Holland Photo Arts — Charlottesville Wedding Photographers

There are few experiences that one can have professionally that encompass pushing yourself beyond your fear, learning your strengths and weaknesses in your art, and finding a path toward more fulfilling work, all within the warm confines of a loving workshop environment. Each February for the past several years, I’ve been lucky enough to be a part, first as participants with Anne, then as faculty, and for the past few years as workshop director/coordinator of the Foundation Workshop. And each year I look forward to returning to Dallas, to the friends and colleagues that I know and love, and those I’m meeting for the first time, and feel what it is as people and as photographers they have to offer.

The workshop serves to teach principles of photojournalism to wedding photographers so that they can make better images. That’s the surface way of describing it. But it’s a little deeper than that, and the approach to it is a little different than most workshops. Whereas you might otherwise be able to just sit and listen, and perhaps ask a question or two here or there, or even shoot a model, Foundation gives you a day’s worth of classroom training and exercises, then sends you off into the field to create a story from your assignment. This could range from documenting a wild cat sanctuary, to visitors to the oldest diner in Texas, to an organic tree farm, to an interstate truck stop. The assignments are wide ranging and made specifically to challenge the participants who come. They receive in-field feedback from mentors, and then listen to the team leaders with the rest of their five-person team at night to go through each image shot during the day to discover strengths and weaknesses and to help identify the story. In this way the participants are better able to approach their own photography by overcoming those obstacles to creating better images.

Everyone is different in this regard, and everyone learns at a different pace, but everyone comes to Foundation with an open mind and an open heart. We’re there to share and to learn and, while the hours are very long and the assignments and editing sessions tough, to also have a good time. I can’t possibly think of another way I would rather spend a week each winter, and this workshop is something I look forward to every year. I believe in the concept, because I’ve seen the results in both Anne’s and my work, as well as those of others. I believe in the people, as the vast majority of our faculty members return year after year to continue to give of themselves. And I love them all for it.

I’m so grateful to continue to have the opportunity to direct the workshop, and look forward to collaborating with the faculty over the coming year to make FW8 next February the best one yet. If you’re a photographer and interested in pushing yourself in ways you never thought possible and in ways you’ll not get anywhere else, please visit fworkshop.com or just give us a call. We’ll soon set dates and tuition for 2010, and if last year is any indication, we expect to sell out the available slots very quickly (last year it sold out in 24 hours).

I can’t wait for next February, but in the meantime have only this to say to FW7′s cadre of incredibly talented faculty and staff:

Traveling home

On the way back from Dallas, we stopped briefly in Memphis because we had never been, and of course took in much of what was to see at Graceland, wandered around and got some great BBQ at Corky’s, and headed downtown for a short bit before leaving that night for home. Here are a few images from our afternoon there.

Starting out at Graceland, this was in the area where Elvis enjoyed entertaining (the bar is to camera-right):

The pool room. It’s the first one we’ve seen covered in fabric like this.

Lots of visitors to the mansion posed for this kind of picture, which made us laugh.

A good number of people visit the gravesites of Elvis and his family, and many bring flowers, trinkets, and other items to lay on the ground.

A quick grab shot outside the front of the mansion.

This totally made us laugh!

It’s hard to see here, but the mansion is in the background above and to the right of the rock’s apex.

We visited Corky’s for lunch. Sorry, Tyler, but we’ll have to hit Rendevous another time (but honestly, I think Corky’s BBQ might be giving them a run for their money.)

We then headed downtown to see some of the sights near Beale St. Here was a dog waiting for passengers to enjoy for a horse-drawn carriage ride.

These street acrobats wowed the crowd with their antics.

There was music everywhere, as you can imagine.