03 | April | 2012 | CJ's Workshops

The very first FI workshop was a resounding success! What a wonderful time we had. It was a nicely diverse and creative group, very open to the whole experience and what they could get from the workshop experience. From learning to work with a plastic toy camera, to developing film, to learning about exposure, lighting, bringing out personality and steering a session, to crazy underwater experiments, we did it all and talked about how to apply it to our everyday lives and work. The attendees flew in from California, Ohio, and Pennsylvania to attend.

Some great feedback from Kathy Wolfe, who is a wonderful portrait and commercial photographer based in Pittsburgh:

We had a very small group and maybe that contributed to the intimacy and awesomeness of it, but I’ve been so anti-workshop over the years thinking there was really nothing out there that I didnt already know or have left to be taught, however was proved wrong. We shot holgas and not only was there a wonderful lesson on creativity , it was much more a lesson in who you are.. There were no models, no smoke and mirrors, just us, very raw and real.. Putting ourselves out there feeling vulnerable and then confident.

Beyond that, we did set up a “kitchen” darkroom which I loved and was so very different from my teen years in the darkroom with my dad. Cheryls portfolio reviews were amazing also, something everyone of us took something from even when it wasn’t ours being reviewed. Bottom line yes, I recommend it and would do it again in a minute.

Here are some fun little behind-the-scenes looks at what we did in Tampa. Be sure to check out the Gallery page as I continue to add film images created by our workshop attendees. And now I turn my attention to the upcoming Venice, CA workshop, beginning in just a few weeks!