“A certain darkness is needed to see the stars”
Truth. Leave your ego at the door. Trust. Life Changer.
For months I have been trying to find the words to describe my experience at Foundation. Yes, it is absolutely the best international workshop for photojournalist wedding photographers. Yes, I learned photography skills and my mind was blown(many times). But the thing the brochure doesn’t tell you is how much you will learn about yourself. I’m tearing up just writing this.
You walk into this workshop thinking, I’m awesome. I know my craft so well and I will blow their minds with my skills!
Ha.
Again. Ha ha.
You see, this workshop is not about what F-stop you should be at when shooting an outside portrait at 2 o’clock in the afternoon. This workshop is about opening your eyes and really seeing people. Something I thought I was already good at, but really understanding and be devoted to telling their story – even if it’s outside your comfort zone. To know that to truly have that skill of documenting is to understand that if you have to explain what is happening in a photo, it means that it is not truly a story telling photo. It was a lesson I needed to hear and understand. I photographed my heart out on my assigned story. At first, I had no real connection to it and then I had an epiphany moment and I found myself wanting to know everything about my story to be able to capture it as real as I could. I understood that when telling a story through photographs, it is not your voice you should be listening to. It is something I always take with me to every shoot.
So much changed for me after the workshop. It’s like a light turned on and I can’t flip it off. I don’t want to flip it off. My mind is in constant shoot mode. Constantly framing, constantly anticipating moments. Constantly finding a story to tell.
I am so grateful I had the chance to attend. If you are a photojournalist wedding photographer and you want to be truly inspired – do Foundation! But be ready. These not styled pretty photo shoots. This is so real I often forgot I was in a workshop. When you sit to share your day’s work, you will not always hear what you want to hear. It will be rough at times BUT SO WORTH IT. I am actually jealous of those that haven’t experienced it because I would love to go back ad do it again. So inspiring. So powerful.
A HUGE thank you to Huy Nguyen, Sergio Lopez, Jan Garcia and Shauna Heron for being the best teachers we could have hoped for. And to my team! Oh how I love and miss each of you! Misti Layne, David McNeill, my Amy Herfurth, Ginger Diaz! and the sweet Sarah Corbett. I need a reunion. Stat.
Here are some photos from our assignment. We got to document a day in the life of the Fort Worth Stockshow & Rodeo and all the wonderful families there. We can only share two photos which is so hard!
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Here’s all of us!
