Ernst workshop impressions

Probably most of the regulars here have already attended one or more of Tim Ernst's workshops and already know what they're like, but I thought I'd post some brief impressions for the benefit of those who haven't.


First, a disclaimer: I have no economic or personal ties to Tim Ernst, although when or if he's able to get his regional photo site up and running, that should change as I'm one of the candidate photographers for that. I don't think that has influenced my judgement of the workshop, but the potential conflict of interest should be known.


I attended the one-day standard digital workshop on April 20, intended for beginning to intermediate digital photographers.


The single-day format was very convenient for me because due to personal circumstances it's very difficult for me to be away from home overnight. So I hope Tim is able to continue and possibly expand his single-day offerings to cover topics currently covered only in full weekend sessions.


The workshop began with some in-the-field instruction on getting good digital images and continued with on-site photography at a scenic location, and though that's not the part that I came for, Tim made it around and offered some valuable tips during that time; so that part was far from wasted.


The rest of the working day (until about 6 p.m.) was spent in a classroom setting with Tim going through a digital workflow from image download to finished print for each of the eight participating photographers. Tim used a projection system to display his computer desktop to the class and demonstrate various Adobe Bridge, Camera Raw, and Photoshop techniques that he uses to process his own images, from selection and evaluation through color correction, touching up, cropping, sharpening, and printing. We even covered a few more advanced topics like blending. Most of the students brought laptops and followed along and used the techniques on images taken that morning.


Being a mainly self-taught Photoshop user, I found the class to be a revelation in many ways. Over the years I have used other methods to perform many of the same tasks, but in every instance the techniques covered in the workshop are better, faster, and produce a higher-quality output than the ones I have been used to.


So, the workshop got me off the dime with Photoshop and its companion software packages, and provided a solid foundation to build on. I think for me it was well worth the cost and effort.

Randy - you got all of that from the classroom stuff? Heck I thought it was you over there in the dark corner that was snoring! (it was a GREAT honor to have you in the class) The biggest problem with doing these workshops - especially the one-day ones with very limited time to spend - is the fact that there are always a wide spread of skill levels and interests in the room at the same time, and I try to cover a great deal of info that will somehow help everyone out a little bit. Randy was one of the more skilled photographers in the bunch - some were snapshot shooters, while others were somewhere in between. These workshops have changed a great deal in the past year or two and will continue to change and evolve and I hope to incorporate more of what helps the most. I will be putting up the 2009 schedule of workshops by May 1st, and will add a few one-day workshops later this year on that date as well. It is amazing how many of these we have that fill up so fast - twenty years ago I did one or two a year, and this year we will have 20 or more when it is all over.

Remember dr. Hui? When he first arrived in that dim light he did not even have a tripod and told me he was just there for the "experience" (the workshop was given to him as a gift). One of his staff members sent me an e-mail this morning saying that he had "discovered" photography once again as a result of the workshop, and that was all he could talk about this week, and that he already had a long list of equipment to buy - making it easy for his staff at Christmas time! Learning to see the light and process it will do that to folks in a hurry...

Every now and then I woke up and asked the young, pretty (it's ok to notice that, right?) photographer in the first row what was going on. Fortunately, she was awake and paying attention.

I know how Dr. Hui feels. There are several reasons that I use "Do you see the light?" as part of my CSNP signature, and that's one of them. It's like in that old Blues Brothers movie where the Reverend Cleotis is calling out "Do you see the light?", and Jake gets struck by a beam of light from heaven, and from then on the Blues Brothers are on a mission from God.

So I guess you're something like the Jake Blues of photography.

If the food at the workshop was half as good as what Tim had for us at the last one I attended, you probably gained some weight in addition to all that knowledge ;)

Well, you've touched on a sensitive topic there, John, that I wasn't going to raise. But it's a good thing I was thinking ahead and brought an ice chest stocked with my favorite form of brominated vegetable oiled quasi-nourishment, because, sad to say, there was one deficiency at the workshop that stood out above any other: no Mountain Dew. No Mountain Dew! Yes, there was Coca Cola, and a large selection of other fizzied refreshments, but they're just not the same.

This is Arkansas. These are the Ozarks! No Mountain Dew? The caffeine! The sugar! The erythorbic acid! Hit'll tickle your innards, don't you know?

Yup, we don't stock the "public" variety of Mtn. Dew since it is mostly a redneck drink around here (along with Bush light) - and of course none of our workshop folks would qualify as rednecks - but we did have plenty of the "genuine" mountain dew hidden in the basement (that is reserved for workshop folks who are on their third class...).

Man who'd of thought ... next class taken and I'm down for some DEW!!

Yeah, sign me up for some of that, hoss. Them that refuse it is few.

There may be readers young enough not to know that before Yahoo was a Web site, it was an expletive that figured heavily in the history of Mountain Dew:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=o8EvCLZBGuw

Oh man Randy ... now I feel old!