#mtnworkshops

[mtnworkshops]

Bowling Green’s not the only place to find Big Red... nice image of Mt. Sterling by @mediacafeonline #mtnworkshops (at Mount Sterling, Kentucky) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpI2MXclrRG/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=6w3yl0yr34s

[shameelarafin]

@joshabla talking about #previsualization @mtnworkshops #mtnworkshops (at Paducah, Kentucky)

[justingellerson]

Avery Young, left, a 23 year old grad student from Detroit, Michigan with 19 year old freshman Dante Brown, stand with their instruments by their sides during a matching drill on Kentucky State Universities Jones Field in Frankfort, Kentucky, October 2015 Through the next couple of days I'll be sharing some of the photos I made while attending Mountain Workshops in Frankfort, Kentucky. #mtnworkshops @mtnworkshops (at Kentucky State University)

[bgpj]

Seeing at the 40th annual Mountain Workshops:

I have seen the workshops from the perspective of a labbie and a student coordinator, but this year, I was lucky enough to be a participant at Mountain Workshops in Frankfort, Kentucky. At the draw of a hat I was assigned the Lemley family, a forward thinking, environmentally conscious, organic farming family with a great awareness of their place in the world. I walked into this situation thinking the story was about the farm. I found myself getting "process-y” with my images and I worried the images lacked soul. Then, as the sun began to set behind the hills, Ella caught my attention. It was then that she pulled out her hand made halloween costume made to resemble a Phoenix. She paraded around the landscape trying it on for size. She became my character and this photo assignment became a storybook. 

The workshops couldn't have come at a better time. Lately, upon my return to school after a year working at internships and studying abroad, I’ve been finding myself in a creative rut with a relationship with my camera likened to that of a long marriage. It’s there, I’m loyal to it, but there hadn’t been a spark for a while. It’s been an ultimate low, something I haven’t experienced since a few years back when I was on the border of quitting. But like a marriage, I’m learning to work through it, doing small things to rejuvenate the mess in my head. 

So, in a sense I feel like going to Eddie Adams last week and attending Mountain this week has some weird cosmic significance. 

The combination of being forced to shoot, spending time around excited students and being inspired by incredible photographers on a daily basis has lit that spark again. I think hitting this low point and becoming so desperate almost helps you find that spark again. You just have to open yourself up completely to changing the way you think. While I accept I’m in a plateau, I’m finally putting on the boxing gloves, stepping into the ring, and glaring down my opponent - complacency. I’m not as good as I thought I was. I’ve made a lot of shitty frames at these workshops. I’ve had portfolio critiques that blew my mind and put me in my place.  I’m far from where I want to be and that in itself is thrilling. 

[mtnworkshops]

Are you ready for a phenomenal week???? 1 day left before the 2019 #mtnworkshops begin! ❤️📸🎥 @jonathanworld (at Gateway Regional Arts Center) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpPNFqQF5UN/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ijl83k15izst

[shameelarafin]

#mtnworkshops #waitingfordinner (at Paducah, Kentucky)

[mtnworkshops]

Wired. 🖇 #mtnworkshops 📸: @justinlfowler (at Gateway Regional Arts Center) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpNprmeFuD1/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1meip3j1fd9kw

[mtnworkshops]

Here lies the bodies of former work shoppers from years past... #mtnworkshops ☠️🧟‍♂️📸: @jonathanworld https://www.instagram.com/p/BpKiYgaltSk/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=istijthnok43

[mtnworkshops]

PHOTOJOURNALISM COACH | JACK GRUBER

Jack Gruber is a staff photographer at USA TODAY. After passing his driver license test at sixteen, Jack walked into the offices of The Daily Advocate, a small hometown newspaper with a circulation of just 7,000 readers in Greenville, Ohio and declared that he wanted to be a photographer. Holding back laughter, the managing editor tossed the high school sophomore a film canister telling him to go into the darkroom and process the exposed roll of black and white film. If he could manage that, they would talk. Able to read the processing directions taped on the wall, Gruber managed to not destroy the film while spooling it on a reel and processing it correctly. That was his first job interview and the start of Jack Gruber’s career as a photojournalist. After graduating from the Ohio University School of Visual Communication, Jack worked as a staff photographer at the Flint Journal, The Detroit News and the Commercial Appeal in Memphis before joining the staff at USA TODAY, first based in San Francisco for ten years before moving to USA TODAY's headquarters in Northern Virginia and Washington D.C.

[mtnworkshops]

Martha Emmons goes for her daily morning walk in her neighborhood while #mtnworkshops participant Kelsea Hobbs follows. Photo: Nina Greipel (at The Mountain Workshops)

[mtnworkshops]

Lots and lots and lots of learning! Day 2 Behind The Scenes. #mtnworkshops #more2morehead

[mtnworkshops]

#mtnworkshops participants!!! Let us know where you're traveling from! Can't wait to meet you all! 2016 📸: @stevesmart (at The Mountain Workshops)

[mtnworkshops]

Jane and Manny Lanzos take in the sunset by the Paducah riverfront. Photo: Abbey Tanner #mtnworkshops (at The Mountain Workshops)

[mtnworkshops]

Ryan Graham consoles his wife, Ashley, in the dining room after their childrenwent to bed. Photo: Haiyun Jiang #mtnworkshops (at The Mountain Workshops)

[mtnworkshops]

Nikon rocks! Pinnacle Sponsor for the #mtnworkshops y'all. They will be on sight in Morehead with all kinds of camera equipment to try out as well as cleaning equipment. They’ll also have a camera door prize. Stop by and see them! @nikonusa (at The Mountain Workshops)

[mtnworkshops]

PICTURE EDITING COACH | Rodney Curtis

Rodney Curtis has worked in a dozen newsrooms in Michigan and the East Coast during his 30-year career. A photographer and photo editor by training, Rodney also counts being an author, blogger and college professor among his many talents. He brags a lot too, but does so under a third-person guise, so it’s okay. He was at his best, he says, working for small papers like the Concord Monitor and the Midland Daily News, which he helmed for half-a-dozen years. He was twice named Michigan Photo Editor of the Year and has won numerous state and national photography, editing, design and writing awards. And as you can see, he uses “and” far more than is proper and decent and . . . He has been lucky enough to have four books published. His latest is a novel; Hope’s Diamond, a fanciful tale about an alternate reality Detroit, featuring relationships, baseball and the funny things that happen when you toss a little mystical “Hope” into the mix. A “cute” Leukemia is a book of funny and heartfelt essays about him dealing with cancer and a transplant. It’s destined to sell a zillion copies. He also wrote Getting Laid (off) about losing three journalism jobs in one year. Spiritual Wanderer, his first book, has been described as Dave Barry meets David Sedaris. Rodney is married to photographer Marci Curtis who is, most notably, the author of three children’s photo books with a few million copies in print. Both his daughters are in college or grad school and he doesn’t get to laugh and joke around with them nearly as much as he’d like to these days. You can visit Rodney and his photos/writing most anytime at RodneyCurtis.com. Bring snacks!