Please bear with me as I quote the posts I made to David's Road Trips blog:
Well, David & Mike have come and gone, but they will not be forgotten. Two of the sweetest, most generous-spirited fellows I've ever met. Every minute spent with them was pure delight. Can't think of any other 3 1/2 hour period of of my life that was so instructive and transformative. I feel like I just took a giant step towards becoming a real photographer, and I owe it all to DAH.
For those who have met and worked with the master, you already know what I'm going to say. During a one-hour edit we covered more territory than in any class I've ever taken. It was all about educating my artistic eye, as well as learning important technical information. David inspired, pushed, critiqued, taught, supported and helped me refine my focus in relation to my Self Portrait/Daily Life project. I came away from our time together not only with a tight edit that I feel good about but with a stronger sense of myself as a photographer. I also now know where I want to go with this work. Priceless stuff, that. (posted July 29, 2008 1:06 am)
It's early morning here in Detroit but I've been up since 6 am...and I am NOT morning person by nature. My mind is awhirl with everything I learned in working with David last night. Especially about editing. Just to watch and then begin to collaborate in the process was a true AHA experience!
What I saw, and later entered into, was a rigorous dance between the images and the artist, a dance with unexpected twists and turns, with a pulsing beat as engaging as any band or DJ I've ever heard. And as the edit got tighter, the dance partner was no longer each individual image but the whole, the body of work that had taken on a life of its own. To me, that's when the fun began. And, amazingly, it was then that I became the one to cut more images than David, for I finally heard this project's unique voice, and I wanted nothing to muddy its purity and power.
Sequencing was key to my seeing where its strengths lay. The ten images we finally decided on have a flow and, as Mike said, you can look at them and see they were taken by the same photographer. But David made it clear that sequencing is not about "telling a story"" but rather about the flow, the mood, the tonalities and how it looks when moving from one to another.
Sure it was hard to see so many shots I'd liked end up on the cutting room floor. But when I'd ask David why, he'd show me their weaknesses and/or how they didn't fit into the body of work we were putting together. Some of them I will retake with a more educated eye, but others are gone forever. So be it. Hey, this kind of editing isn't for wimps! You've got to be ready to let go and get on with it.
So now I'm getting ready for Mary Ellen Mark's weekend workshop on August 2-3. As I've said before, we're to bring 10-20 images for a portfolio review. I'll print these ten photos in 11x16.5" and maybe add a couple from David's "B" edit, but maybe not. At this point I'm inclined to stick with my best and if it's just ten that's OK. It'll be interesting to hear what MEM has to say.
CLICK HERE to see my Self Portrait/Daily Life project.
OH, I am SO GRATEFUL to David for his visit and private workshop! I hope my descriptions are useful to you. We were all there together last night on my screened porch...
Patricia (posted July 29, 2008 7:58 am)
And when I say "we were all there together," I'm including you, my wonderful friends and visitors here on PBase. Many of you have been with me from the start and I am so grateful for that. I would not be who or where I am right now had it not been for my seeing and learning from your excellent work as photographers, and for my receiving your encouragement and constructive criticism of my work. Thank you.
