Velda's Reviews

by: Velda Ruddock

As many of you know, I am passionate about photographing flowers and plants in all of their parts and lifestages. I hold off going into the studio in order to complete other responsibilities. In the field, Joe may be shooting landscapes; I’ll be somewhere else completely, focusing on leaves, bark, plants and flowers. I tell myself I’ll only spend an hour processing, and get up stiff and thirsty hours later.

Recently, though, I’ve been asking myself: What’s next? Where do I go from here?

So imagine my excitement when I saw the Out of Chicago announcement for two free webinars this July, both guaranteed to provide new ways of looking at my favorite subject. I was in!

Out of Chicago brings together some of the world’s most creative and inspirational photographers for immersive, hands-on and online photography experiences. Their webinars are professional, with clear presentations, enthusiastically delivered, and, after attending the first event, I wanted others to have the same experience.

I asked Out of Chicago if I could share the replay link. I even offered to promote their two 2023 botanical conferences as an enticement. Not only was permission freely given, it turns out one of the conferences sold out almost immediately after they announced it. Clearly the webinars motivated many people. I certainly registered the day of the announcement. Information on the other conference will be found at the end of the review.

Read on for the replay links on the two webinar courses offered by Out of Chicago along with links to the instructors’ portfolios as well as some highlights.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dUs4FSVT6k

Instructors: Anne Belmont John Barclay Chrissy Donadi Gerri Jones Sarah Marino Krista McCuish Colleen Miniuk Charles Needle Alan Shapiro

“A single moment can lead to a creative breakthrough, an unexpected body of work, a new line of thinking, or a fresh direction for our photography.” That was the premise of the webinar and that was what the instructors shared, be it creative or technical. A collection of their discoveries and recommendations include:

Be brave Follow your instincts. Move beyond the obvious. Take risks and be willing to make mistakes. Create the art you love – you are not in the business of pleasing others. Ignore criticism.

Experiment Ask “what if…” as you are working. Give yourself permission to play. Be open. Be curious. Let your mind wander as you photograph. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t work.

Assign yourself projects Really work a scene, go beyond the obvious. Explore different aspects of your subject; look at lines and shapes, pieces of the whole. Explore the details. Separate visual elements from each other, and reveal lines, form, and textures. Think about juxta positions, e.g., jagged and smooth. How low can your lighting go? Find color where you thought there was none, or, go black & white, to give you the bones of your subject.

Have fun: That is most important

If Anne and Sarah only had seven minutes each to share their best practices in “A-Ha Moments,” imagine what they did in this two-hour “Beyond Flowers” webinar. As a start, they asked us think beyond the first impression of the drama of flowers. In fact, flowers only make up five percent of Sarah’s plant photography.

Some of the elements of what they covered included:

Preparing and developing your mindset for all things botanical Finding subjects and staying with and fully exploring them Seeing abstractly Experimenting with focus and depth of field Telling stories with your photographs

They were also very specific in how they photograph, equipment they use, and how they processed. They showed images of their favorite plants in ways that you may not have considered. I wanted to get up and start even before the webinar was over, but I didn’t want to miss a minute!

Did these webinars do what I hope they would? Did they inspire? Yes, yes, they did!

https://www.outofchicago.com/conference/out-of-desert-botanical-2023/?mc_ cid=99224bc030&mc_eid=52153b3714

Instructor’s Portfolios: Anne Belmont https://www.annebelmontphotography.com/f798181029 John Barclay https://johnbarclayphotography.com/folios/ Chrissy Donadi https://chrissydonadi.com/portfolio/?envira-tag=flowers Gerri Jones https://www.gerrijonesphotography.com/p298732728 Sarah Marino https://photos.smallscenes.com/Sarah Krista McCuish https://www.kristamccuish.com/work Colleen Miniuk https://colleenminiuk.photoshelter.com/portfolio Charles Needle https://charlesneedlephoto.com/gallery/ Alan Shapiro https://www.alanshapirophotography.com/Portfolio/ Trippin-in-the-garden-on/

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