Teaching others -- especially women and mothers -- how to use their cameras has become a surprisingly delightful part of my job as a photographer. It's a great feeling to be able to humbly lay whatever knowledge I have on the table in front of them with open hands, so that their families can be blessed by the gift of a beautiful family history. It's as simple as that to me. I don't aspire to teach aspiring professionals, nor to do in-depth workshops on advanced techniques. No, I just want to sit around a living room with a handful of women to demystify the DSLR, cultivate a way of seeing their lives, and empower them to use what they learn for their families.
The September cohort was delightful. Sara, Sherrie, Michelle, and Diane felt like the perfect cocktail of personalities, skill sets, interests, and humor. We had such a lovely time.
This time around I added an element to the workshop that we've never had before: I invited two sets of live "models" to come be photographed for a half hour, so that the workshop participants could put into practice the technical and philosophical skills they had been working so hard to absorb all day. It was a great addition to the workshop experience, I think! So I'm sure I'll include that aspect in future workshops, too.
Here's just a few shots from the workshop! (I thought I had taken so many more than this, but it turns out that I don't multi-task teaching, serving meals, AND playing photojournalist all at the same time).
I'm not sure exactly when I'll offer this workshop again, but if you'd like to be on a waiting list to be notified of the next date, you can email me at brooke@brookecollierphoto.com to tell me so. I'm thinking it will be in January or February, at which point I'll be great with child. :)