The April Improving the Photographic Nude Workshop and Digital Printing Workshop Behind the Scenes
Group Photo during the April Photo Workshop
Our first workshop of the season couldn’t have gone any better! We were blessed with wonderful weather on Wildcat Hill as we welcomed 9 participants to our home. Our models for the weekend were Jennifer Jones, Steph Sinn, and Her Stillness Dances. These models are the utmost professional and are always such a pleasure to work with! The participants were amazed with how well they moved and were able to achieve the exact pose they were looking for.
We photographed for two full days on Wildcat Hill and wrapped up the workshop at The Weston Collective making digital inkjet prints. All prints were from images that were created during the workshop which was a real treat. It is a good lesson to make images and then follow up almost immediately with seeing them on print. Everyone in the workshop created beautiful images that looked amazing on our photographic papers. We started printing images small on each of the papers to see which one was suited best for the image. When a favorite was selected, we then printed a big, 16x20 print!
Day One Photographing on Wildcat Hill
Photo Evaluations
We always review the previous days work before beginning photographing for the day. We ask participants to submit 5 images that they think are their most powerful from the previos days work. We then go through each photographer’s work and examine the composition. We have the artist talk about what they were going for when they took the picture. It is extremely important to have a reason why the image was created. It can be as simple as the way the light was on the model but that thought has to be there. There are a lot of subconscious thoughts that go into an image that the photographer might not even be aware of, and these photo evaluations bring these thoughts to the surface.
Another great reason to go over the work the next day is that the photographer can then re-visit a scene if they think they could have done better or gone deeper into the photograph. Having two days of photography allows the artist to get an image that they might have not gotten to the previous day.
Day Two Photographing on Wildcat Hill
The two days of photography is key during our Wildcat Hill workshops. Day I everyone is getting a feel for the space and working with the models. Day II allows participants to revisit certain scenes and tackle an idea that they either didn’t get to on day I or want to improve on. It is always fun to see the progression from day one to day two!
