Disclaimer: this post is a review of a workshop I attended so is probably of more interest to photographers. If you’re a bride/groom-to-be, feel free to scroll down past the text to look at the pretty pictures!
and hire The Tea Set for your wedding – no joke, best stylist/all around creative lady ever!
A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending a workshop at the Photography Farm, if you haven’t already heard of it, you should definitely check it out – I can’t recommend it enough! In a nutshell the concept is an all inclusive 2 days/2 nights workshop (on differing topics so take your pick) where “the farmers” not only get to learn during the day, but also gain invaluable lessons from chatting to other like-minded people at dinner and drinks (and more drinks all night if you’ve got that kind of stamina!). Here is just a little snippet of how Lisa Devlin, the brain child behind it, describes it:
“Imagine a 12 acre farm with meadows, woods, a lake, an orchard. A rambling old farm house with a range cooker and log burners. Imagine it was used for entertaining Rock Stars so there is a swimming pool and a hot tub, tennis courts and a housekeeper. Imagine styled shoots with real couples, happening in the grounds. Imagine having access to top photographers showing you how they work then hanging around for dinner.”
Lisa is a dear friend of mine and knowing her, I knew this workshop would be awesome, I just didn’t expect it to be THAT awesome. It was every bit as amazing as it sounds and then some.
The workshop I attended covered off camera flash – though I was happy with my knowledge of flash I always find off camera flash (OCF), with everything you have to drag around with you, a little daunting. I remember second shooting for a flash-heavy photographer back when I first started and watching him get humungous kit after kit out of his car throughout the day (some of which weigh more than me – no joke) really turned me off using OCF at all. Alas, I believe a photographer should NEVER stop learning, and was ready to tackle the subject once more. Adam was a great teacher, he went through everything from the basics to how the techniques are applicable when shooting weddings. I told Adam up front my aim was to go away knowing everything but only using the minimum of equipment as it wouldn’t suit my shooting style otherwise (you know I always try to be a ninja, and it’s a bit hard to be a ninja carrying giant gadgets around with me), he was very understanding and provided great tips on how it could be achieved.
And then there’s the styled shoots, oh my word, they were so surreal that half the time we thought we were in a (very nordic gothic chic) dream! Hannah from The Tea Set blows my mind – she is a multi-talented lady doing everything from flowers to ice cream bike. I REALLY want her to style one of my weddings! I won’t go into details and let the pictures below do the talking.
So I left the farm with some kick ass OCF techniques, feeling inspired and refreshed, made some lovely friends, and best off all had the best couple of days laughing and chatting with fellow photographers – learning everything from how one of the farmers got over 11,000 fans on facebook to the latest goss in the industry. I love my life.
Set 1: The Love Nest (yes Hannah built a nest, a nest I tell ya!)
Set 2: The Nordic Sauna (yup the farm has a sauna!)
Set 3: The Charles Dickens Set (that’s what I call it anyway – just surreal!)
Last but definitely not least, a group shot of all the farmers using the light painting technique! (aka our mug shots)
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