Ten Eyck Tuesday Workshop, 12/2/08

I had the privilege of attending a very inspiring photography workshop with the wonderful, amazing, fab-u-licious, one-and-only, uber-talented Carla Ten Eyck at her home/studio in Hartford yesterday. And yes, you will know you've made it when someone refers to YOU as fab-u-licious and uber-talented in the same sentence!

What a day!! Here's the cast of characters that went along with me for this crazy ride that had us thinking so far outside the box, I think one or two of us had tremors. Seriously.

 

Jason Henriques of West Haven. Down IN IT. If you've shot with me, or had me at your wedding, you know I spend a lot of time on the ground. I like this guy.

 

Cheryl Cronin joined us from balmy Branford. Shhh, don't tell anyone, she's wearing long johns in this shot. Shhh. She's looking a little nervous here 'cause I'm getting too close. But by the end of the day she was fine :)

 

 Andrea Walpurgis from Shades of Images in Enfield.  It was so cool to see different photographers get their take on the same setup. Little different angle, different lens, whatever. Love it!

 

While they were workin' that angle, I grabbed this shot. Sort of looks infra-red-ish, right?

So we spent a good portion of the day moving from spot to spot in Elizabeth Park in Hartford. And speaking of characters, our subjects for the day were Carla's second in command, Mr. Mike Romano and his super-pooch Max. We each took turns setting up shots, trying to think creatively while Ms. Ten Eyck followed us around ruthlessly yelling "what aperture are you at, AND WHY??" I'm kidding of course. It was shutter speed...

 

One of the first shots on Carla's blog is of me on the ground (there's something new, I think Val could make an entire slide show of just shots of me on the ground). Anywho, here's what I was doing:

 

Look up the term "big-ass dog" in the dictionary and you'll find a picture of Max. Holy cow. 220 pounds of pure canine. I love this shot of his paws but there's really nothing to give you a sense of scale. So I'll tell you the scale: BIG.

 

The man, the myth, the legend: Carla Ten Eyck. No wait, maybe Mike's the man, Carla's the myth and the legend? Or I guess it could be Mike's the man and the myth and Carla's the legend. Aw, the hell with it, I forgot where I was going with this anyway...

 

So I'm a country boy, and Carla's a city girl. When you're strolling through a park with a city girl in her home city, and she happens to be an awesome photographer who also happens to see something interesting, you should probably pay attention.

"Killer sea grass..." she says. "And look at that light!"

Ok, I see weeds. But we'll go with "sea grass". This is why she's teaching and I'm the student. Go to her blog and look at the rock-star shots of Mike and Max against the sea grass. No really go ahead, I'll wait...

Killer right??? Weeds. And light. Sheesh!

 

I love the vines and ivy that were framing this shot. (Special thanks to Andrea on the reflector!)

 

This one's for Carla. She LOVES dog drool. Pyscho this girl is, I tell ya! Slimy dog drool, can you imagine? LOVES it!

 

A park bench, a hedge, Mike and Max. We spent a lot of time in this area really thinking about angles and light and composition. Lots of different stuff from this one spot.

Here's Carla stuffing her camera bag into the hedge. No worries, she got the shot!

 

I love the washed out look with this one. Max has a wrinkly face but what's really strange is that he also has lines of soft black fur that make the wrinkles look deeper than they really are. Almost like tiger stripes.

 

I think Max has an aiming problem. Headed for the cheerio but got Mike's nose instead :)

 

Again we're still in the same spot and Carla's challenge to us was to get portraits without moving Mike at all. Same spot. Same light. Same everything. Think grasshoppa, think!

 

Mike busted out the hat, which was such a cool look with the jacket. Here's my take on the shot Carla mentioned on her blog. Again, different angle, different lens, same moment in time, completely different shot!

 

Carla rockin' the 100 mm macro. Gotta get me one! Mike rockin' the poker face. I swear, every cop I know can do this face. At will. They must teach it at the academy...

 

A little "direct positive" in Lightroom. For some reason I'm thinking album cover here, dunno. Nickelback maybe?? Hmmm...

 

And I'll finish back where I started, on the ground! My favorite shot of the day. Max looks so intimidating here. Don't be fooled, he's a peach!

Thanks to everyone for such an inspiring day! CARLA YOU ROCK!Can't wait to hook back up again sometime! Special special SPECIAL thanks to Mike Romano and Max, you guys were great today and so patient with us! Mike, get Max that steak ok?!

And for you photographers out there, the next Ten Eyck Tuesday workshop is already full (Val will be attending) but I hear there's still some spots in the January 6th class. What are you waiting for?? Git to it and send Carla an email: carla@carlateneyck.com You'll be glad you did!!

-Bruce