Would You Attend a Workshop in Newfoundland?

[r.e.]

We plan to operate from May to October, and we'll be actively seeking independent reviews of the accomodation, the food and activities. It's a beautiful place. We plan to have a website this November. If we decide to do something oriented toward large format photography, I'll do a post in the Announcements section.

A couple of the summer residents that I encountered while out fishing:

[Daniel Grenier]

Would I attend a workshop in Nfld ? Not likely. Would I go to your lodge and photograph the area? Very likely.

I suspect the odds of success for LF-centred workshops would be rather unlikely given the tiny market you'd be targetting. The broader audienced (not format centric) photo-tour approach might fare better where the destination is the main attraction and the "workshop" second in importance.

However, I wonder if there are some merits to an "LF-friendly" lodge (i.e. darkroom, gallery, library etc..) where somebody like me would spend a week or two, photograph and process, see some great photographs, hang out with fellow LFers outside the constraints of the workshop format ???

[r.e.]

Daniel, your comments got me thinking a bit.

For my own purposes, there will be a darkroom for black and white processing, a scanner, at least two computers with Adobe CS3, and photography books. It's a no-brainer to make these resources available to visitors. There's also a dynamic arts community in Newfoundland, and a space where we intend to exhibit the community's work.

On the other hand, if you wanted to hang out with fellow LFers, you'd have to bring them along. You can probably count the number of local large format photographers, on an island that takes 10 hours to drive end to end, on one or two hands

[Don Miller]

As a photo destination, yes.
As a workshop, probably not.
How many rooms?

[Michael Kadillak]

As a photo destination, yes.
As a workshop, probably not.
How many rooms?

I agree with Don.

As the kids go off to college and these expenses and responsibilities are taken care of, the possibilities open up considerably. Have camera(s), will travel.....

[r.e.]

There are currently 11 rooms, but we are going to reduce that number to 8 or 9 because we are going to make the rooms larger. There is also a separate 2-bedroom cabin.

I'm quite familiar with the Newfoundland plastic arts, literary and fine art letterpress scenes, but less so with what is happening photographically. I may have spoken too soon when I suggested that large format photographers are few and far between. I'm sure that there aren't a lot of them, but the university has a fine arts programme, and the authors of Copper Plate Photogravure: Demystifying the Process (Focal Press) live and work in Newfoundland. I'm going to be there in mid-October, perhaps a good time to become more familiar with what is happening locally with large format photography and alternative processes.

To the moderators: the idea behind this thread is to get comments from people on what might interest them as a photographic resource in this part of the world. If you feel that the thread crosses the line into commercialism at some point, and therefore violates forum rules, don't hesitate to say so.

[Hans Berkhout]

If traditional wet darkroom facilities were availabe, I'd love to spend 10-14 days or so at your lodge. I'd do my own thing but would thoroughly enjoy meeting ohter photographers over breakfast, supper etc. I would need the darkroom only for neg development and contact printing, to make sure that "everything is OK", final printing I can do at home. Pleas keep me on your mailing list, tx. Kingsize beds?

[Frank Petronio]

We'd love it as a Lodge B&B type place first, that just happens to be extra-photographer friendly... I could definitely see planning a Summer vacation up there, but given past workshop experiences, I'd want to bring my wife and have a little more comfort than the typical "dorm" experience.

How are (or "is") the dining, etc.?

How late in the Summer can you find icebergs to photograph?

Are naked girls running around OK?

Ever see this flick: Rare Birds, with William Hurt and Molly Parker? I want to go there. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0295552/

[r.e.]

How are (or "is") the dining, etc.?

How late in the Summer can you find icebergs to photograph?

Are naked girls running around OK?

Ever see this flick: Rare Birds, with William Hurt and Molly Parker? I want to go there. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0295552/

The icebergs calve from Greenland and can be seen until late June/early July. There were a lot of them this year, and they are an awesome sight.

With a population of half a million, most of them in the Saint John's area, and a land mass of 42,000 square miles (110,000 square kilometers), there's no shortage of space for naked people to run around.

Rare Birds is a fun film. As good as William Hurt and Molly Parker are, I think that Newfoundland comic actor Andy Jones holds the film together: http://www.andyjonesproductions.com/ The film is based on this novel: http://www.amazon.ca/Rare-Birds-Edwa...0479313&sr=8-1

How's the dining? I don't think that we'll be manufacturing any rare bird sightings We'll be putting a lot of emphasis on food and wine because the guy that I'm doing this with is a high-end New York chef. The local ingredients are first rate and it's a seafood lover's paradise. Wild mushrooms and wild berries (raspberries, wild strawberries, blueberries, lingonberries and cloudberries) are abundant. Moose, caribou and grouse in the fall. There's also a serious organic farming operation run by a fellow, originally from Louisiana, who teaches at the university.

[Rob Champagne]

Ever see this flick: Rare Birds, with William Hurt and Molly Parker? I want to go there.

There's a sighting of ORCA's just near a Cornish fishing village every couple of years. Does wonders for the local tourist industry. Never been confirmed though. I wonder why not...

We get a pod Dolphins in Salcombe estuary every year.