Blog #98 You better WORK!

March 27, 2018 • Leave a Comment

Blog #98 You better WORK!

Last month, I hosted a workshop in collaboration with six members of a local photography walk group Shutter Alliance. The format of the workshop was approximately as follows:

[9:00 - 10:00] Introduction and Keynote presentation on Basic Photography and Composition / Assignment to approach stranger and request making a portrait of that person: Office Meeting Room

[10:00 - 11:30] Walk outside an make interesting street photos that work: Streets around Kennedy Town

[11:30 - 1:30] Each member loads three images into Lightroom for critique: Office Meeting Room

Using a 15” Macboook Pro and Adobe Lightroom software, each member loaded their SD card and selected their best three images for the live group critique. The laptop was connected to a projector and images were displayed one at a time on a proper screen while the group sat around at a couple of round tables in an office setting.

The focus of the workshop was really the critique component. The activity of critiquing images is really about describing. The goal of the exercise was to talk about the different parts of each image, discuss if the image works or did not work and why that might be the case.

The group was very engaged and there was a range of experiences. These were hobbyist or amateurs and to my knowledge none of the participants were professional photographers. Nevertheless, the images produced in this short one hour and a half session were very impressive. There were maybe 2-3 images of the 18 displayed (not counting my own) that did not work. There was promising work displayed and we aimed to use some of the vocabulary from the earlier presentation to use in the critique session.

The group was clearly engaged and benefited from the experience. We ended the workshop on time at around 1:30 and parted ways. One participant joined my later that afternoon at F11 Foto Museum in Happy Valley to see the Alexander Rodchenko exhibit. I will blog on that subject in the coming week or so.

The participants completed a questionnaire where I requested for them to comment on the components of the workshop. I was pleased to have shared beneficial information, my life experience, and a valuable critique with the group.

Interestingly, when asked what topics of interest the group had for future workshops, all wanted to learn how to develop film! Now I’ve got my work cut out for me. Next time film it will be!

The light is always right.

jhg

*Images: © Jeremy H. Greenberg March 2018

Where: Kennedy Town, Hong Kong

Subject: Street Photography Workshop

Gear: Fujfilm X-E3 + Fujinon XF 18mm f/2

Nikon D610 Nikon D610 Nikon D610 Nikon D610 Nikon D610 Nikon D610 Nikon D610 Nikon D610