Do you have what it takes?

REGISTRATION IS OPEN! https://huy.wufoo.com/forms/fw12-registration/

FW12 Session A will be January 24-27, 2014 in Glen Rose, TX with these teams

- Huy + mentor Erwin Darmali + assistant Candice Cusic
- Sergio + David Murray + assistant TBA
- Tyler Wirken + Katrina Wallace + assistant Janine McClintock
- Brett Butterstein + Jenny Jimenez + assistant Ed Atrero
- Erin Chrisman + Daniel Aguilar + assistant Cliff Brunk
- Ben Chrisman + mentor Craig Fritz + mentor Anna Kuperberg + assistant TBA (Advanced Team)

FW12 Session B will February 10-13, 2014 in Glen Rose, TX with these teams

- Sergio + mentor JVS + assistant TBA
- Tyler + Kirsten Lewis + assistant Kathryn Krueger
- David Murray + Erin Chrisman + assistant Ben Godkin
- Erwin Darmali + Ray Soemarsono + assistant Elizabeth Lloyd
- Daniel Aguilar + Huy + assistant Citlalli Rico
- Ben Chrisman + Brett Butterstein + Fer Juaristi + assistant TBA (Advanced Team)

- The Advanced Team (led by Ben Chrisman) offers returning students a tougher challenge of researching their own stories and extended shooting in the field. The team is reserved for returning students (who have been students at previous FW) who choose to be on the team. It’s optional.

- New students will be placed on the teams by a public random drawing at the workshop. Students will have chance to trade with other students after the drawing.

- Returning students may choose the team of their choice including Ben’s Advanced Team. Choice must be made at time of registration.

- Each team has 5 students. The Advanced Team has 6. Maximum number of students per session is 31.

- Workshop tuition is $4,400 USD. Students are responsible for travel, car rental (required), meals, and other expenses.

REGISTRATION IS OPEN!

https://huy.wufoo.com/forms/fw12-registration/

Excerpts:

“You never stop learning in a job like this, and that’s one of the things I love about it so fiercely. I love learning, and I love a job that forces me to constantly use my brain in new ways. So I made a vow to take at least one workshop or photography class every year, forever. I’ve seen photographers like Joe McNally do their thing; I’ve been through several excellent courses at the top-notchInternational Center for Photography, and more. I’ve been forced to leave my comfort zone in a hundred ways for classes — I’ve used new and exotic equipment, I’ve contracted pneumonia, and I’ve been stripped naked both figuratively and literally. But in some ways this was all preparation for the Foundation Workshop….

This speaks to the incredible level of individualized attention you get at Foundation. My week there were 25 students, and 27 staff members. I don’t know anything else in the wedding world that even approximates that. You can’t get away with slinking by and giving a half-hearted effort, there are too many people looking over your shoulder … literally. By the end of two days of shooting, hours and hours of tight editing and mentoring, every single student knocked their assignment out of the park. We aren’t allowed to publicly show more than two images for some very good reasons, but there are a couple assignments that I really wish could be released to the world, because the work is so strong about sensitive subjects that they are actually important….

Thank you to everyone in my new family. I said this to Daniel at the end of the workshop, but it also applies to David, Erin, “team mom” Cliff Brunk and so many others: “When this started I loved your work. Now, I love you.”

Please visit Ryan’s blog to see the complete review: http://www.ryanbrenizer.com/2013/02/a-week-with-my-new-family-foundation-workshops/

Não haverá Foundation Workshop no Brasil em 2013.

Quaisquer outros workshops no Brasil NÃO estão associados com o verdadeiro Foundation Workshop de maneira alguma. Nós já lhes pedimos que parem de utilizar o nome “Foundation” ou “Foundation Workshop” para promover seus workshops.

Aconteceu um Foundation Workshop oficial no Brasil em 2012. Nós tivemos uma experiência educacional maravilhosa e trabalhamos com vários fotógrafos brasileiros incríveis, a quem podemos verdadeiramente chamar de amigos. Nós adoraríamos levar nossa equipe e nossos professores novamente ao Brasil para outro Foundation Workshop futuramente.

NÃO haverá um Foundation Workshop no Brasil em 2013. Por favor, não confunda outros workshops com a experiência real que levou 11 anos de refinamento para a perfeição. Somente o Foundation Workshop original trabalha nos bastidores para oferecer um grupo exclusivo de professores, funcionários e um programa de ensino que se tornou bem sucedido e repercutiu entre fotógrafos no mundo todo. Existem vários workshops que oferecem um estilo parecido de aprendizagem, mas procure o logotipo do FW para saber se você está tendo a experiência original do Foundation Workshop, e não deixe de olhar a agenda no nosso site.

There appears to be some confusion about the Foundation Workshop in Brazil. Here is the truth:

There is no Foundation Workshop in Brazil in 2013.

Any other workshops in Brazil are NOT associated with the real Foundation Workshop in any way. We have asked them to stop using the name “Foundation” or “Foundation Workshop” to promote their workshops.

An official Foundation Workshop was held in Brazil in 2012. We had a wonderful educational experience and worked with many amazing Brazilian photographers who we can truly call friends. We would love to bring our staff and our teachers back to Brazil for another Foundation Workshop in the future.

There will NOT be a Foundation Workshop in Brazil in 2013. Please don’t mistake other workshops for the real experience that has taken 11 years of refinement to perfect. Only the original Foundations Workshop works from behind the scenes to offer a unique group of teachers, personnel, and teaching program that has become successful and resonated with photographers worldwide. There are many workshops that offer a similar style of learning, but look for the FW logo to know you are getting the original Foundation Workshop experience, and be sure to check the schedule on our website.

We were very honored to have Ricardo Grajeda Castaneda of  REELOVE  document our first Foundation Workshop in South America!

What’s the Foundation Workshop all about?  In the students’ words:

Sergio Escriva
http://www.sergiescriva.com/mi-experiencia-en-el-foundation-workshop/

Raphael Fraga
http://agenciafotograma.com.br/blographaelfraga/cursos-e-workshops/foundation-workshop-brazil-1-a-deep-and-crazy-experience/

Bruno Bernades
http://brunobernardess.wordpress.com/2012/12/11/sobre-o-foudation-brazil-1/ 

We were very honored to have the fantastic filmmaker Vlad Chaloupka of vladfilms.com and Anna Kuperberg document our recent Foundation Workshop in San Miguel de Allende.

Thank you Vlad and Anna!

What’s the Foundation Workshop all about?  In the students’ words:

http://fworkshop.com/2012/02/maria-velarde/

http://fworkshop.com/2012/02/luis-masyebra/

http://fworkshop.com/2012/02/arody-sanchez/

http://fworkshop.com/2012/02/shauna-heron/

http://fworkshop.com/2012/02/kip-beelman/

http://fworkshop.com/2012/02/carolina-rivera/

See you in 2013!

Mexican photographer María Velarde shares her thoughts about her experience as a student at the Foundation Mexico 2.

Toda mi trayectoria hacia a Foundation Workshop comienza en el 2010 en Boda F, que organiza Carlos Alonso, allí tuve el deleite de presenciar una gran conferencia de un badass photographer, Sergio, el cual me cautivó tanto que cuando supe que iba a ir a la ciudad de Querétaro a dar un taller de dos días, no lo dudé y me inscribí de inmediato. En ese badass class Sergio nos habló del Foundation Workshop, taller que yo solo sabía, era de hacer un documental de una asignación. Acaba el taller de Sergio y quedé impactada con todo lo que había aprendido, así que me aventé a mi siguiente aventura, el Foundation Conference en New Orleans.

Y llego al Foundation Conference y veo por primera vez a Huy Nguyen, Ben y Erin Chrisman, conozco por primera vez al maravilloso David Murray, un amor de hombre y disfruté una tras otra grandiosas conferencias de Ed Atrero & Jan Garcia, Kate Mefford, Jenna + Tristan, Mark Pawlyszyn, de nuevo mi badass sensei Sergio, Todd Laffler, Samo Rovan y Gulnara.

Luego Sergio en un momento me dice, “María, se abrieron dos lugares para Foundation Workshop México, corre la voz, es una oportunidad única.”

Regreso a México después de esta gran experiencia y con las palabras de Sergio en mi mente, me queda ese sabor de boca de, ¿que pasaría si entro al Foundation México? y me aventuré.

Abren el grupo de facebook y me empecé a emocionar y de pronto me ví envuelta en la organización para encontrar el hotel a los todos los alumnos, cosa que me acercó más a todos.

El esperado día de las asignaciones de equipo y tema llegó y con ello la increíble noticia que estaba en el equipo de Huy Nguyen, Erin Chrisman y Andrew Mejía y estamos hablando de Huy Nguyen, la mente siniestra detrás de todo esto, no podía esperar menos y sabía que buscaría sacar lo mejor de mí.

Mi asignación fué un asilo llamado Casa Alma, en donde conocí a peculiares personajes que me contaron grandes historias. Agradezco todo el amor que me dieron, pero más a la señora Elvira que abrió su corazón conmigo y la hermosas Lupita y Susi, siempre haciéndome reír. Esta asignación les mostró a muchos y a mi misma que tengo mucho amor que dar, a pesar de que muchos piensen que no muestro emociones, soy literalmente una geek que puedo hacer!

Fueron dos días intensos de fotografiar en la mañana y tarde y de crítica hasta las 2-3 am, que no solo me agotaron físicamente, sino también mentalmente.

El último día cuando ya tenía listo mi slideshow, todos me preguntaban que como me sentía, a lo que solo decía “bien”. Llega la noche tan esperada y al acercarse mi presentación sentí un nudo en la garganta y me temblaron los labios, quería ser fuerte no quería derrumbarme ante todos, otro defecto mío creo yo, pero cada vez que repetía en mi mente lo que iba a decir, lágrimas salían de mis ojos, sale mi presentación y allí me dí cuenta lo que logré y cuando me toca hablar y mi mente se nubla, la emoción me gana y me quedo muda, solo pude decir todo lo que sentía en un gran abrazo a Huy y una gran “Thank you!!!”. Quería haber dicho todo esto allí en vivo, ahora lo lamento, pero creo que hubiera sido demasiado duro sacar todas las emociones que tenía en un solo momento, este sentimiento solo lo entienden los que ya han asistido a un Foundation Workshop.

Huy el primer día decía que todos querían a X maestro por ser un excelente fotógrafo, pero que el quería que, a él lo pidieran por ser un excelente maestro, soy una alumna difícil de convencer y de tratar, él lo sabe, pero les aseguro que realmente Huy es el mejor maestro que he conocido, te llega a conocer de una manera que ni tu te conocías, ve tus virtudes más que tus defectos y hace que tus virtudes aplasten esos defectos o miedos. De pronto olvidé que era un taller de fotografía.

My entire road toward a Foundation Workshop begins in 2010 in Boda F, organized by Carlos Alonso, there I had the pleasure of saw a conference by a badass photographer, Sergio, which captivated me so much that when I knew he was going to Queretaro to give a two-day workshop, I did not hesitate and signed up immediately. In this badass class Sergio told us about the Foundation Workshop, workshop I just knew it was making a documentary with an assignment. Just finished the Sergio’s workshop and was impressed with everything I had learned, so I threw me to my next adventure, the Foundation Conference in New Orleans.

And I reaches to the Foundation Conference and saw for the first time to Huy Nguyen, Ben Chrisman and Erin, I also met the wonderful David Murray, I lovely man and enjoyed one after one great conferences of Atrero Ed & Jan Garcia, Kate Mefford, Jenna + Tristan, Mark Pawlyszyn, again my sensei badass Sergio, Todd Laffler, Samo Rovan and Gulnara.

Then Sergio at one point told me, “María, we just opened two places to Foundation Workshop Mexico, spread the word, is a unique opportunity.”

Return to Mexico after this great experience and Sergio’s words in my mind, I still have that taste in my mouth of, what if I go to Foundation Mexico? and I did it!.

Then they opened the facebook group and I started to move and suddenly I found myself involved in the organization to find the hotel to all students, which brought me closer to everyone.

The expected day of team assignments and theme arrived and with it the incredible news that was on the team of Huy Nguyen, Erin Chrisman and Andrew Mejia  and we are talking about Huy Nguyen, sinister mind behind all this, I could not expect less and knew that he would seek out the best in me.

My assignment was a home called Casa Alma, where I met peculiar characters who told me great stories. I appreciate all the love they gave to me, but more Mrs. Elvira who opened his heart to me and the beautiful Lupita and Susi, always making me laugh. This assignment showed them a lot o people and myself that I have much love to give, even though many people think I do not show emotions, I am literally a geek, what I can do!

There were two intense days of shooting in the morning and afternoon and criticism until 2-3 am, which not only exhausted me physically but also mentally.

The last day when was ready my slideshow, all asked me how I felt, to which only said “good”. Comes the long awaited night and close to my presentation I felt a lump in my throat and my lips trembled, I wanted be strong and I not to break up in front of everyone, this is my fault I think, but every time I repeated in my mind what was going to say, tears came to my eyes, there goes my presentation and I realized what I could do with my camera and when I got to speak, my mind was clouded, the emotion win and I stay silent, I could only say what I felt in a big hug to Huy and a big “Thank you!”. I wanted  to Having said all that live there, now I regret it, but I think it would be too hard to draw all the emotions I had at one time, this feeling only understood by those who have attended a Foundation Workshop.

Huy said the first day everyone wanted to X teacher for being a great photographer, but he wanted people to ask for him for being an excellent teacher, I am a student difficult to convince and to deal with, he knows it, but I assure Huy really is the best teacher I’ve met, you get to know in a way that neither you knew you, see your strengths rather than your weaknesses and your strengths crush those flaws and fears. Suddenly I forgot I was in a photography workshop.

http://www.mariavelarde.com/foundation-mexico-2/

Spanish photographer Luis Masyebra shares his thoughts about his Foundation Mexico 2 workshop experience.

When I registered to Foundation Mexico 2 (FM2) one year ago (!), the worst hurdle I had to overcome is the mystery and lack of detail that the presale process was showing: merely a quite-long list of world’s best wedding photographers and a scarce five-line-long Unique Selling Proposition was to be found. In exchange, the (probably) most expensive workshop in the field, including the cost to travel from Spain and be hosted in Mexico. But my hunch was there, so I applied. It would not be the last hunch to turn into awesome reality… At the end of it all, the proposition was indeed fullfilled, but that USP was all but a lie: FM2 is not about photography. It is about life, vision, creation, responsibility, compromise, growth and emotions. Yours, theirs, everybodies.

And then, the Perfect Storm for me. Five days of adventure with my (prior) Photo Gods at my complete disposal working as mentors: Ben Chrisman, Brett Butterstein, Citlalli Rico and Fer Juaristi. I had had the honor to personally meet Fer and Citlalli before; I knew about the elegance and grace that pours from Ci’s heart to her work, and the genius that bursts out of Fer’s bottle with each of his mind-bending shots. However, seeing these two-of-a-kind falling back into secondary roles with absolute modesty and total wish of service was a gasp. Leading roles fell on Ben and Brett, whose works are absolute crap in comparison to their teaching skills: they were 120% committed to obliterate my prior self in order to show me how deep the rabbit hole goes. They pushed me beyond my own fears – and burned the hell out of them.

I’ll never praise them as photographers again. Instead, I will highlight the sheer example of teaching efficiency, honesty, compromise, humbleness and genie that this team has shown to me/us all. And friendship. After bleeding the hell out of our’s and their own forces, they were always the last man standing to offer you a fresh, tasty beer and invite you to stand up again, try harder, go beyond. Or give you a true hug, if it may be. Confirmed: similar experiences happened in each team at FM2, with each student. I never gave a damn about the shots I would achieve there, but I’ll show you two of them – probably not the best, but surely the most significant ones to me. My team knows why. And Brett. After the tsunami, nothing is the same anymore. The true task is how you face your own path after seeing the light and be a true photographer for the first time in your life. A creator. That is serious shit no-one shall be able to avoid after Foundation. Screw you, FM2 team! You have pushed me beyond my Darkest Side, and there is no escape but by going deeper into the rabbit hole.

You should be very proud of the bunch of personas you have gathered around you, Huy. They all share the joy to sow our own futures within ourselves. And they surely achieved that with me at FM2.

Enjoy.

P.S. Sorry for the hassle: this is probably the longest post I’ve written in years. But if you have read this far, go do yourself a favor and start saving as-in-now for Foundation Mexico 3.

:: :: :: :: :: ::

Cuando me inscribí al taller de Foundation Mexico 2 (FM2) hace un año, el peor obstáculo que tuve que superar es el misterio y la falta de detalle que el proceso de preventa mostraba: apenas una lista más o menos larga de referentes mundiales en la fotografía de bodas y una Propuesta Única de Venta de literalmente cinco líneas de largo que se antojaba escasa a todas luces. A cambio, asumir el coste del taller más caro que existe (probablemente) sobre el tema, debiendo contar además con el coste que implica viajar desde España y alojarse en Mexico. Pero hice caso a mi corazonada y me suscribí. No sería la última corazonada en convertirse en increíble realidad… Al final del taller la proposición se había cumplido, pero en realidad era una mentira: FM2 no va de fotografía. FM2 va de la vida, de buscar una visión, de crear, de tu responsabilidad, de compromiso, de crecer y de las emociones. Las tuyas, las suyas, las de todos.

Y entonces se generó la Tormenta Perfecta para mí en forma de cinco días de aventura con mis (anteriores) dioses fotográficos a mi completa disposición como mentores: Ben Chrisman, Brett Butterstein, Citlalli Rico y Fer Juaristi. Yo había tenido el honor de conocer personalmente a Fer y Citlalli antes; sabía de la elegancia y la gracia que emana Citlalli con su trabajo, y el genio que brota de la botella de Fer en cada uno de sus alucinantes disparos. Sin embargo, ver a estos dos personajes asumir papeles secundarios con una modestia absoluta y una total vocación de servicio fue asombroso. Los papeles principales cayeron sobre Ben y Brett, cuyas obras son una porquería en comparación con sus habilidades para la enseñanza, su compromiso en buscar mi límite, borrar mi anterior yo para mostrarme cuán profunda es realmente la madriguera del conejo. Me hicieron ir más allá de mis miedos. Y los quemaron.

Jamás volveré a alabar a ninguno de ellos como fotógrafos. Siempre antepondré el enorme ejemplo que este equipo nos ha dado en cuanto a capacidad de enseñanza, honestidad, compromiso, humildad y genialidad. Y su amistad. Después de llevarnos al límite de nuestras – y sus propias fuerzas, ellos seguían en pié para ofrecerte una cerveza fresca e invitarte a dar un paso más, superarte. O darte un abrazo sincero, si es lo que se tercia. Confirmado: experiencias similares ocurrieron en cada equipo, con cada estudiante. Nunca me importaron realmente las fotos que saldrían de aquí, pero voy a mostraros dos de ellas. Probablemente no las mejores, pero sin duda las más significativas para mí. Mi equipo sabe porqué. Y Brett también lo sabe. Después del tsunami, nada volverá a ser lo mismo. El verdadero problema es cómo hacer frente a mi propio camino después de ver la luz y ser un fotógrafo de verdad por primera vez en mi vida. Un creador. Palabras mayores como para poder obviarlas de aquí en adelante. ¡Que os jodan, equipo de FM2! Me habéis empujado a mi lado más oscuro, y ahora sé que solo podré salir… ahondando en la madriguera del conejo.

Debes estar orgulloso de la panda de personajes que has reunido a tu alrededor, Huy. Todos ellos comparten la alegría de sembrar la semilla de nuestro propio futuro en nosotros mismos. Y te aseguro que conmigo lo lograron.

Disfrutad.

P.D. Perdón por el coñazo: ésta es probablemente la entrada más larga que he escrito en años. Pero si has leído hasta aquí, hazte un favor a ti mismo y empieza a ahorrar ya mismo para apuntarte a Foundation Mexico 3.

http://www.masyebra.com/?p=7310

Mexican photographer Arody Sanchez shares her thoughts about her experience as a student at the Foundation Mexico 2.

Mi primer contacto con el workshop de Foundation fue el año pasado en julio, moría por asistir al de San Miguel de Allende, el primer de los talleres (sino es que el único) más importante de fotografía en México. Siempre por recomendación de Fer Juaristi quien es la persona que me ha inspirado a llevar a cabo cada paso que doy, y le escribí a Huy. Al mismo tiempo planee mi viaje a San Francisco y no pude inscribirme en ese momento. Pensé, será 2013… ¿2013? Lejísimos… pff.

En noviembre, un día en mi twitter aparece @ferjuaristi hablando de los últimos lugares del Foundation… Y cerrando los ojos, esperando lo mejor, me inscribí. De pronto ya era parte de la lista de estudiantes y al verla, me fui para atrás al ver tantos nombres de grandes profesionales. Todo llega y la semana del FM2 estaba frente a mí, recibí la gran noticia de que Ana Arellano sería parte del equipo y qué mejor oportunidad, verla después de dos años de compartir con los Wedrockers en Holbox, estaba feliz.

Llegando a SMA, me propuse no esperar nada, explorar y hacer mi máximo. El primer contacto con todos los organizadores fue increíble, cómo en un espacio podían haber juntado ¡a tantos! Primero conocí a Maria Martínez y Jorge Baez de Valencia, un encanto y gran pareja; Adrian Tomadín, amenísimo; Danny Cuevas, con quien compartí mi proceso en el equipo; Maria Velarde que nos ayudó a conseguir el hotel y fue fantástico; Carlos Alonso, volviéndolo a ver después del SEFOME de 2009 como si fuera ayer; Alec con su apariencia de americano y hablando perfecto español; Juan Navarro de Cancún; Zoe Lammin de Madrid quien es un encanto conocer, bien dice Daniel Aguilar que podría escucharte hablar toda la vida; Carlos Vaquero, un carisma andante; Fran Cabades con su sonrisa única; Susana Barberá “super buenísima onda”; Virginia Gimeno con ese aire de ternura y valiente; Arturo Ortiz quien también pareciera lo conozco de siempre; Luis Masyebra quien me ha inspirado a dar ese paso; Ana Cruz, una chica increíble de León, espero verte pronto; Luis Vazquez Maseda quien se llevó mi corazón esa semana; Joseba Sandoval, que aún lastimado hizo un excelente trabajo; Daniela Garza con quien compartí el proceso “foundation” y Nacho Pérez, que con su sonrisa lo decía todo… Así fueron llegando cada uno, todos esperando conocernos y compartir nuestro camino hasta ahí.

Al recibir la noticia de que mis mentores serían Ben Chrisman, Brett Butterstein, Citlalli Rico y Fer Juaristi, morí, literal. La lista de estudiantes con los que compartiría mi camino fueron Jorge Baez, Joseba Sandoval, Daniela Garza, Danny Cuevas, Luis Masyebra y Carlos Alonso. Cada uno me dejó en mi trayecto algo muy importante que ni siquiera había considerado en mi camino y si, me abrieron los ojos.

Los dos días de asignación fueron difíciles, es duro vivir tu tarea muchas horas, a mi me tocó la Sociedad Protectora de Animales, donde reciben a perros y gatos en estados deplorables, un llorar a cada rato pero el enfrentamiento de ese sentimiento más las horas de trabajo más las de crítica nos derrumbaron siempre a las 2-3am… Gracias Rosy, doctora veterinaria por todo el corazón que deja en cada uno de los perritos que entran a su mesa, Aida y Lucy por todas sus atenciones, Cirilo por contarme su historia, a los voluntarios que van sin ningún interés a pasear a los perros y a cada uno de los personajes que viven diario en este círculo.

Gracias infinitas Ben por tu tranquilidad, nadie es más concreto que tu para decir algo simple y directo, gran maestro. De nuevo me tocó compartir una historia más contigo Fer y estoy agradecida por eso. Brett me aventaste al ruedo con armas, viendo más allá de la simple foto con la ayuda de la bella Citla, eres grande, tus palabras siempre serán claras y en modo “shuffle” en mi cabeza.

Me dieron armas para valorar lo que hay dentro y fuera de mí, todo lo que no hace ningún otro workshop. Todo tiene su tiempo y definitivamente este, era el mío. Un error habría sido no tomarlo ni escuchar mi corazón de nuevo con ese tweet de Fer que vi un día de noviembre. Si algo te dice que asistas, no lo pienses más, es tuyo. Me llevé a TODOS en el corazón y TODO lo que había en Foundation para mí.

Gracias Huy. Gracias Sergio. Y a todo el equipo de FM2: Katrina Wallace, Kelly Rashka, Ana Arellano, Erin Chrisman, Anna Kuperberg, Daniel Aguilar, Jorge Tinajero, Jesse y Andy, Andrew Mejia, Vladimir Chaloupka por el video único que tenemos de la experiencia y a Vinicius Matos por fotos increíbles de nuestro viaje por Foundation. ¡Gracias por mis fotos! Compañeros y amigos: Admiré cada uno de sus trabajos, hemos logrado muchísimo a pesar de que llegamos en blanco. En definitiva habrá un antes y después, luego de vivir Foundation.

http://www.arodysanchez.com/photography-workshop/foundation-mexico-2/

Canadian photographer Shauna Heron shares her experience from the Foundation Workshop 10. Thank you Shauna!

http://www.simplyshaunaphotography.com/2012/02/through-the-fire-foundation-workshop-10/

Seattle-based photographer Kip Beelman shares his thoughts about his experience as a student at the Foundation Workshop 10.

It was this day a week ago that I was en route to Glen Rose, TX (population 2,444) via Dallas, TX to attend the Foundation Workshop.  Foundation is billed as “the original and toughest photojournalism workshop for photographers” and in addition to having some of the most renown wedding photographers in the world associated with it, it’s also got a reasonably high barrier of entry at $3,900.  The high price tag and its reputation for making grown men cry limits this to a rare few each year that are willing to take this unique challenge.

Further along I’ll recount some of my thoughts and highlights from my time in Glen Rose, but first I wanted to briefly summarize what one might expect to return home with as it relates to my clients and to all of my photographer friends.

For clients:  I’ve come home with new eyes.  Well, they’re the same, but I now use them in an entirely new way.  Prior to Foundation, the main focus with my camera at a wedding were the portraits and trying to make them a nice balance of pretty and creative.  The other parts of the day, like prep and the reception, were not really where my creative energy was directed.  Now my brain has been completely reprogrammed to see beyond my subjects whilst seeking moments, moments, moments ALL DAY and be there with the right lens, at the right angle to produce a beautifully clean composition of a once-in-a-lifetime moment.  Thank you Foundation!

For photographers:  Foundation is as tough, if not tougher, than you’ve heard about.  After a full day of shooting and hours and hours and hours of individual critiques of my team’s daily take, I was averaging about 1.5 to two hours of sleep each night.  The critique sessions are ruthless, uncompromising, and incredibly educating.  Your team leader and mentors are there to push you and push you hard.  They are teaching you a new discipline.  You’ll probably cry.  From the challenge, from exhaustion, from frustration, or in my case, from elation – The unbridled joy that washed over me when my team leader said I made a great frame or the overwhelming feeling of relief and accomplishment when my slideshow was played on closing night both opened the floodgates.

Foundation began Saturday night for all but a few stragglers as we gathered at a local Glen Rose restaurant to meet our teams. Even on a busy weekend night we nearly took over the entire restaurant as there were 6 teams of six students that each had a team leader, two mentors and an assistant.  In addition, there were 3 coordinators, two assignment editors, 2 counselors (yes, counselors) and a dedicated photographer there to document the workshop, faculty and students.  That’s a faculty-to-student ratio of nearly 1:1 and key for the kind of concentrated, intense learning that the week would bring.

Sunday morning was pretty mellow and consisted of some co-mingling with other students before an orientation and then breaking off into teams.  Our team dug in for portfolio critiques that ran deep into the small hours of the morning while receiving our individual assignments along the way, sometime late Sunday night/early Monday morning.  Mine was Meals on Wheels and I was to report Monday morning at 8am to the Executive Director of the local the senior center 40 minutes north of Glen Rose in Granbury, TX where the meals were prepared, packaged and sent out on their routes for delivery.

8am isn’t too rough, right?  Well, our team leader, JVS, expected each of us to travel to the starting point of our respective story to capture sunrise.  He’s a firm believer that nothing represents a new beginning like a sunrise and he personally aims to see at least five per week.  This became a part of shooting each day for our entire team of six and something I’ve brought home to Seattle with me… Officially a sunrise fanboy now.

While some of the recurring mantras from the Sunday night critique were rattling around in my head as I began to work on Monday, I was pretty much approaching the task as I would any assignment, event or wedding… With no discipline or pre-assessment of what and where I wanted to focus my narrative.  The process of my assignment on Monday was to document the movement of freshly prepared meals into coolers, the loading of the coolers into a volunteer’s personal vehicle, driving a route according to a list of recipients, capturing either a hand off of the meals at the door or venturing inside in some cases, and then returning back to the senior center once the route was complete to drop off the coolers. The day wrapped up at roughly 2pm.

The two greatest challenges I faced were that the interactions were often as brief as 2 seconds and there was a nine stop shift in light between the exposure for outside (F/8, 1/2000th, ISO 200) and inside (F/4, 1/125th, ISO 3200).  Well, my greatest challenge is really that I was running around like a headless chicken just trying to get anything into my camera.

How did I fare during the critique session on Monday night?  Epic FAIL.  I was doing it all wrong:   Poor composition, consistently missing moments, exposures that were all over the place and generally not close enough to my subjects.  Tuesday’s shoot would be more of the same process, but with food prep beginning at 5:30am added to the mix and a new mental focus derived from the critique of the night before.

My efforts on Tuesday broke through on a couple of levels, but I was mired in technical difficulties:  My depth of field was too shallow, my shutter was too slow, my exposures where still all over the place, my color during food prep was being ruined by fluorescent lights, and I was missing focus on nearly half my shots.  It was almost as if I was getting worse and it DID NOT feel good.  I have to give some extra thanks to Ryan Jones, one of my team mentors, for the focus mode exercises outside the Holiday Inn Express at 3:30am Tuesday night/Wednesday morning.

Wednesday, as the workshop schedule was laid out, was supposed to be a pick-up day if you still needed a few frames to round out your slideshow.  In the case of our team, each of us were sent out on Wednesday for an entire day of shooting.  And thank goodness as I finally started to overcome technical issues and began making some useful frames.  The high-five I got from JVS that night during the critique about a specific frame I made sent me over the edge and I couldn’t prevent my eyes from flooding – It was the first time in a span of roughly 50 hours of hard work that I felt like I had finally done something right. A tiny, fleeting win.

Thursday is designated to finalize slideshows for the final presentations later that night, not for shooting.  That did not prove to be true in my case as JVS sent me out to make a few more frames that he thought my story needed.  Foundation Workshop 10 had a private Facebook group and I can tell from the chatter on this day that there was only one other person out shooting on Thursday.  And from that chatter, it appears as if she had to go make one specific frame.

Me?  I was camped out at 5:45am in the field of a derelict house adjacent to a cemetery opposite the senior center to try and get a sunrise establishing shot.  The fog was dense and it was looking like I’d be returning to Glen Rose empty handed.  At about 6am I heard voices in the cemetery and saw the heads of a couple of people in the distance… I had to check that I wasn’t imagining things. I laid low as I had to shimmy through a barbwire fence to get to my position and though abandoned, was on private property. Later and still under the foggy shroud of pre-dawn, cracking brush coming from the direction of the house (We had been warned during orientation to be extremely careful when going on to private property as the large majority of Texans are armed and WILL shoot you for trespassing) had my spine tingling a bit.

I photographed through the fog with a giant tree tree in the foreground as an anchor in my composition.  The senior center in the distance was juuuust barely visible.  The sun kept climbing higher, but there was no burning red as it crested the horizon.  We were socked in.  I lost all sight of the senior center until the fog finally began to break open at 9:30am.  The whole exercise felt fruitless and that it was a giant failure.   Grr.

The food line fires up at 9:50am, so I high-tailed it through the barb wire and raced the 300 yards across the cemetery back to the senior center for one more trip out on the delivery routes to see what I could get.  By this stage of shooting on day 4 the bullet points of the critique, the things I’d learned, and the confidence I’d gained all started to coalesce and I was now shooting with purpose and making frames that I wanted to make.  The sensation of chasing the action and reactively firing at it had evolved into seeing what was about to happen and quickly, almost intuitively, choosing how I wanted to show it.  Things had clicked.

Fast forward to the slideshow in the motel conference room after a wonderful Texas barbecue dinner catered by Hammonds BBQ.  The work of my peers was truly inspiring to witness and I’ll never forget seeing frames so amazing that the entire room broke out in cheer again and again.  People talk about Foundation becoming your family and I felt deeply connected to each and every one of these people having gone through an incredibly challenging week together.

After each slideshow was complete and the lights went up, it was all I could do to keep from falling over; I was physically, mentally, creatively and emotionally spent.  Not even Ben Chrisman nor David Murry approaching me to commend me on my hard work or the loooooong, proud hug of my dear Jenny Jimenez could rally me.  While the party raged on until sunrise, I went to my room around 8:30pm and fell over dead in the desk chair and didn’t wake until 8am the next morning.  It was finally over.

But it’s nowhere close to over. It’s only just begun.  The friends I made, the family I now have, the new eyes, head and heart in which I now approach my work will never leave me.  That week in Glen Rose was transformative, enlightening, and incredibly inspiring.

Major thanks to my team leader JVS, mentor Ray Soemarsono, mentor Ryan Jones and assistant Jan Garcia.  Your tireless effort, high standards, razor sharp critique and commitment to our team are a thing of legend.

More testimonials from FW10 will likely be sprouting up online, but my dear friend Kate McElwee does a lovely job of recounting her experience as a fellow attendee.  Also worth reading is this incredible 2-part document (Part I, Part II) by Britt Bailey of Foundation Workshop 9.

The quotes shared throughout this post are not mine.  They play in the masthead slideshow of the Foundation Workshop website.  I’ve included them here, as quotes from previous students, because they couldn’t echo my thoughts and sentiments any better.

We’ve been asked to limit the images we show online to only two.  Here are the ones that I feel best represent my commitment to working hard and being fearless to make a frame that doesn’t come easy.

http://kipbeelmanphotography.com/foundation-workshop/

http://blog.cwrphotography.com/2012/02/10/passion-drama-art-foundation/