Last weekend, I attended another photo workshop. Or, to be more precise, a photo event organised by German photographer and author of “Das Blitz-Kochbuch” Andreas Jorns.
The event took place on the German island Usedom located on the Baltic coast. Andreas, who earns his living with people and portrait photography, is the ideal choice if you want to enjoy a two day photo workshop with other photography enthusiasts. He clearly loves photography and likes to share his knowledge and experience. The course is usually limited to a number of participants so that everybody gets enough attention. This time, we were split into groups of three, each of us with “our” own model. We then changed from time to time so that everyone had the chance to shoot a different model and different locations. In cooperation with the Baltic Hotel at Zinnowitz, we had several different locations to set up shootings, some of which the average amateur photographer probably won’t see (unless with good connections). Amongst others, the hot springs were probably one highlight, not usually being able to shoot in such a location. But of course, the fourth of our models probably put up a show that I shall consider the most amazing highlight of the weekend:
All put together, it’s a fantastic event with Andreas taking the lead on locations, giving you a piece of advice on setups, but in other ways leaving all participants enough room for their own experiments. He is there to share his knowledge and to give you the tips you need to improve the picture you want to create. It’s what makes his workshops so enjoyable. He is not presenting a recipe or a certain setup for a shot by telling you all the settings of the camera. This is something you find out on your own. Of course, sharing model and location lead to the fact, that a lot of the results look similar. Still, you are there to work it out by yourself. And with his assistance – if needed – you can create the shot you had in mind. He is there to guide you towards your own photo which is a key to what makes his workshops great.
I can highly recommend a workshop with Andreas for anyone who enjoys photography. In a very subtle way he is teaching how to work a scene, communicate with your model and position your light without getting too technical. Whenever he starts a sentence with “And now…” you need to listen carefully, because he is about to tell you something important. A little piece of mind that will give the photo the twist in the right direction.
For me, it was just a wonderful weekend and I am looking forwards to his next workshop in March! A very warm Thank You to Andreas, to all our models, and of course not at all least to his lovely and caring wife Annette who managed this weekend event into the sucess it became for me!
Here is a sneak preview of my results. More will follow soon and I will publish them in a new page. And I know that I have a lot of pratice ahead of me now…
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