Two Workshops

[semrich]

This past June and September I participated in two six day "Street Photography" workshops. The first in June was with Peter Turnley held in Istanbul and the second was with David Turnley in New York City.

These were my first ever workshops, and while I often questioned the value of taking a workshop I decided mainly because it was in Istanbul (no travel and hotel expenses except a daily commute) and an opportunity for six straight days of dedicated street shooting with a theme in mind, and it being edited by a photojournalist with over thirty years looking through a viewfinder. Because I was commuting each day I chose to shoot a theme of "Moving About Istanbul" that included different means people use to get around daily. Below is the link to a gallery of images from the Peter's final eidt:

http://www.rweatheredgallery.com/p858109440

The decision for the second workshop was almost identical, I was already going to be visiting the States and staying near NYC in Connecticut (again no travel and hotel expenses except a daily commute) and another big city but different venue for another six day intensive shooting experience. Again I choose a theme of "Getting About NYC" that gave me extended hours of shooting during my daily commute into the city. Below is the link to a gallery of images from the David's final eidt:

http://www.rweatheredgallery.com/p666010898

Peter and David are twins and both started into photography when they were 18 and have impressive backgrounds, though different enough in their workshops to provide a unique experience . During each workshop we were given presentations from other photographers with equally impressive backgrounds, not much if any gear talk just lots of photos, my own and each of the other participants photos were shown daily and during the final edit process.

It was interesting to notice some shots I would have deleted made the final edit and others I liked didn't. Now I leave them open to the comments here where I have learned so much over the years since I joined this esteemed group of photographers.

 

[Damaso]

Interesting to hear the perspective of someone who has been through these workshops. How much do you feel like you learned from your instructors and how much one on one time did you get?

Many of the Istanbul images feel a bit too distant and I wouldn't know that you were living there just by the photos. That said the last image in the gallery is really great.

I kinda feel the same way about your second set. I think you are about 80% there. Keep shooting and thanks so much for sharing...

 

[robert blu]

It would be interesting to know which picture you had left out and pass the editing. I prefer the NYC but agree with the need of a tighter edit. The Istanbul set I find a little too conventional as way of framing (no offense intended, just my taste which could be wrong of course!). From Istanbul serie I prefer N° 1 and 4 (if you can give more contrast).
From NYC 1-11-20-42 and absolutely great N° 53 (again just my opinion).
firmly believe in human interaction and when workshops can make this happen they are always usefull.
robert

 

[Roma]

Just as others said, it would be interesting to hear what you've learned.

How helpful to you were the workshops in taking/editing those photos?

How different would those photos be if you just took a week off and photographed the same project in Istambul or NYC without the workshop?

 

[Keith]

Hi Richard,

For some reason #37 in the second set really hit me between the eyes ... I think it's a fantastic photograph!

Overall I thought the NYC set had a lot more going for it.

 

[robert blu]

After reading Keith comment I add 37 (NYC) to my list!
rob

 

[Allan Reade]

Some great images, I agree that the NY set is stronger.
My favourites from Istanbul are 1 and 14, and 56, 67 and 68 from NY.
Great work.
Allan

 

[semrich]

Thanks guys for taking the time to comment, let me see if I can condense the answers to questions you all have posed.

In istanbul we were challenged to shoot with one lens and relatively wide. So I shot all week with that on my M8, effectively 37mm, I shoot film and 50mm, except these workshops required digital, and now use a 35mm much more with film. Also to keep lens caps off and wrap the camera strap around the wrist, I never use lens caps and only use wrist straps. Not much changed there. We were to do "street photography" shooting with a theme in mind, up until that point I just wandered the streets any where I happened to be taking shots of whatever interested me. Now I shoot more with a theme in mind.

In New York, we were not limited in anyway, though those with DSLR's and zoom lenses were encourage to stay wide and get in closer. I did see some remarkable improvement in that respect from several of the participants.

The one-on-one time was mostly during the daily and final edit process and suggestions were made for improvement. In Istanbul we were shown around different areas of the city, all familiar to me and I preferred to go off on my own (I cover a lot of distance just wandering around, jumping on and off all manner of public transit, and coming upon unusual scenes). In New York we were given suggestions for themes and then went about the business of shooting them.

The one most significant thing I got out of doing both workshops was working with the knowledge that these shots could go up on a website with little if no post processing and I shot without thinking "I can just crop it". I'm now much more inclined to continue shooting without a need for cropping.

My shots for both themes represent nothing more than people I encountered, within the context of their surroundings, of getting around both cities on foot, by bike, cab, train, subway and bus, etc. It got me out of willy nilly shooting just about anything in sight. It certainly got me to focus on my photography for 6 days straight in both cities. I agree that the New York edit is to big and I might have picked different shots, but as I've looked at them again I see them differently and why they were picked.

And for Robert, when I'm next at the computer with those files I'll post one that was a difficult choice that I might have made instead. I'll also be going through many of them and be posting them in the Gallery.

 

[robert blu]

Thanks Richard for appreciated answer to the various questions, you know people, and me of course, are curious 😉
robert

 

[semrich]

Here is one of two shots I took on the subway, this one was not picked during the final edit. Bottom line I would have to pick one and still am not sure which it would be. I think the one for the final edit exhibited a bit of tension, while this one a total lack of tension.