Your much-awaited recap
Or maybe you haven’t been waiting at all but have happened upon my blog by chance via a Google search on Audrey Woulard workshop (yes, I see you, dear searchers) and are just lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.
It was great. There were a lot of great women there and Audrey was great. Yes, great is the word. We all had fun, laughed and learned a lot. It wasn’t a one-size-fits-all deal. At least that’s not how I saw it. You came, listened to her speak and took from it what might work for you. In my case, it gave me some new ways to think about some things and reinforced and validated other things I had thought before. Growing up in a small business gave me insight into business that many don’t have. It’s not like it’s hard to learn; I’ve just been exposed to it from early on so much of it comes naturally. Of course, even after learning, some are never good at business but what can you do. I can’t do a cartwheel even after trying years to learn.
I discovered that Audrey and I have very similar personalities and we seemed to mesh well because of it. I have a lot of respect for her and what she’s achieved in a relatively short period of time. Given what I’ve learned about her personally, however, I’m not surprised. She comes by it honestly. We also have some things in our personal lives that are similar and quite important to us so it was also nice connecting with her on that level, too.
I do have to say, after reading the things I have about her online written by other so-called professional photographers, I’m more and more glad that I don’t get sucked into the online photographer drama that seems to linger when you get women together en masse with egos and hormones a-blazin’. I suspect much of it also includes bored MWAC (moms with a camera) as well as those with a personal axe to grind. Now that I’ve met her, so many of the things I’ve read are so absurd and downright dripping with jealousy that it both saddens and disappoints me. I guess I’m used to sticking around photographers and artists who support each other rather than spread bile for whatever reason. That was one thing that I enjoyed and appreciated from both Audrey and the group of women with whom I was attending the workshop — support and camaraderie. That said, after what I’ve experienced with online communities, the catty, immature behavior doesn’t surprise me in the least. That’s also something she and I share — we don’t give a fuck. It’s so freeing.
Watching her work pounded home how much people work too hard when they don’t have to. It was nice watching someone be able to catch images right pretty much the first time and only have to do minimal post-processing. Since I started in film, I’m used to this sort of thing. We didn’t have the luxury of shooting 700 frames in an hour and hoping a few of them came out looking decent. You went in, knew what you were doing and shot more right than wrong. She knew what she was doing, went in and captured the images and brought them back with little post-processing needed. It was so refreshing that she wasn’t trying to hawk hundreds of dollars worth of actions or advocating the salvage of almost useless images by doing something funky with the sliders and calling it artsy. Crop in the camera, get the exposure right and pay attention to where the light is.
It was kind of nice being validated about so many things I’ve believed strongly in that I see rampantly abused all over the net. It was nice to see that to get quality captures you didn’t have to buy the latest camera or whatever else everyone is in a buzz over at any particular moment. I’ve often been put off by those who make large want lists and feel that they have.to.have. every latest gadget thinking that will somehow make them a better photographer. It’s fun to think about the spendy stuff but it’s not going to make you better at anything you haven’t already mastered. I know that in my sidebar I have two lenses and a spendy camera body displayed but it’s in fun. I honestly don’t think that any of that will make me a better photographer — only practice and talent can do that for me. I don’t think that I have to have every newest thing the minute it comes out or to buy something simply because someone else is using it. Sure, you have to have a certain amount of equipment to work but if you suck or are starting out, a $10k camera and $5k lens isn’t going to help you much more than a $500 or $100 lens will if you can’t properly expose or compose a shot.
My stay with Jen and her family was a welcoming and warm experience as always. I really do love her, her husband and children. I had the pleasure of meeting her parents and they are both charming and adorable. Her dad is a total crack-up and I had a blast chatting with him. Her mom seems really sweet. I had the pleasure of eating her home made macaroni and cheese and fresh-baked brownies and playing with her kids. I’ve got dibbs on William for Iz. It was nice having some time not being a mom and just being me. It was a nice break getting to not have to worry about getting everyone out the door in the morning and just hauling my gear to the car and zipping into the city to the studio. It was so artsy-fartsy and grown up. Really, from beginning to end it was perfect. I couldn’t have asked for a better time. I’m so glad I did it.
I’m going to turn in and hit the other news tomorrow. Night!
