This weekend, on Saturday, I attended a photography workshop lead by Darwin Wiggett & Samantha Chrysanthou of oopoomoo.com. This workshop was presented by Manitoba Photo Events, which is a calibration by the photo clubs in Winnipeg. Darwin and Samantha gave us tips on the art of storytelling, the creative power of lens choice and camera settings, harnessing the power of tone for mood and story, and telling a story with more than one image. On Sunday, I went to Fort Whyte with a small group to put all the workshop teachings into practice. We were instructed to take our images in live mode and in monochrome, so that we would be able to see the tone more clearly in the results. Shooting in live mode was a challenge for me, as I am more comfortable looking through the viewfinder. All images were taken on a tripod. This method helped me to see all the corners and to insure that there were no undesirable things poking in the corners. It also made me slow down and think more about what I was attempting to accomplish, which is something that I have to work on.
Later that evening, I went to Assiniboine Park and continued to shoot in that mode, except without a tripod, as I was capturing images of young grey owls which were perched in the trees. Therefore, I choose to hand hold my camera.
If you have an opportunity to attend a workshop by Darwin & Samantha, I would highly recommend it. I hope that I am able to attend another one of theirs in the future.