Hello dear friends!! :)
We’re just beginning the new 2010 and time is already flying! I’m sure everyone has set themselves some New Year resolutions, goals, etc. Some have already had a great start of the year, and some maybe not such a great one. For those of you who haven’t really had a great beginning, hang in there! I’m sure it will get better as the year goes by.
Let me share with you how my year began… and hopefully, get the chance to inspire those of you who still need a bit of an inspiration boost.
January was going to be the month, THE month. I’ve been interested in attending a really cool photography program in D.C., and they hosted an Open House while I was visiting in Virginia. So I decided to attend and find out about everything concerning that program, etc. After hearing a couple of people talk about how it works, what you get to learn, what you can do afterwards, etc… I came out of there truly looking forward to be part of this place, learn everything I can learn, be part of a group of people who share the same passion as me. I even came out with a new friend! :) The thing is, it really inspired me and made me want to do so much more with my photography, and I honestly couldn’t wait to begin! So, there it was… best night in January so far. And it was only the 5th.
Now let’s go back a couple of months into 2009. As you know, everyone has some kind of an idol or someone who does what WE love to do, and does it incredibly great! Therefore, we look up to them and admire their work. Last year, 2009, one of my favorite photographers: Jeremy Cowart, announced he was having a workshop at his studio (in Tennessee). A little hopeless to attend, I replied to him on twitter saying I would love to be able to attend… if I lived in the States. He replied (which was a really cool surprise!), convincing me to do it! he said: well come on over then! So let’s say a little light of possibility appeared in between my hopelessness, and thought that I might actually have a chance to attend, so I started to check my budget, plane tickets from VA to TN, etc. And after a few days of trying to get a ticket, I finally got the opportunity to get my spot in the workshop! and me… I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited/in shock in my life. :)
Finally, January 8th comes… and my mom and I were already in Tennessee (my mom’s a sweetheart, she wanted to go with me and join me in this really cool experience for me). On a snowy, pretty-cold night, right after a few minutes of looking for the exact location of Jeremy’s studio (and making 5 new friends in the process), I met one of the best photographers out there and 20+ incredibly talented photographers. The night began and I was the only foreign participant in the workshop, what a privilege! We all shared our stories with each other, and once again I was sort of ‘high’ on happiness and awe. Jeremy talked about his story, which was quite interesting (especially the one about photographing Sting!) and shared some of his lighting techniques on most of his website photos. It was really great to know how his creativity worked in a place where it wasn’t easy to be creative, and that’s something to really admire! The night finished and I couldn’t wait for the next day! It was mind-blowing to have met Jeremy, and also to have met such wonderful people in only the very first night! My excitement was so big that I was unable to go to sleep early… it was just impossible.
On the second day, the real action began. Sadly, Jeremy had had a small car accident that morning, but thank goodness everyone was ok! He got to the studio and he said we made his day better, so that’s a huge ‘yay’! :) The whole day was filled with photos, learning, questions, answers, creating “something out of nothing”, like Jeremy said. And it was an absolutely amazing experience to learn from someone whose photography is way too original and who pretty much shares my idea of ‘the rules are made to be broken’ (photography rules, that is! :P), because it’s all about creativity and knowing how/when to use it and with what! So, before the workshop ended, we all gathered around in a circle to talk about what we wanted to do this year in the photography field, what our goals were, etc. I felt incredibly inspired by the goals and motivation everyone had towards this year and their photography, especially what my new friend Jesh said. He said (and I’m paraphrasing here), we all had to work on ourselves in order to get better on what we do, because that’s what matters! what’s inside of us and what we want to show through our photos, and the better we worked on ourselves, the better our work would be. And he was so right! Those were only some of the words that made me feel truly inspired, and I mean genuinly inspired. I don’t think that something like that had ever happened to me before! I was completely overwhelmed with that feeling, I thought it was going to come out of my chest or something! Made me think about how many things I want to do, and what I want to become, and how close I am to actually get it!… and that, as my best friend said, was an epiphany. And I think he’s right too. :)
So there you have it. And there I was… on the 9th day of the year, feeling completely overwhelmed by the extreme inspiration that took over me, and thinking about my future like crazy! Things like that don’t happen often, like I mentioned before, it was really the first time I had felt like that! and I thought it was the best thing that could’ve happened to me in this point of my life. I wish for all of you to get the chance to experience that type of feeling at least once in your life, because it’s mind-blowing and completely overwhelming in every sense… it is truly amazing. :)
To Jeremy, thank you so much for an unforgettable experience!! :)
I leave you with a few photos taken during the workshop. Our model was Josiah Hawley. I hope you like them!!
Have a great week and hope you guys find your inspiration source! ;)
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UPDATE!! — my best friend Pablo wrote a post on his blog about this! make sure to check it out!! ;) (btw! it is in spanish!)
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Posted in life, photography, stuff
Tags: experience, Jeremy Cowart, Jeremy Cowart Workshop, photography, photoshoot, portraits, tennessee