Lupin Leaves — Barnbaum

Photography is a communication between the photographer and the viewer. It allows the photographer to express his/her views about people, about animals (domesticated or wild), about the natural environment, about human-made constructs, and about any subject the photographer feels is important. This workshop is specifically geared to help you strengthen your statements about the subjects you find important, no matter what they are.

Many photographers find it difficult to determine what subject matter truly attracts them. In this workshop, we’ll help solve that dilemma. Our discussions delve deeply into your true interests, and the answers are often very surprising.

To be a photographer you have to identify the subject matter that truly matters to you, and understand how you want to convey your thoughts about it to the viewer. Beyond finding your subject matter, light is the key to any photograph, because it's simply the only thing film or digital sensors record. The camera is merely the robot that focuses light sharply; you are the artist that makes the statement. Neither film nor digital sensors know a face from a mountain; you do! So you have to learn how to make the recorded light levels work for you to convey the essence of the face or the mountain to the viewer. You need the technical skills and imagination to make it all work. This workshop can help with both.

Can creativity be taught? Can it be learned? Eight years of presenting this workshop tells us that the answer is “yes.”

Most people think that all you need is a camera to be a photographer. But that's like thinking that all you need is a pencil to be a writer. You need more. In addition to "having a good eye," you have to train your eye to look at light, not objects, and to find the best relationships of forms between the foreground and background. You have to lead the viewer's eye to where you want it to go. 

But what drives creativity? Why do some people create new and different images, while most people continue producing little more than snapshots, getting “likes” from their social media? In this workshop we promote new thinking, new seeing, and new approaches to your photography. You’ll find the insights to be both startling and deeply meaningful to you.

We ask all participants to compile a list of books that you feel have helped improve your own creative abilities. We then compile a bibliography for everyone. This is part of the way we help one another. We also review each student's images, discussing all aspects of the work, from the technical side to the aesthetic side from the emotional side to the creative side. Bruce Barnbaum and any guest lecturers show and discuss their own work, their thinking behind the imagery, their methods, and their materials…and they'll answer all questions you have about their thinking, their methods, their materials and their process. There are no secrets.

This is an unusual workshop, distinctly different from all other workshops. Bruce serves primarily as a facilitator, but also a student if you will, looking to improve his own creativity along with the other “students.” Sign up early, for spaces are limited.

Workshop Details: The workshop begins at 9:00 a.m., Monday morning, September, 9, 2024, following breakfast prepared and served by Bruce’s lovely wife, Karen, at their home. We request all students to arrive Sunday evening prior to the workshop (September 8), for dessert, wine, meeting one another and good vibes with the entire household, including Bruce’s and Karen's dogs. Breakfast, prepared by Karen, will be served each morning in the home. The workshop will end Friday, September 13, 2024, at about noon. In-between, there may be thorough reviews of all participants’ work and Bruce’s work…all with an eye toward the creative and interpretive level of the work and ideas presented.

Covid-19 is still not defeated, but somewhat contained. We ask all participants to be fully vaccinated and boosted, including the most recent boosters by Moderna or Pfizer, made available recently, with the exception of those who have a legitimate medical reason for avoiding such vaccinations. We do this on the honor system, acknowledging that nobody can be 100% safe from the virus, but let’s try to be as close to 100% as possible, especially since the workshop takes place inside a home.

To register for this workshop via the website, please return to the top of the page, and click on the button Add to Cart. Fill out the information, including your choice of a deposit ($250) or full payment ($1,325) for the workshop. Payment can be made easily via this website just by clicking on “Add to Cart” and following instructions. If you register with a deposit, the full payment will be due 6 weeks prior to the workshop. You will receive an email response to your application shortly. (If you are applying for more than one workshop, please do this separately for each workshop you wish to attend.)

If you do not use Visa or MasterCard, or prefer to not use credit cards as payment method, we accept registration with a check (deposit or full amount) and an application. Please download, print out, and fill out the the application (click on: Workshop-application.doc or Workshop-application.PDF). Specify whether you will pay the deposit or full payment, and make the check payable to Bruce Barnbaum. Mail the check with filled out application to the address below. We will notify you by email to confirm your resignation.

Bruce Barnbaum Workshops

P.O. Box 1791

Granite Falls, WA 98252

If you have specific questions, please contact Bruce by phone at (360) 691-4105 or by email: barnbaum@aol.com.