Having enjoyed attending a similar workshop with Gill earlier this year, I had booked on another.
This time on a woodlands shoot, and I had learnt that a photography friend of mine Ian was also booked on.
Meet time was an agreeable 07:00 although it is a 1.5 hour drive away.
At the meet location, we did the intros and shared a couple of cars to drive a short distance to the location.
The shoot
We were heading to Staverton Thicks which is an ancient park and woodland with large gnarly trees.
Gill had provided us with some guide notes a week or two before the workshop which I had read and made a summary on an index card in my pocket.
She described the woodland and what we were going to do, and what she thinks are things to look for, and the format is very relaxed.
We began wandering and capturing our first shots.
There was a particular tree trunk that was intriguing me as it looked like the shape of a horse.
I went closer in for another shot.
Gill had a sense of when we were ready to move on to the next recommended spot.
I found this next tree with green stripes very appealing.
We the moved to the back of the thicks to take images into the private part of the woodland.
The following scene was awesome and had to be captured.
I really like the tunnel-like view taking your eye to the back of the wood.
There’s something I don’t like about the flat and rectangle composition and foreground but overall I can’t really grumble as this shot was taken from behind a wire fence.
We began to wander back and look for other intriguing shapes and compositions.
I capture this tree which had the look of a cattle skull.
I had brought the macro lens and Gill pointed out some mushroom and fungi on a fallen tree branch so I set up with my tripod and grabbed some shots.
I was struggling to get the depth of field focus I wanted so I’ve achieved the following shot by taking eight shots and different focus points (aka focus stacking) and adding them together in post production using Photoshop.
We were finished for the photo part of the workshop, and it had been fun wandering around such a great location chatting and taking images.
Process and Print
We headed back to our meet location, and onward to Gill’s studio.
The four of us went in pairs and it was a no brainer for Ian and I to pair up since we knew each other.
We each took turns to upload our pictures, shortlist and then do some editing.
It was fascinating and really enjoyable to see how Ian edits his images – he is far more intricate and careful than I am, and I observed him using some of the Lightroom tools in a way I hadn’t been bothered to learn.
We all offered up opinions on each others shortlist and edits, and Gill gave us advice.
We then picked our favourite image and Gill went about making a print for us to take away.
I picked the horse shape shot and was pleased to see it in print.
On the way home, Google Maps seemed to take me on a detour which was initially annoying but I ended up drive past then stopping to shoot these pylons.
I took a few shots and quite liked the imposing robot-like vibe they were giving me.
That really was a wrap!
I drove home for a nap and chill.
Final thoughts
I had no doubts this would be another enjoyable workshop and I was right.
Gill’s workshop formats are well thought out, her advice and insights wonderful and she is a great host.
I know I’ll be back as I’ve booked on another of her workshops next year, and can highly recommend Gill as a great tutor and host. Click here for her website.
Onwards and upwards…