography at the time. Knew that what I was doing was not what I wanted from it. Today, I would still sign up for a workshop, but I would be more specific in what I expected and hope I would be able to verify that a workshop had what I wanted/needed.
Eric's questions are very good and I think it would help you determine what you want if you were to sit down and list on paper what it is you want to learn. Then search the web for workshops and see who offers the types of workshops that would fill that need. Each person here could give you a list and tell you why the people on the list would be a good choice, but if their photography does not appeal to you, then it would not be a good match.
If you desire is to become a good printer, this will take you down one path - which would split B&W vs Color, then wet darkroom vs lightroom, or say you are interested in alt process - plt/pld, gum, VanDyke, Carbon, Kallitype, on and on. You may want to hone your scanning skills, Photoshop skills, etc. It's all part of photography these days and the path we take depends on our own desire and sometimes our wallet.
Look at what is close to where you live, it's helpfull to consider one close to home so you can concentrate on the workshop and not the distraction of the place the workshop is at. If you take one of the workshops from RL or CB write up your own summary for others to refer to.
Most of all, keep making your art and if we don't agree with your choices it does not mean that much in the end. I would say that the first response you had were most likely due to some who stop by this and other sites to promote their own agenda, that is all.
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