Flamingo

[asnow]

The Flamingo

[Marko]

I like the colour here - shot 3 takes it for me.

[asnow]

Interesting that you chose shot 3. That was my pick in the workshop. Steve Simon the workshop organizer picked shot 1.

[Runmonty]

I agree with you and Marko. Shot 3 for me.

As an aside, you seem to be doing a quite a few workshops and photography tours. I have thought about this myself, mainly to make me get out and about and see things from a different perceptive. So many seem focused on beginner photographers however (and are often run by those with not more experience then their participants)

From your experience do you have any tips on what to look for in a workshop or group?

[asnow]

Thanks Runmonty

I virtually took no photos last year (2018). I decided I had to get back at it. To jump start this I booked workshops in Chicago (it was a few weeks ago) and Boston (coming up about a week from now)

I don't exactly have any tips in choosing a workshop. My original choices came from photography podcasts I listen to. All the photographers on my workshops are excellent teachers and have various styles. Some of the recent ones I've taken the last few years are;

Mexico - Joseph Linaschke (photojoseph.com) - He didn't have any classroom time but spent as much one on one time with you as requested.

Paris - Valerie Jardin (valeriejardinphotography.com) - She had one afternoon of classroom and an hour one on one session with you. Most of her training is during the various photowalks we did.

Tokyo - Steve Simon (thepassionatephotographer.com) - Steve has scheduled classroom time every day and a couple of photowalks\events each day. He is an excellent teacher. That's why I been a repeat customer on his workshops.
Lisbon - Steve Simon
Chicago - Steve Simon
Boston - Steve Simon

All these workshops have been very well organized. Valerie and Steve tend to have a lot of repeat customers so I guess that's a good sign. Valerie's are VERY popular. Her workshops sell out more than a year in advance.

p.s.
Another person I would highly recommend is Chris Marquardt (chrismarquardt.com). I did an urban photography workshop with him in 2010. I would love to do another one with him but he tends to have quite exotic tours which would require a fair amount of physical fitness. I'm simply getting too old and don't have the fitness level required any more. I think he has the longest running photography podcast in the world "TipsFromTheTopFloor"

I've also heard good things about Martin Baily (martinbailyphotography.com). A couple of members in my camera club did a workshop with him in Iceland

[Runmonty]

Thanks so much for such a comprehensive response asnow. I will look at those websites and and see if I can find a common theme. Obviously being the other side of the world most of those will be impractical for me, but it will give me a point of reference to compare whatever I do find.

Please keep sharing your experiences.

[asnow]

Thanks so much for such a comprehensive response asnow. I will look at those websites and and see if I can find a common theme. Obviously being the other side of the world most of those will be impractical for me, but it will give me a point of reference to compare whatever I do find.

Please keep sharing your experiences.

You are quite welcome to any help I can give. I definitely understand that living in Australia makes a lot of options impractical. One that I think might be of interest to you is Chris Marquardt's Bhutan.
https://discoverthetopfloor.com/workshop.php?event=2020_bhutan
This looks like a super tour\workshop and is in your part of the world. In my younger days I would have signed up for this in a heartbeat.
p.s. If you are into film photography Chris Marquardt is definitely the guy. He does digital but does a lot of film as well.

[Marko]

Interesting that you chose shot 3. That was my pick in the workshop. Steve Simon the workshop organizer picked shot 1.


Every instructor's eye is different but I like the comp much better in shot 3.
Shot 1 looks like it's been made too many times for it to be my winner. Not that there's anything wrong with it though.....

I think a bit more PP on shot 3 though could make it sing a bit louder. Upping the contrast on the floor would be my first choice.

Good resources asnow- thx
Interesting that you chose shot 3. That was my pick in the workshop. Steve Simon the workshop organizer picked shot 1.

[asnow]

"Shot 1 looks like it's been made too many times for it to be my winner"
That was one of the reasons why my choice wasn't shot 1.

It's interesting that for a lot of your PP suggestions, it already looks better when I view then in Lightroom. It appears that a lot is lost in the export.
As for this shot, it WAS taken through the window so it may have lost a touch of clarity as well.