A Fun Way to Learn Photography

Often people will ask how I learned photography.  While I certainly did my share of reading books and practicing with the camera in areas around my home, I believe I learned the most from attending photography workshops.  I know I've been to more than 15, and even though I'm fairly accomplished, I still attend them and still learn something new each time.

An ideal format for a workshop is for an established photographer to lead a group in a scenic area where the typical day consists of sunrise and sunset shoots, lecture or critique time, and time for participants to develop images from the workshop.  There has to be some scenery to photograph both for inspirational and practical purposes, so most workshops are somewhere especially beautiful and are timed to occur during a season where that location is even more photogenic.  The leader accompanies the group members into the field and shares his/her knowledge of optimal locations for shooting in that area.  The leader makes himself available for questions and assists the participants as they are composing and capturing images.  Most workshop leaders have either a set of lectures with photographic examples to present or will have Q&A sessions. It's very common towards the end of the trip to have a session where each participant presents several images taken during the workshop.  While this gives the leader the option to critique the images, it gives the other participants a chance to see how other people viewed the location and created images.  Since digital photography is very dependent on imaging software skills, participants often bring laptops and develop their images in a common workroom under the guidance of the lead photographer.

Workshops are beneficial for all levels of photographers.  Certainly beginners can learn all aspects of photography in this situation, but even advanced photographers benefit.  If the workshop is in an unfamiliar area, you won't waste time trying to figure out when and where to be during the best light of the day. Sometimes a workshop is the only way to access a sensitive area or private land.  There's safety in numbers for workshops that occur in wilder areas and there is the opportunity for camaraderie and creative synergy with people who share an interest but often have a different viewpoint.  One of my favorite aspects of a photo workshop is to see the compositions from people who were often shooting right next to me but saw something completely different.

The image of a bobcat is from a workshop I just returned from given by Rikk Flohr in the South Dakota Badlands.  I'm essentially a landscape photographer but was interested in the possibility of incorporating animals into my landscape images.  I've been to the badlands in the past, but until this workshop with Rikk and the other lead photographer Laurie Hernandez I didn't realize the variety of wildlife living in the park or where to find them.  One of my favorite photography workshop leaders is Andy Cook who melds the right balance of knowledge, personality, and energy into a workshop that's both educational and really fun.

For so many reasons, a photography workshop is a superb way to improve your skills.  They make great Christmas presents too!  (Chris, are you reading this?)