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And We’re Back. Kind of.
July 26th, 2010
This weekend’s free online CreativeLIVE class on Vision Driven Photography was a lot of fun. And exhausting. And a real stretch for me. I find events like that, and teaching that kind of subject matter, very challenging. Which is why I did it (instead of staying at home and watching endless DVDs of HOUSE M.D. or something). I mentioned in the class that those things you are most scared of doing are usually the very things you most need to do, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t go into this weekend with a mix of excitement and fear. Anyways, it’s done now – huge thanks to all who sat in, who participated, and who came in person to be part of things.
I hope those of you that took the time to watch, and overcame some of the troubling technical issues, got some bang for your buck in terms of time invested. I hope you came out seeing something a little differently, or a little more free to embrace the frustrations, fears, doubts, and chaos of the artistic process. Remember there is nothing wrong with a messy process, that a sterile process most often results in sterile art, and the world doesn’t need more of that.
I’m about to hit the road, so I’ll be on the blog a couple more times this week and then mostly absent until I get home from Iceland on the 10th.
Again, thank you so much for being part of things this weekend. You can still get the course as a download HERE, though the early-bird discount is over.
I really enjoyed the parts that I was able to watch (on Re-watch) and you guys inspired me to do a little photo walk myself while in Indianapolis on assignment….before working in the intense heat for many hours at the race track(s)..AND, I challenged myself constantly while ON the assignments and therefore enjoyed the work more than I would have expected. Again, sorry I couldn’t make it to join you in person.
Sounds like it was amazing. Many of us in BC couldn’t see it though, so we will have to be content with the written experience through your books and blog entries, or save up and purchase the workshop. It is cool that you are still at a point that you have to face your fears and can relate to that. Next year I have to shoot video and stills out of a helicopter. Excited, yes, afraid of totally goofing up, oh, my gosh, yes. Am I going to do it – yes and it will change things and stir the pot as you have said.
Thank you so much for taking your time and giving us all such an amazing weekend course. I loved your somewaht more artistic approach to shooting amazing photos.
I definitely learned a lot from you in this past couple of days and totally enjoyed your sense of humor too. Once again, thank you.
Hi David,
I watched the course at CreativeLIVE this weekend. Thanks so much for sharing your ideas and perspectives!
I was in Iceland a few months ago. I was only there for eight days on personal travel, but the volcano erupted while I was there so it made for an exciting trip. It’s on my list of places to revisit… and I rarely revisit!
As part of figuring out what my subconscious vision is, I’ve been going through old photos and looking at them more as a body of work than as individual photos. Without realizing it, I saw that I tend to take a lot famous landmarks from perspectives that have them coming out of “hiding” from the background. Here’s an example from Iceland:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sujn/4821824719/
Perhaps that’s a creative assignment to add to the list to help folks break out of their typical POV?
Have a wonderful time! Really – it’s an amazingly beautiful country with visual surprises everywhere. You won’t be able to put your camera down.
I absolutely loved the portions of the class that I caught over the weekend. It was very freeing, encouraging, and motivating. You have a wicked sense of humor, which made it all the more fun, not some dry, boring class. Even though I didn’t see all of it, I still got so much out of what I did watch. Thank you so much, David, for taking the time to do this. The things I learned will be a part of the process for many, many years to come.
Wish I could have been a part of this workshop! It sounded amazing! I’ll be excited to hear more about it as we all go on. I love how we all can relate to you so well as you’re not afraid to tell us your weaknesses and where you’re lacking! You’re a great example!
Enjoy Iceland, take the photos I never did, and have some vodka & beer for me.
P.S. find that barn on the Southern highway, with the graffiti, in front of the cliff with the waterfall too will ya? I was on a bus and never got a shot of it…
The class this weekend was so excellent, and so free! CreativeLIVE is now my new obsession. Such a fantastic way to build your artistic education.
Whenever I am reading your books, I always new that the information was so useful and inspiring, but it also felt so abstract. That is the nature of vision; it IS abstract.
The creativeLIVE class allowed me to internalize all of those abstract feelings. Hearing you describe your process allowed me to start asking the right questions. What am I trying to say with this photo? What is distracting from that statement? How can I add to that statement?
I started editing a recent portrait session as you were talking yesterday, and, honestly, my output was insanely stronger than my previously photos. And, the time it took to edit was cut in half! I was focused and asking the right questions. I couldn’t believe it worked so well, so quickly.
Anyways, thank you! It was a truly beneficial weekend, and I could not be more thankful that you took the time to do that.
The weekend’s workshop was amazing! Thank you so much for sharing your ideas with the world!
There are so many “rules” that are repeated over and over again which (for me) totally ignore the vision. The vision is that part of photography that I like most! I enjoyed hearing you speak so many things that I felt inside! That frees me to follow MY vision and stop listen to the voices that try to distract.
By the way, you did a wonderful job speaking. Your presentation was great! I’m looking forward to getting some of your books and gathering more of your knowledge.
David,
I enjoyed the weekend, gave me some good points to think about.
Oh, the main point I’m thinking about is that I’m jealous ’cause I want to go to Iceland too
Thanks!
Thanks for such a wonderful honest and open workshop. This subject is difficult to explain and you did it expertly. So, my practical husband asked me what sort of stuff I’d learned. I think he expected hard facts like f-stops, shutter speeds, lenses etc. I gave up when I noticed his eyes beginning to glaze over…
Thanks!
- Thysje
Christchurch, New Zealand
David a sincere thanks for doing the Creative Live weekend. Really appreciated your honesty and great content. It must have been quite difficult to put yourself on the line for so long answering questions. Thanks and as I have said before your photography and process resonates with me greatly.
I’ll be uncharacteristically brief but wanted to say thank you for these words – i think it’s easy to assume that when a little success comes someone’s way they stop doubting themselves and in my case I often wonder if anything I say or write is anything more than just babbling about theoretical stuff people would rather overlook in favor of questions about f/stops and focal lengths. Hearing that it resonates and on some level inspires, keeps me going. I’m truly grateful to you for the feedback. Thank you.
david, thanks for the creative live weekend – have bought the downloads – so i can keep refreshing what my vision is – but found myself watching live – and became absolutely hooked – have just dug out ‘within the frame’ and rereading now – a great weekend – how about a workshop in the UK
I was able to sit through the first two sessions and can say with certainty that this seminar has changed the way I see everything. The bad thing is I’m going to have to give up driving, while composing a landscape in my mind yesterday I almost took out two mailboxes. Thanks so much David.
[...] And We're Back. Kind of. [...]
Nicely done David! And I watched the WHOLE THING and it was well worth it. I know how much prep work goes into a presentation of that length. Thanks for taking the risk.
You also touched on one of my pet irritants – the “It’s not real photography if you use Photoshop, don’t use just film, etc., etc.” Based on reading his books, my guess is that Ansel Adams spent as much time in his darkroom tweaking his images as he did taking pictures, and he would have loved the possibilities of the digital image.
Enjoy Iceland but look out for the really native cuisine.
Well done David. I learned a lot. My perspective on my craft and my vision has changed quite a bit. I am more determined than ever to get out from behind my shiny pillars and go produce my vision! Thank you.
Awesomely done David. It was a fantastic weekend and I absolutely loved your “lessons”. It was nice to hear a different perspective on photography (even though I already knew what you “preach” because of your books).
I’m glad you had the chance to be at creative Live and I’m also glad I had the time to watch it. I’d be pretty bummed if I didn’t. It was worth every second.
Cheers from Portugal,
Daniel
David, the creativeLIVE sessions were great. I really enjoyed all of the thoughts but some that really stuck with me were the sketch photos and the ideas of developing your vision through keeping a visual inventory. I’m excited to get to put these into practice.
Thanks for sharing your weekend with all of us.
Fantastic seminar. I totally agree with all the above comments. One thing I wanted to add: your live audience was awesome. It was an encouragement to me that even professional photographers like yourself sometimes have challenges to overcome. I ventured out on Saturday night to photograph – I was scared that I totally mess it up, but some of the images came out pretty cool and my family and friends like them
…and I do too!
David,
As camera #2 operator, I was so tempted to jump in and start asking questions, would of been a little crowded but. I had to save all my thoughts and ideas for the head dump during the breaks. catching willing participants to listen to my rants, hoping that they could remember all I said.
The seduction of color, peter beard’s ranch, metadata, walter murch, jung’s redbook. The Five C’s of cinematography. Music and architecture, rhythm and movement in an image. I shoot when I think it will make a great painting.
The idea of polluted hit me, frustration, why to shoot.
so much.
Thanks for those short talks during the breaks, like chris week’s work, this will keep me inspired and challenged.
be well
laurence
Hi David,
I was able to watch most of the live stream this weekend, awesome! Thanks so much for taking the risk and putting yourself out there for us.
Your description of the messy creative process was great. Mindfulness and the “why am I making this photograph?” question are helping me move forward creatively. Bonus (yet slightly weird) feature.. Now I can imagine your voice and inflection when reading your published work!
Iceland is a photography paradise, have a great time!
The weekend course was my first introduction to you and I learned so much. Or, should I say, it set me up to learn a lot. I am pretty new at this so I spent this morning working on craft – sat down with my manual (which I haven’t really done since I bought the camera in November) and just went out to shoot whatever and work on the use of the camera/exposure.
Just starting to go through the 6 ebooks I bought. Thrilled, inspired.
Many thanks.
Thanks for a very thought-provoking weekend David, I learned lots and enjoyed every minute. Thanks also to Craig, Chase and all the CL team, these weekends are something really special for photo-nerds.
Happy shooting in Iceland!
Thanks for sharing all your insights. I loved what I was able to catch on the live-feed and wish I could have seen more. You’ve inspired me to think more about my photography and taking time to “sketch”.
Have a safe trip to Iceland!
Excellent weekend workshop, many thanks to you and the CreativeLive team. Refreshing to watch a workshop that wasn’t gear and technique driven, your insights and honesty have given me a lot to think about.
Looking forward to reading about your Iceland trip on the blog, have a great time!
I really enjoyed your workshop (I live in Dubai and due to time differences I only caught about half of each day). Great to sit through a workshop where you don’t come out feeling like you need to buy more equipment.
Also, I just came back from Iceland 5 days ago where I was on a phototrip (basicaly just renting out a car and driving around the island) and it’s one of the most interesting landscapes I’ve seen. Last year I was in Tibet and I found some of the Icelandic landscapes to be very similar to Tibet with the added sea in the background.
Anyway, enjoy!
Thanks for a fantastic three day run… Had to fit the Scott Kelby walk I was leading into the schedule but could not miss the Vision. I’ve written an article about it on my photography magazine, online, you might be interested into it, although it’s in portuguese. You can Google it, but as you said… it does strange things with words and concepts. Anyway…
Thanks again for the Vision.
http://www.fotodigital-online.com/actividades/workshops/821-david-duchemin-a-visao-num-workshop-de-tres-dias.html
David, I actually came to your workshop on creativeLive from Chase Jarvis blog. I was really amazed by it. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. It helped me in many ways (for example by realizing that I am not alone in many of my thoughts regarding different aspects of photography). From there I visited your site and blog, and I have also blogged about you on my blog. What can I say? I was really impressed. I will also buy your books (at least some of them).
Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and experience!
Thanks for a great weekend! I really enjoyed the class!
David, I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your creative live seminar. It was very motivating! I hope you got such much needed and deserved rest. Enjoy your trip to Iceland!!! I (I did have to laugh about the “lone tree safari”)
Hi David, Just wanted to say thanks for doing the workshop. I’m so glad you pushed yourself to go do it! I learned so much and really appreciate what you did.
Thank you also for your compliment on my image that you discussed (Snow Benches) at the end of the third day, I was blown away that you liked it.
Have a great time in Iceland!
I was able to watch some of it but I had to study for my Econ final this weekend. I definitely felt torn between studying for my test and watching your workshop…I hate to say that my studies came first and I’m bummed that your workshop wasn’t THIS weekend.
Smart Shots Photography – Thanks for the note. Just wanted to tell you again how much I loved that image – really evocative, great lines and contrast. it’s come to mind several times since the class. Well done, man. And welcome here to the blog.
Tyler – Studies first. You can always buy the downloads later. I doubt your profs would be as accomodating.
Beate – What I wouldn’t give to be back there with you guys and staring down a lone tree on the horizon!
Everyone else – Thanks so much again – can’t tell you how encouraging you’ve been.
David,
to add more fuel to a discussion, something to ponder : consumer camera + art
laurence
I really got a lot out of that link, Laurence. Thanks!!
SuJ’n
you’re welcome. but here is more especially since David is now traveling, pertains to US citizens mostly. would be great if David added a link/section: travel abroad legal docs.:
http://photofocus.com/2010/07/29/u-s-based-photographers-traveling-abroad-beware-the-duty/