Photography workshops can be magical for both student and instructor. I think I can honestly say every workshop has some magic, there are always those moments when a student suddenly connects with the subject. It gladdens the heart of the instructor to see the students improve.
But rarely does every student improve dramatically in the course of one workshop like the one I just completed with my friend and colleague David Perry at the Marin Art and Garden Center in Ross, California.
The difference between the first and second photo shoots in one morning had David and I wondering aloud if these were the same students. We were grinning ear to ear as we reviewed the students work and wondered if there were some sort of magical trick we had uncovered.
We had a very receptive group that was keen to understand the plant portrait in the five styles that David presented with-in the Florilegium concept that I asked the students to consider. After the early morning session in the garden, which was almost like a quick sketch session, the students went back to really study a single plant from a variety of angles and portrait styles.
Student Jean Jarvis – Lorapetalum study Marin Art & Garden Center Workshop
A workshop is a great opportunity to really study a plant, to walk around it in context of the garden, to learn its personality. Somehow having the camera as your tool helps you “focus” on the work .
You can improve your own plant portrait photography by simply taking the time to study the plant. Think about the plant portrait as you would a people portrait, knowing the plant has its own personality, its own best side, and will look better dressed properly – that is, shown in context of the garden.
Here are some of our students and the photos they found.
The budding Dogwood became known as the men’s bathroom location.
Not only did the students walk all around the plant to find the best angles, several got underneath them so that the sky became a white background.
Those borage flowers really glowed with the sky behind them.
This fern became a dramatic pattern with the sky overhead.
Elizabeth Byers – Marin Art & Garden Center Workshop
When images like these come out of a workshop, it makes you want to do them again, right away. I don’t know when David and I might do a workshop together, the sooner the better as far as I am concerned, but we both schedule workshops regularly.
You can find my workshops on the PhotoBotanic site and David Perry on his own site – where he has special morning workshops in his own Seattle garden – with breakfast.
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