So in 2008 and 2009 I was lucky enough to attend the DoD photography workshop. Only 25 photographers are selected from the entire Department of Defense including civil service photographers. The staff and presenters at this thing are a who's who in our field. Joe McNally, Greg Hren, Jamie Rose, Earnie Grafton and Mary Calvert to name a few. Plus they bring the top military shooters from all the branches to mentor the attendees. JT locke, Bennie Davis , Tom Sperduto are just a couple I was lucky enough to meet.
The first year I attended I was on Earnie Grafton and Bennie Davis' team Earnie is a retired Marine Gunnery Sergeant who won multiple military photographer of the year awards, he currently works for the San Diego Union Tribune. Bennie is a super talented Air Force photographer who works for Airman Magazine. So the way the workshop works is the first day all the presenters give presentations of their work or classes they have prepared and speak to the group about how they go about their craft etc... After that we break up into teams and receive our assignments. We shoot for the rest of the week and present our top ten at the end of the week. Judging then takes place and winners are decided.
My Assignment was a stable in Columbia, MD. At this point in my life I was a very timid photographer. So the majority of the stuff I was getting involved not having to speak to people. Once my mentors visited the stable they offered some advice and motivated me to keep shooting and focus on a human element.
The experience was absolutely amazing and the mentorship you receive at the workshop is beyond incredible. If this was a civilian workshop being able to have access to these genius' in our field as mentors for a week would probably cost you well over $3,000 IMO. This was honestly the best experience of my entire Military career.
This was the one photo that wound up in my top ten that I honestly still don't get. I love Earnie, and think he has an amazing photography and editing eye, but to this day this one boggles my mind.
Not much else to say about the 2008 workshop, I enjoyed it soo much I had to come back....
Ok so in 2009 I applied again with an entirely new portfolio, and was selected again to attend the workshop. This time I was lucky enough to be placed on the Incomparable JT Locke's team. JT's approach, work ethic and knowledge is simply astonishing to behold, he really opened my eyes during this workshop. My assignment this time was the WWII memorial in DC. I was still coming out of my shell a little bit at this point in time. I was also getting married a week after the workshop took place and was anticipating a change in duty assignment in the Military, so my mind was a little preoccupied to say the least.
Just like the last workshop I spent the first part being frustrated with myself, and struggling to find anything worthwhile. I got a couple decent shots but never really honed in and made the set of images center around one theme. I ended up trying to theme the images around the mixture of old and young that enjoy the monument, the old because they understand the sacrifice and really appreciate what this monument truly means. The young just enjoy being around the fountain and being out on a beautiful DC day do they truly understand the meaning of the monument, probably not but they enjoy it just the same.
After a site visit from JT and a couple pep talks I just let it all go said screw it and on my final day of shooting tried some more interesting angles took some chances and engaged with more people than I did the entire rest of the week. I think we ended up using 6 or 7 images from that morning in my final selects.
I absolutely love that umbrella photo, I took it based on some advice from JT. The camera is resting on the ground and I'm no looking through the viewfinder just pressing the shutter as I hold it as low as possible. It givers the viewer the feeling of being under the umbrella. Before attending these workshops I was just focused on taking cool looking photos, but learned that I really need to be focusing on Moments. Capturing the emotion and rare glimpses in time when a person will let you in to their soul.
While I never won anything from either workshop, the experience was absolutely priceless, I gained a greater understanding for my craft and there are still some things I learned that took a couple years to really sink in. This workshop helped me grow so much as a photographer and as a person and I highly recommend any Military shooter to attend, it will literally change your life. Not to mention the mentorship doesn't end at the workshop, every one of the mentors would be more than happy to give you their info and encourage you to continue seeking critiques from them.
Alrite now that I'm back in the swing of things and stuff has settled down a little for me hopefully I can keep this thing going. Until next time Cliqers Peace - Mike W.
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