I’ve been blessed to have thousands of Photography students over the years. My teaching style is to make the seemingly complicated simple. It seemed to me that a lot of Photography instructors couldn’t wait to make the art of Photography complicated, or convoluted with all kinds of technical jargon. This is a practice I’ve shied away from.
Honestly I’ve witnessed some very knowledgeable technical photographers work, and with many of them, their work, leaves a lot to be desired, in my humble opinion. Why? Because their images have little passion, vision, or creativity. It’s been my goal to concentrate on teaching more of this aspect of the art, over technicalities.
If you’ve ever picked up a camera, taken a shot, and were totally consumed by happiness? You know exactly what I mean. Now if you can learn just an “easy bit” of the technical, and a massive bit of the passion, vision, and creativity? In my world, now you might have something!
Teaching In A Classroom…
Teaching in a classroom situation is something I’ve done a lot of over the past twenty five years. I have also done lot of on location PhotoSafaris. Personally I’m very comfortable making presentations in front of a large, live group. I love it! I feed off of my audience. I have always asked a few questions of those in attendance, in order to make my presentations fit the audience, instead of fit me.
That personal interaction feeds my soul. Vision, imagination, and creativity can fill the room. Many different people from all walks of life and mannerisms, all of a sudden come together in support of one ideology. How to feed their own soul and become better at the art of Photography.
A classroom environment can be difficult to attain. My teaching within the local library district was awesome, and very well attended. I was told that for the three years I did this, my program once a month, was the most successful program they’ve ever had.
However… for me it was still lacking. I could not capture email addresses, or phone numbers, or serve refreshments. I could not really build a relationship with my audience. A lot of these presentations had over 100 in attendance!
A downer for me was the lack of current audio visual facilities in order to present things using the latest Apple Computer Systems. The Library System did not have the budget to upgrade. Enter my local Camera Store and one of my sponsors for over 15 years, B&C Camera in Las Vegas.
Much better facilities and newer audio visual equipment… also their entire operation is Apple Macintosh based. (many professional photographers are Apple based) A smaller meeting room than the theater, so a much better relationship venue, and I could serve refreshments! Success! Still great crowds, and actually better crowds because more were actually serious about Photography.
However still… something was missing…
Enter My Internet Experiment
My best friend is Ted Vieira, of TedVieiraConsulting.com. Ted is into Web Design, Brand Building, Content Creation, and Business Coaching. For the many years I’ve known Ted, he has always preached that I should take my classes online.
I always scoffed at this! I am not a “writer.” Content creation means I need to put pen to paper. Yeah right! Not one of my strong suits! Video is also something I have difficulty with. Telling a story with one image is hard enough. Now I need many stories necessary for good video? Surely you jest! This is a very hard transition for a decades old still Photographer.
Also? How do I obtain that connection with my audience if there is not an in person audience? This was the key problem for me. This facet alone was exceptionally difficult for me to wrap my head around. Add to that I did not, and do not, wish to spend my entire life in front of a computer. The amount of time commitment to create all that is “YouTube” is totally out of line!
Plus YouTube and other social networking sites require constant attention in order to feed their algorithms. The most famous creators out there are now screaming uncle. They simply can’t keep up. They have no real life, and they never know what their efforts will return financially.
For me, that type of computer work is draining. I would much rather edit my images for print. That’s our darkroom now. That’s part of the completion of the circle… concept, to capture, to processing the image, to print. When I’m processing my images, I get to re-live the experiences of capture all over again. This is VERY fulfilling!
Now that I’m charmingly antique, I really have little desire to be in the rush, rush environment of Wedding and family shoots as well. Commercial Work? That has also dried up largely due to the fact that many magazines and newspapers are currently circling the drain. Online shopping has taken that over, so there is far less need for high resolution magazine images. Most online sites simply use their smart phones for that work. (or stock sites and a graphic designer,.. don’t even get me on this topic, Photographers killed themselves here)
I currently concentrate on large printed images that capture or create the mood of the entire room. This is a huge challenge! A recent assignment is working on an image for a client that will be printed 10 by 22… feet! Now for this project? The technical and the passion need to meld into one image that takes over an entire facility! A large blowup of your art to be very sharp at that size is monumental.
So What Was Finally The Solution?
This blog actually started my solution. Not that long ago I made the commitment to do something that scared the holy shit outta me! Write something… once a week or so, no less! Are you kidding me?! Surprisingly to me, my newsletter was actually very well received! Many of my readers sent accolades of approval. This totally surprised me, and I thank every one of you!
This got me to thinking… what else scares the crap outta me that I might try? Also, what was it, that I really enjoy doing? At the top of the enjoy list is travel and camping, in the Western United States. Also leading PhotoSafaris. There’s that personal interaction again, and even better outdoors! But how do I continue teaching in that classroom environment?
Plus? I really wanted to increase my time outdoors, and decrease the time I spent in the summer heat. After all, shooting in the desert southwest during the summer months is totally ludicrous! Not only will your gear melt, but so will you! Your eyes also turn to raisins… not good for Photographers!
Enter ByWinslowCampfire.com
I built and started that website strictly so that I could still teach, and be out of town on location at the same time. BOY! Was that a challenge! Not only did I need to build a membership website, (never done that before) but I also had to learn something about video! Holy shit! Yoda be with me!
Now when it comes to Video, sound is really more important than most people think. Also? A lot of the content creation you see on YouTube is actually recorded in a fairly well set up studio. Plus? Who wants to look at my old ugly mug? Teleprompters, lighting, editing video… these are all things I had zero knowledge of.
Also how do I make the video less about me, and more about passion, vision, and creativity? How do I take a group of students scared to death of PhotoShop and assist them? PhotoShop is a massive program that requires practice. There are droves of people out there teaching PhotoShop techniques.
The program is so massive you could do that for an infinite amount of time and never get to it all. What was lacking in that realm was a path. It’s awesome to learn all of these cool techniques, but when or why do you use them? How do I teach a path in a world where people (including me) do not wish to spend their life in front of a computer?
How do I make this environment warm and inviting? Well… for me the atmosphere of a campfire is pretty warm and inviting. So I went with that vibe. I am not in most of the videos from that first year. I wanted it to be more like I was right there beside you for those lessons.
Moving forward that will change a bit this year with some other changes. However! What I really wish to get across in this blog is the importance my Campfire Legacy Members have in my life! They came along for the ride. They stuck with me an entire year and adsorbed the path.
We have a totally awesome bond and surprisingly for me, a lot of this bond was made online. I am happy to state that I took a good sized group of people, scared to death of PhotoShop, that are now no longer afraid. Matter of fact? They can not wait to process their images for print in PhotoShop!
I have taken this group of students faster and farther than any other group of individuals in my quarter century of teaching Photography, LightRoom, and PhotoShop. Their work amazes me! By Winslow Campfire has also morphed into an “Online Photography Club” without all the politics and clicks. (unless clicking with a camera ^_^ )
Beginning in March…
I will be showcasing one of those Legacy Members works in my blog every month. One of the greatest lessons in teaching… is that there are lessons in the teaching. I have learned a lot from my students in my teaching career, and I have also received monumental rewards witnessing their progress!
The Legacy Group of students are truly special to me. Because of them, if I do nothing else in life, I have succeeded. My personal legacy is my son Justin, and the Campfire Legacy Members. I have ensured through my staff that the By Winslow Campfire group will live on to be bigger than ourselves.
I can’t tell you enough how awesome this group of Photographers actually are. You’re going to have to join us and find out. Meanwhile? Meet my first featured artist…
~Stephanie Phillips~
Stephanie is a special lady in many, many ways! Full of life, Stephanie is a world traveler. I’m a bit jealous of some of the places she’s been to! Stephanie has been to more than twenty countries in the past 6 years alone, and always with her Camera! She has been to Antarctica, the Northern reaches of Canada to Photograph Polar Bears, Tanzania, Bali, Spain, Portugal, and Bali, just to name a few.
Stephanie has always been into the outdoors. Her career was spent working for the US Forest Service. Along with her studies in Forrest Management at the University of Washington, Stephanie also studied Art at Ball State University.
Stephanie’s serious Photographic Journey started six years ago with a trip to Cuba. She bought a “good camera” to take on that trip. Ever since that time Stephanie has been working to improve her images. Now Stephanie shoots with a Sony A7R IV.
A quote from Stephanie…
“When I purchased that first camera I had no idea what would follow. On my trip to Cuba all my photos were taken in auto setting and JPEG. The photos from the trip were okay, but I was pretty sure I could do better. Fortunately I am retired, so I had the time to immediately start taking classes, both on-line and in-person (that is how I met Garrett). Then I started doing photography field trips (Photo Safaris, anyone?). However, my biggest challenge has been Photoshop.”
“Lightroom was easy to learn. Photoshop not so much… Learning PS was my yearly goal for the past 4 years. I have learned a lot this past year with the Campfire videos, and feel like I can finally call myself an intermediate photographer with some advanced skills in PS. Being a photographer is a life-long journey, and I’m enjoying all of that journey with the By Winslow Campfire Group”
Stephanie has gone on many PhotoSafaris with me. She was along for Thors Well last year and she will be returning with me again this April. I’m really looking forward to that PhotoSafari and all the fine people going along. Wanna join us? I only have a couple spots open. Click the link below.
