Photography Workshop – Village of Grand Traverse Commons Barns

Bevin and I were chatting on Facebook when we decided to host another photography workshop. This time the workshop was located at the barns in the former State Hospital Grounds in Traverse City. We didn’t have too much time to plan. We gave ourselves less than a week. We invited people through Facebook and word spread. The turnout was HUGE. I’m not sure exactly how many people, models and photographers, showed up but everyone seemed to have a great time. We were honored to also have a former National Geographic Photographer attend. How cool is that?

Bruce Dale approached me during the workshop and handed me his card. I never met him before and didn’t recognize the name. We talked casually about the workshops and how they operate. Generally people just show up and start shooting. I believe that the only way to improve is by doing. It helps to compare your photographs with the photos of others and to talk about technique and share ideas. My own learning process is by trial and error.

Bruce was with me when I was talking to one of the moms about our model release forms. I told her that the photographers who attend the workshops normally use the photos for portfolio and not for selling. Just then Bruce piped up and said that he has 2,000 images in the National Geographic and was there to test a prototype Panasonic camera. I later discovered it was a Lumix GH2. He said he was going to use the images at the Photokina fair in Germany. My jaw dropped. Wow! That’s impressive! Bruce has too many accomplishments to list here. It’s probably best to hear it in his own words.

30 Years of BAD Pictures from Bruce Dale on Vimeo.

I am glad he came to our workshop and I can’t wait to see the resulting video and images. As I said. We had several very talented photographers and models who attended. I love to see all the creativity that comes from getting people together with a common interest and artistic goal in mind. It’s the main reason I do these workshops. (update: The local newspaper did a story about this. You can read it by CLICKING  HERE.)

Lindsy Laway and Kent Wicksell. These two didn’t know each other but they look like they do.

Lindsy Laway came all the way from Charlevoix.

Katie Withrow

Katie is a student at Michigan State University.

Michigan State has some of the prettiest girls. (I may be a little biased because of my alumni status)

Charlotte Morgan has been wanting to come to a workshop for a long time. She finally made it.

These two are sisters. Can you tell? Amy and Leslie Sevenski. I’ve worked with Leslie before. This is Amy’s first time.

Amy has the look of a great model.

Arielle LaHaye

I had Arielle look at me from under a sunflower. I love the effect of the color reflecting on her face.

Michelle Michael and I went to the corn field to try and get a good shot.
It was difficult holding the reflector with one hand and the camera in the other.

Bevin and I are planning more workshops in the future. We love getting together with people and exercising our creativity. Besides, you never know who might show up to a workshop. Maybe next time it will be Annie Leibovitz.