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Created and Maintained by: The Photoimaging Information Council |
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by David Kross |
| July 24, 2008 | |||
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Every year emerging photographers and hobbyists across the United States enroll in photography workshops to learn how to take better pictures. Photographers take workshops at photo academies, art institutes, community colleges and even online. Workshops offer photo enthusiasts the opportunity to engage with a professional photographer and get an in-depth look at his or her artistic eye, techniques, shooting protocol, and troubleshooting methods. Smaller class sizes and individually tailored instruction provide a more personalized and enriching education.  Photography workshops are a great way for budding shutterbugs to learn photo tips and techniques from master photographers and receive valuable feedback from their peers. Photographers can also form and enhance friendships with other photo enthusiasts at the workshops. Hobbyists can develop a social network of friends with whom they can share photos, critique each others work and advise on new camera equipment, for example, while semiprofessional photographers can develop a social network of peers with whom they can critique each others work, brainstorm story ideas, share contacts and help each other get jobs. Whether a photographer is learning new techniques to take better family portraits or to create abstract art, photography is a fulfilling hobby that can have substantial health and social benefits. The pleasure of taking pictures can help photographers find a healthy distraction from the stresses of their daily lives and enable them to see the world through different perspectives. Photography can bring people from different backgrounds, professional disciplines and even generations together as well. By washing away these differences that might otherwise obstruct a relationship, photography can help people form strong and long-lasting bonds. It can also help shy people open up to others.  Candace Bradshaw, 29, Jill Davis, 29, and Konda Dizon, 52, are former co-workers, friends and emerging photographers from Rome, Georgia. Jill, Candace, and Konda’s relationship demonstrates how photography workshops can help strengthen friendships, particularly among people with age differences and different family situations. Their bond also shows how co-workers who share a hobby can improve their professional relationship by engaging in an activity together. Until recently, Jill, Candace, and Konda worked together at Floyd Medical Center. Jill was a Registered Nurse in the Emergency Room, Candace was a Registered Nurse in the Pediatric Intermediate Care Unit, and Konda was a Pediatric and Neonatal Specialist. Candace and Konda still work together at Floyd Medical, though Jill now works at Hamilton Medical Center in Dalton, Georgia. Jill has two sons, Case, 3.5, and Cody, 2; Konda has two grandchildren, Gracie, 3.5, and Beau, 6 months; and Candace doesn’t have any children. In November 2007, Jill, Candace, and Konda drove two hours from Northeastern Georgia for an intimate, one-day intermediate level photography workshop at the Digital Photo Academy (DPA) in Atlanta. Jill, Candace, and Konda learned a variety of tips and techniques from their DPA instructor, commercial photographer Joel Silverman, and they also learned from each other. Coincidentally, two doctors from the Southwestern town of Albany drove to Atlanta for the very same workshop the following week.  The day after Christmas, TakeGreatPictures.com contributing writer David Kross spoke with Jill, Candace, Konda and Joel about the benefits of photography workshops. * * * * Candace, Jill and Konda said they’ve learned more from photography workshops than any photography books they’ve read. They appreciate the opportunity to receive feedback from master photographers and enjoy meeting other hobbyists, too. They’re planning to carpool to Atlanta to take the advanced DPA workshop with Joel.   “I learned a lot from Joel,” Jill said. “He taught us how to take better outdoor shots by timing them right.” “Joel taught us how to get good natural light on people’s faces when taking portraits,” Konda added. “We were able to go out and actually see the difference.” Joel also gave Candace, Jill and Konda an introduction to Photoshop photo-editing software. “All of us were trying to figure Photoshop out on our own,” Candace said. “Joel taught us how to use some of the most important tools in the program to fix lighting problems, and how to fix those problems when you’re actually taking the picture by adjusting the settings on the camera.”  The DPA has 53 instructors in 20 different cities across the United States. The Academy attracts a diverse community of semi-professional photographers and hobbyists. Workshops are offered for beginner, intermediate, and advanced level photographers, and classes range from 5 to 15 students. Joel teaches the Atlanta workshops, though his students tend to come from all over the state. “One of my most satisfying experiences as a workshop instructor has been the frequent occasions when students have traveled great distances for the opportunity to improve their photography,” Joel said. “I was particularly impressed by the work of Candace, Jill and Konda. Each of them takes sensitive and skillful photographs of their family and travels, and have banded together as friends to learn more about the technical and artistic nuances of good photography.”   According to Joel, the biggest thing that people can get out of a workshop is the feedback of a group. By engaging with other photographers at workshops, students can absorb a variety of ideas, viewpoints and techniques that they otherwise might not have considered. “When you shoot on your own, there are so many things to learn with the digital technology on top of all the things that make a photograph good in the first place,” Joel explained. “You need to know what makes a great image and how to tell a story through your pictures, which is very hard to learn on your own. “One thing I always do in these courses is I ask my students to bring their own work to class so that everyone can share and learn as a group,” he said. “By seeing the kinds of pictures other people are taking and also by getting people’s feedback on your own pictures, you can learn what makes a great photo. When I see groups of people like Candace, Jill and Konda coming to the workshops, they’re learning so much faster and developing so much better skills because they’re pairing up and sharing with each other.”  Emerging photographers and hobbyists can continue sharing with other photo enthusiasts they meet at the workshops in many ways. They can email each other images and share feedback, interact with each other in online photography blogs, and, if distance isn’t an issue, they can meet in person to take pictures at one of their favorite locations. Candace, Jill and Konda enjoy showing each other photos from their recent vacations and family gatherings and, of course, their latest candid portraits. They give each other feedback, share tips and techniques and let each other know about the best local sites for taking great pictures. Sometimes Candace goes to Jill’s to take photos of Jill’s boys. All three are brainstorming a shoot together this winter. “We’ve gotten to know each other through photography,” explained Jill. “I ask Konda for locations to get some good shots because she tells us about places we wouldn’t expect. For instance, there’s a private school nearby called Darlington that has a lake on the campus. I didn’t realize you could take pictures there but you can.” Candace had taken an online photography workshop about lighting techniques so the last time Jill did an indoor family shoot Candace came over and helped her set up. Jill said she was thrilled with how the pictures turned out.   “I think it’s a benefit to share ideas with other people,” Konda said. Work in the ER is minute-by-minute, and though most of Konda and Candace’s patients in pediatrics have scheduled appointments, they sometimes care for children with serious problems who come to the hospital unexpectedly. “You’re dealing with life and health issues,” Candace said, “and that can be very stressful for the families.” Viewing the world through a camera lens can enable people to appreciate different perspectives and see the many sides of life, and taking pictures can help people relax and relieve stress from their daily routines. “Photography enriches our relationship and gives us something outside of work that isn’t stressful that we can really enjoy,” Candace said. “It also gives us a stronger foundation for our work relationship.” “Photography pulls you away from the stressful world,” Konda added. “You can go outside and there’s no one there but you and your subject. You go to your own world to take the picture.”  * * * * Jill and Candace met in 1997. They were working together at a bank. Jill bought her first 35mm camera that year. She enrolled in a photography course Georgia Highlands College in Rome and quickly fell in love with taking pictures. Candace later left the bank for another branch. A few years passed and Jill decided to enroll in nursing school. Unexpectedly, Jill ran into a familiar face in class – her old friend Candace. During nursing school Jill had no idea Candace had become a budding photographer herself. Candace’s mother had given her a Nikon N65 35mm camera for Christmas in 2002. She’d started out by reading photography books and taking a photography course at Floyd College. “People can take community college classes everywhere,” she said. “They’re really good for a beginner because you get to interact with other photographers in class. You can ask questions and, unlike with books, there’s someone there who can demonstrate the techniques.”   Candace has taken four photography workshops total, including the course at Floyd College, the DPA workshop with Joel, a darkroom class at the Art Institute of Atlanta, and an online seminar. Konda began taking pictures eight years ago. Like Jill, she took a photography class at Georgia Highlands College. During the eight-week course she learned about different ways to take pictures, how a 35mm camera works, and a little bit about how to develop film in the darkroom. She eventually bought a Nikon D 50 digital SLR camera. Since the birth of her grandchildren, Konda said she’s taking more pictures than ever. “At first I thought ‘there’s nothing as good as a 35mm camera,’ but buying a digital camera was probably the best thing I ever did,” she explained. “I like to take pictures of my grandchildren, and with the digital camera, you can take a lot more pictures because you don’t feel like you’re wasting your money on film.”  Now, Jill, Candace, and Konda all shoot with digital SLR cameras. Jill photographs bulls and cowboys at her family’s rodeo arena with a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, Candace documents her and her husband’s camping trips with a Nikon D70, and Konda captures her granddaughter’s tea parties with a Nikon D50. Like Konda, Jill loves to take portraits. Her favorite subjects are her sons. Konda’s friendship with Jill shows how photography can help bring together people that might not have a lot in common. “For a long time I didn’t know Jill,” Konda recalled. “Then one day she brought some pictures to work. I saw them and said, ‘Who took these?’ We got to talking and found out we both loved photography. What’s funny is we enjoy the same type of photography, mainly pictures of kids, close-ups, and outdoors shots.”  Joel is an active member of Advertising Photographers of America (APA), an organization that provides professional advertising photographers with educational programs, conferences, meetings and online forums to network and build friendships with fellow commercial photographers. Joel learns from other APA members in the same way Candace, Jill and Konda learn from each other – by showing other photographers his work, asking them for advice, and putting their feedback into practice.
“In school, of course you learn a lot in a concentrated way but then when you leave school you’re on your own and most photographers are solo practitioners,” Joel explained. “The only way I continue to learn is through the friendships that I’ve made with other professional photographers. Especially with the digital age, products are advancing rapidly and there are always so many new techniques to learn. The only way to keep up is to get together with people who are shooting everyday and share knowledge.
“Sometimes I’ll call up friends of mine who are experienced commercial photographers and say ‘Hey, I’m shooting something I’ve never done before. How would you do this? What lens would you use? What lighting technique would you use?’ I’ll also ask business questions like ‘Do you know any assistants I can hire in that town I’m traveling to?’ It’s hard to be an island. You have to reach out and make friendships to continue to learn new things.”
Joel encourages budding photographers to take photography workshops and learn how to take better pictures by sharing their opinions in a group.
“A lot of hobbyists and non-professional photographers shoot when they have a chance,” Joel explained. “They shoot family events, vacations, weekend hikes in the woods… They take pictures but they don’t always have time to talk about photography and learn about photography in a really concentrated way.
“I think workshops are a really great opportunity for people to set aside the whole day or even half a day just to learn new skills and talk to a professional photographer and fellow non-professional photographers about what makes a good picture,” he said. “If you do it by yourself, you don’t have anyone to critique you. It’s not just pushing a button. It’s about trying to tell a story through a photograph and enriching their own stories through friendships.”
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