Starting Another eWorkshop

In January Blue Hour Photo Workshops will once again start up the eWorkshop «Finding Your Photographic Voice». If you want to develop your photography into a more distinct and expressive way this is a good opportunity to get a guided hand and feedback from a professional photographer. As you may know Blue Hour Photo Workshops offer quite a few workshops around the world. The eWorkshop «Finding Your Photographic Voice» is an inexpensive and convenient way of learning from home.

We promise you this will be an inspirational experience. Together we will explore many sides of the creative process within the realm of photography. It will be fun. It will be challenging. But more than anything it will be a learning experience.

The workshop starts up on January 26th and runs over eight weeks. Each week you will receive a little booklet (as a PDF-file) with inspirations, thoughts, knowledge and ideas for your shooting the next week. Then you will have a week to do the various assignments, of which you will send me an edited selection. Finally you will receive my comments about the photos, included suggestions for improvement – and in which direction I believe you should move your photography.

«Finding Your Photographic Voice» is foremost about creativity and developing your seeing as a photographer and being able to express your vision. It’s not a technical workshop, although we will touch upon technical matters whenever needed. Finding one’s voice is a lifetime project, and eight weeks will not make you come out on the other side with a fully developed photographic voice. But the workshop will guide you on the way to finding it.

If this sounds interesting, you will find more information about the eWorkshop here. Or send me an email: Otto

This is some feedback from previous participants:
You do a fantastic serious work and I feel that I am constantly met with full respect at the level where I am. Would not have wanted to do this trip with another photo teacher. Your way of looking at the photographic process, creativity and creation feels right for me and I have full confidence in you as a person.

I was especially impressed with the depth of the feedback you provided. You always highlighted both what was good and what could be improved. The balance is nice and important.

In my mind, I hear elements of the workshop echoing each time I pick up my camera. This was the most effective learning experience I’ve ever encountered with photography.

A Different Approach

Photographers have different approaches to the photographic process. Some just shoot on random, others have a very technical approach while still others believe in vision driven photography. One quite different approach is called contemplative photography. It’s almost a way to be very relaxed with the camera, and it certainly makes you see the world in a different light. And that’s the reason contemplative photography is a wonderful practice for all kinds of photographer – simply because it broadens the photographer’s vision.

Contemplative photography picks up elements of Zen Buddhism. The word contemplative in general terms means to think things over, but in this case it means «the process of reflection that draws on a deeper level of intelligence than our usual way of thinking», according to the photographers Andy Karr and Michael Wood who practice and teach contemplative photography. In essence contemplative photography is about how to fully connect with the visual richness of our ordinary, daily experience. In many ways it’s a process of learning how to see.

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The Unbearable Lightness of Instagram

Instagram is fun to play with. It’s easy and it creates really cool pictures. The question is only; is it too easy? With Instagram installed on your cell phone, you can make almost anything look good as in the case of the two pictures shown here. Even the most boring picture, can be turned around and get a poignant intensity about it. Anyone can make cool pictures with Instagram. So where does that leave the skilled photograph?

The answer is as it has always been. Tools changes and technique becomes ever more easy, but in the end the photographer will still have to make decisions about composition, the moment of capture, how to use light and what subject matter to shoot. And although it seems like Instagram (or Hipstamatic which is very similar) creates cool imagery but itself, with time and when we get used to the knack of it, the automatic coolness will start to fade. That’s the time we using Instagram will only be but one of many creative tools for the artistic photographs.

Vision is Beginning

The photographer’s vision is where the photographic process begins – or where it should begin. Unfortunately most photographers – and I willingly admit that I am prone to the same thoughtlessness, too – don’t have a clear thought about their vision, they just never get beyond the technical part of photography or beyond seeing light or composition. «Before our photographs can say what we want them to, and in so-doing to look like we want them to, we need to understand what we want to say, and how we want to say it. That’s vision.» Those are the words of David duChemin taken from his eBook The Vision Driven Photographer.

Another word for vision is intent. Intent is what brings depth and significance to a photograph. In many ways you can say it’s the lifeline of the photograph – or any work of fine art for that matter. A photograph without intention behind it won’t convey any importance to the viewers either. It might be as beautiful as anything in the world, but we still won’t stay with it for more than a glimpse of time and we won’t remember it if it doesn’t reveal the photographer behind it.

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