Huy asked me to give a general overview of the experience that was F4, so here’s a basic review of the week in my eyes (okay, so it’s a bit long…blame Huy b/c he saw a rough draft and approved it!) :)
We arrive on Sunday to a flurry of activity. Smiles and hugs abound. The bonding begins almost immediately. Sunday night we were treated to an amazing Mexican feast at the home of Huy's business partner, Gary D. The food and company was fabulous. We all left there with full bellies and happy spirits.
Monday began early as we were transported to the Storybook Ranch for a day of seminars.
A personal note: David Leeson was my team leader. I first noticed him on Monday, standing toward the back of the group, ball cap down low on his face, a stubble of a beard, and very quiet. When he was introduced as the first speaker a new friend sitting next to me agreed; “Whoa- He looks INTENSE!" And for about two minutes I was rather nervous about being in David's group.
Then David began to speak.
There was a connection to his words that made myself and, I'm sure, the rest of my group feel immediately at ease and ready for an amazing workshop. Like David, the rest of the speakers were, in a word, inspirational. Cheryl was completely profound and articulate. Huy was, as usual, filled with fall-out-of-your-chair inspiration. The day ended with Amy giving us inspiration and encouragement through her wonderful photography and heartfelt convictions for making images.
That evening we met in our small groups (and the fun began). The team leaders gave out our assignments as we sat in the small groups and this was the first time we each were privy to what we were to shoot over the next two days.
For the most part, many of the Life assignments were rather difficult b/c we had to FIND the story in the assignment. The "story" was not laid out for us. This gave us the opportunity to get out of our comfort zone w/ weddings. In a wedding we KNOW the story. We know whom to shoot and why. But here in the workshop we had to put our skills and instincts to work to FIND what was worthwhile and create a photo essay from our findings.
My assignment was the SPCA (where I was promised 161 fighting roosters but was sadly let down by humane people who saved the roosters before I arrived for my assignment- oh the disappointment!). So I prepared myself to find a story somewhere between the cute little puppies and sweet little cats. Other assignments were similar (a Christian school, a truck stop, a SWAT team, a fire station, a sheep farm... find the story)
Tuesday we shot all day. After our assignments we came back to the hotel for an evening of critique with our team leaders and coaches. It was long, exhausting and, mostly, it was a struggle. No one was able to get lost in the shuffle of the workshop. No one was able to skate by in their assignment. Everyone was humbled after that first day of shooting. I can say honestly that I saw men and women alike shed some tears. Not bawling, hysterical tears, but rather tears of frustration and exhaustion. There were feelings of humbleness and of relief that the whole "being exposed" part of the process was over and we could all now go on and shoot with out egos or fear.
Basically we were broken down to a point where our individual pride or comfort zone was no longer an issue. Once we were down to that point, there was nowhere else to go but up.
David Murray had a great way of explaining it. He said, "This is a re-birth."
After an intense first day, we all went BACK out to our assignments on Wednesday and re-shot the whole thing. Some people shot to finish their photo essay. Some people started over with a new story. And some people just wanted to go home. The rest of the day/night Wednesday and all day Thursday we went through our images with our team leaders and edited (”Feel the PAIN of editing OUT an image you are married to!"). David had a great lesson for our team in editing, and we had some lively and thought-provoking conversations about 'tight edits', how many images we give in our weddings, and what impact that number of images may (or may not) have on our clients.
On Thursday night the workshop again provided a fabulous meal at a gorgeous location in downtown Dallas. I'm sorry I can't remember the name of where we were. But suffice it to say it was a very nice atmosphere and a pleasant way to end the week. Oh yeah, and the OPEN BAR certainly helped the happy, shiny feelings as well.
During our farewell party each group presented a slideshow of each, individual assignment. It was so awesome to see the assignments and the GROWTH each photographer had during the week. Seeing the thought process take a NEW turn for each photographer during the week was totally amazing. Again, it was a re-birth.
A personal note; once we got our assignments on Monday night to presenting the images on Thursday night I slept a TOTAL of about 5-6 hours. And even those naps weren't solid sleep. They were restless and difficult, filled with my thoughts on various comments about my images, conversations with David, discussions with my team coaches (Bill H. and Tyler W.- AMAZING coaches and completely FABULOUS people!), and searching my soul to see WHERE I could possibly pull any more out of myself to put into a stupid story about cats and dogs. Heh.
But in the end I think I found something inside. In the end I found a passion and a way to see "beneath the emulsion."
The workshop was an experience I am so thankful to have shared.
The End.
