![\"\"](\"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Zion-Group-580x387.jpg\" "\\"Zion")
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Well, I’m at the end of another season of workshops and it’s been a \u00a0great year!!!! \u00a0I love teaching and it is really a pleasure to see so many students see their own work get better and better! \u00a0I don’t take credit for that, but I do attribute that to their hard work, but it’s nice to know I’ve steerred them in the right direction! \u00a0Around the end of each season I realize that I’ve learned even more myself and have learned some new things about how to make a workshop more fun and productive. I thought it would be nice to share those thoughts with \u00a0you! \u00a0So here goes some suggestions, insights and observations that can make 2017 even better for all of us!<\/p>\n
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1. \u00a0Don’t take it so serious, but then do take it serious enough<\/span>!!!!<\/span><\/strong> \u00a0A workshop should be a lot of things; a learning expereince, a time to get better at your craft, a time to get in touch with your own visioin, and it should be fun, lots of laughter, lots of new friendss, and fellowhiop with old ones. When you get \u00a0home you should feast on all those magic moments standing before grandeur with people you really enjoyed being with! \u00a0Your goal should be to learn and put yourself under a little pressure to really get a little better, but not to the point that it ruins the fun aspect of a workshop. No none ever goes to a workshop as beginner and leaves a seasoned master of the craft, that takes time, practice and lots of field time and study! \u00a0Accept each workshop as a step in the direction you want to go to, and enjoy it!!!!!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 2. \u00a0Come ready to embrace the experience<\/span>!<\/span><\/strong> \u00a0 Workshops are frantic and the hours are long, the learning intense and the scenery is often overwhlming! \u00a0You need to arrive at a workshp rested, and you’ll need a recovery time after one!!! \u00a0 If you are rested you will learn better and hear more of what is shared with you! \u00a0Concentration is required to pick up on all the things that get shared, and passed along.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 3. \u00a0Be sure you pick the “right” workshop<\/span>!<\/strong><\/span> \u00a0Research the workshop company and see what others that have attended have to say about the experience. The word gets out about workshops, some are truly well planned and run by expereinced leaders that put the students first, others, not so much! \u00a0There are a lot of really good workshops run by great shooters and instructors, but some are not so well planned and not all instructors are effective teachers or care a great deal about the students learning. \u00a0That is not meant as criticism, but for the last few years I’ve been working with one of the best workshop providers in the business, Jack Graham. \u00a0Jack says he learned it all from \u00a0me, and I doubt that seriously, but if he learned anything from me, he has worked very hard to build it into much more. \u00a0You worked hard for \u00a0your money, spend it wisely!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 4. \u00a0Know your camera<\/span>!<\/span><\/strong> \u00a0It is very important that you know how to set your camera, and you have your camera manual close-by! \u00a0A good instructor will help you get the most out of your camera and lenses. \u00a0When the light is perfect, you want to be capturing it, not fiddling with your camera!!!! \u00a0We worry a great deal about whether or not we havve enough mega pixles, when we all \u00a0have cameras that can make amazing images, we will be better off if we simply learn how to use the camera we already have!!!!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 5. \u00a0This is a tough one, accept that when you submit images for review that the instructors will still find areas that you need to improve on<\/span>.<\/strong><\/span> \u00a0 It’s easy to start to believe we are incredible photographers, I’ve even thought that about myself, but the reality is we are all students needing to learn more and make improvements. A review can help us sort out what we need to improve on. \u00a0If you truly want to get better, you have to accept that we are not there yet, I certainly know I’m not, and it keeps me hungry to learn and get better!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 6. \u00a0Try to help your instructors to give you what they want you to have, a great experience<\/span>!<\/span><\/strong> \u00a0Know that your leaders have worked really hard to be sure they get you to the best spots in the best light, (when possible), and they really want you to learn and have fun! \u00a0 Understand that the leaders often get to the workshop location a few days early to finish the work they do for you. Even though it is tempting to try to find them and hang out with them for those extra days, it is not fair to the rest of the attendees if the leaders don’t get their scouting and planning finished. \u00a0The hardest thing for a leader to do is to not spend time with valued \u00a0students, in many cases old friends, but our greatest obligation is to make the right peparations for all our guests! \u00a0After all, your experience is paramount!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 7. \u00a0Make sure that the workshop you are attending is the right level for you<\/span>!<\/span><\/strong> \u00a0 Some workshops are aimed at the beginner others to intermediate photographers some to only the very advanced! \u00a0Ask \u00a0your leaders when looking into a workshop if they think you will be a good fit for them, and they will be a good fit for you!! \u00a0A good workshop leader will not steer you wrong \u00a0just to get your money!!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I hope that helps as you think about where to attend a worlshop in 2017!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Blessings,<\/p>\n <\/p>\n the pilgrim<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Well, I’m at the end of another season of workshops and it’s been a \u00a0great year!!!! \u00a0I love teaching and it is really a pleasure to see so many students see their own work get better and better! \u00a0I don’t take credit for that, but I do attribute that to their hard work, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronicles"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18446"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18456,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18446\/revisions\/18456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}