About the Course
This 2-day workshop is for intermediate and advanced digital photographers who want to take their photography to the next level. We will explore, learn and discuss new ideas, talk about the challenges of self-motivation and ways to improve the art, the craft and the creativity of our photography. Min age 18, 2 sessions.
Regardless of what level we’re at with our photography, our learning should never end and we can always aspire to take our photography art, craft and skills to a higher level. This workshop will focus on those many, many things that go into becoming better photographers. Only you can define what being a better photographer means to you, based on your personal goals. Some of us love photography as a hobby, some as an excuse to travel to interesting and exotic places, some of us want to exhibit and sell our work, some for recognition, and hopefully, all of us want to have fun while we’re enjoying photographing. No matter your photography objectives, and no matter your proficiency, we all can become better photographers with careful thought, understanding and a personal plan.
During this class we’ll talk about equipment - the good, the bad and the irrelevant. We’ll talk about learning and advancing our skills through workshops, books, online resources and tutors and mentors. We’ll discuss the role creativity plays. We’ll discuss the challenges and compromises we encounter at every step of our photographic journey. We’ll look at self-motivation through exhibits, books, sharing our work on social media.
We’ll discuss getting out of one’s “comfort zone,” and getting uncomfortable with our photography. We’ll talk about the difference between the art and craft of photography and how you exercise both sets of those muscles to advance your photography. We’ll talk about technical skills versus artistic considerations. We’ll discuss having photography goals, the importance of projects, the importance of becoming a better self-critiquer and evaluator of our own work. We’ll discuss all the impediments to achieving our goals and ways to overcome them. We’ll talk about taking “sharp” photographs and when that might not be appropriate. And much, much more!
Whether you're an intermediate or advanced photographer, if you’d like to improve your photography and take it to a higher level, then this workshop is for you. This will be a time of exploring, of ideas, of new knowledge, and of challenges and motivation.
Your Instructor
Alan Sislen
I am passionate about photography. Not just the finished photograph, but also the process of capturing, processing, and then creating the final print. I want the viewer to be moved or intrigued by what they see, regardless of whether their reaction is exactly the same as what motivated me to press the shutter release. Through my photographs I am showing what I saw, but more importantly, what I felt.
The writer uses words; the musician uses musical notes. My goal is to present images that stimulate more than our visual sense, but to also evoke emotion and imagination. While I use the most modern photographic equipment and software, my style and approach to photography are traditional, driven by my photographic vision.
My greatest influences have been those with whom I have studied, including well-known British landscape photographer Charlie Waite, former National Geographic legend Bruce Dale, digital expert Thom Hogan, fine art image processing and printing experts Eliot Cohen, Charlie Cramer, John Paul Caponigro, Julia Anna Gospodarou and darkroom master John Sexton.