Rick and I LOVE teaching. We love sharing, encouraging, inspiring and sharing our story with new photographers. Camera’s can be intimidating and photography has become so ‘technical’ these days. It really isn’t about technology, software or even equipment. It is about having a passion, increasing your knowledge and putting your heart into your work. This years Ardentology workshop was held in Centennial, WY at the always gorgeous Snowy Mountain Lodge. We were blessed to have had 10 exceptional ‘students’ who we spent the day with. We covered the in’s and out’s of manual photography discussed creativity and spent the entire workshop learning how to be better. Here is a peek into what our gorgeous ‘classroom’ looked like…
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During the workshop we had plenty of time to put our new found skills to good use. With a gorgeous setting we encouraged our students to share some of the photos they took throughout the day. We were absolutely THRILLED with what they came up with. Still life, creative concepts, even each other lol! They definitely took advantage of their time at the lodge…
Gorgeous b&w ‘Viewpoint’ taken during the workshop by Sara Haugen
Staci Lax practicing during the workshop, photo courtesy Sarah Goff
Rick helping Julli with the in’s and out’s of manual mode. Photo courtesy Sarah Goff
Meghan Eagan absolutely nailed the ‘Symmetry’ concept with this one
Photo of the cabins our students stayed in. Courtesy of Julli Eckley
After the workshop was over we put together a ‘Scavenger Hunt’ for our students. We gave them an assignment to capture each of the ’11 Concepts of Composition’ and then share their photos with us. We were excited when their submissions started flooding the Ardentology Facebook Group. SO much creativity here, THIS is the way we all get better. By grabbing our camera’s and shooting. Practicing, succeeding, failing, trying… One of our students, Sarah, even took it is step further and challenged herself to also curate a set of photos demonstrating each of the lighting concepts we introduced during the workshop. Here is a small sampling of their photos:
Demonstrating ‘Viewpoint’ photo courtesy of Kelly Groeneweg
Gorgeous execution of ‘Golden Hour’ courtesy of Sarah Goff
‘Viewpoint’ concept courtesy of Sara Haugen
‘Leading Lines’ and ‘Color’ by Staci Lax
Perfect execution of ‘Depth of Field’ by Naomi Berg
Loved this photo, ‘Rule of Thirds’, ‘Leading Lines’, ‘Empty Space’ etc… courtesy of Sarah Goff.
What is a contest without a PRIZE? This year we gave away a complimentary one hour session with Rick and I. This session can be used for portraits, a photo safari or even one on one mentoring. To be entered for the prize all you had to do was complete the scavenger hunt and post your photos into our facebook group. We had so many talented photographers complete the challenge, thank you gals for being so dedicated! Without further ado, the winner by random selection is…. Kelly Groeneweg, one half of the talented team at Rugged Grace Photography. Here is one of our absolute favorite images from Kelly:
Such a unique ‘Viewpoint’ from Kelly Groeneweg
Ashley, Kelly, Naomi, Annie, Brindisi, Meghan, Sarah, Julli, Staci and Sara… Thank you so much for investing in yourselves. We were so happy to have gotten to spend the day with you and hope you now feel comfortable in manual and inspired with your photography. Cannot wait to see the amazing photos you will be taking. Be sure to practice, practice, practice and keep sharing your photos in the facebook group. We love seeing them!
Have a DSLR that intimidates the heck out of you? Is photography your passion and do you want to learn more about how to hone your unique an creative viewpoint? Keep an eye out for details on our next Ardentology Workshop OR feel free to send us an email at info@ardentphotographyinc.com and we will email you when we announce details. Happy shooting everyone…
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