Well I must have caught a few bugs at least from the past week with everyone... Aside from a runny nose I took away a new skill of being able to engage people on their own level and outside of my comfort zone. I was able to care a little more about people and get past my personal walls of narrow view and depth of vision concerning a scene and people in general that usually I wouldn't think twice about.
I was able to grow photographically by learning a wide variety of things from focusing on layering my images better to quickly reading a scene and evaluating how to capture parts of it. I learned to look a little past the obvious, and instead of seeing blank faces I was able to see people... and talk to them. Once I was able to get past the fear of talking to strangers, the comfort of being a fly on the wall and looking at my assignment as "nothing going on" I found myself sitting for long stints of time talking to people about their lost loved ones, their pets, their pasts, and their lives in general. I was amazed at how cool a lot of people really are when you give them a chance and open your mind. My photos went from a lot of the backs of people's heads to more faces and genuine interaction (well as much as goes on at a truck stop between strangers ^_^ and without me joining in on Trucker showering action).
A HUGE thanks to Huy and all the crew for making it all happen, and a personal thanks to Tim Zeilenbach and Cheryl Diaz Meyer for sticking it to me and encouraging me to get out of my comfort zone and change as a person. Also a big thanks to Linda for having a warm sense of faith in me. It really was a personal challenge for me to shoot the truck stop as it was not an ideal assignment for me at first. I'm sure I will still do the "tilty-tilty" or kill people with my "frickin' wide angle verticles", and super fisheye madness to a degree, but at the very least but most importantly I feel like I became a better human being. There are many tidbits and skills that I can apply to my wedding photography that I feel will help me grow as a photographer and hopefully show through in the images I make in the future.
Now I'll share some random pics from the week... nothing special really... other than that they're of people I like. ^_^ I didn't take that many pics at all, and on a lot of them are very snappy... but here they are
Dennis introducing the speakers
Sergio working the Trio
L to R: Amy Huy Anna
Sergio working the Group shot "Just say Seerrggiiiooooohhh"
Caught Bill and Anne being cute
Piggy back
CamRon checking for rattles after it hit the floor...
Linda
Cold enough that Mimi Tsai had to use the candle for warmth
Me and a trucker
Cheryl's mini excercise about wide angle lens use
Layering the scene of the room? CamRon center working her wide angle
L to R: Cheryl, Cameron, Linda
Everyday scene
Does this need a caption?
JoeG and Tem framing my scene
Late night editing
Leigh and Cameroon
JoeG
Look! a real moment!!!
"I'll give you a moment" ~ Cameron
Amy and Cameron framing my scene
Clockwise from bottom (6 o'clock position): Me, Linda, Serigo, Cameron, Tem
Cameron late night munchin'
Katrina working her scene: JoeG and Nicole
That's about it... there's a few more in this directory if you wanna see, but pretty much the same stuff: http://www.scottandtemphotography.com/fw4/
Thanks to all the staff, and every single person who honored me with the friendship and words of wisdom, comedy, and encouragement. Words honestly are not enough to really express how much the workshop and the people meant to me... but there they are.
