Out Of The Comfort Zone

Art Wolfe’s Photography Studio is beginning to offer some pretty amazing workshops and lectures. Most recently Freeman Patterson conducted a three-day workshop that focused on learning to see creatively. Twenty of us had the good fortune to see through a master’s eyes – to learn something about how to make our photographs better.

In addition to delivering lectures about principles of design and tips on how to execute some pretty cool techniques, Freeman gave us shooting assignments. The first day he asked us to photograph whatever we wanted – within the one block where Art’s studio is located. Each of us brought back three images for critique. The results were unexpected. The variety was so great that we might have been in different countries.

On the second day our assignment was to find images that evoked specific emotions. This time we could shoot wherever we wanted – as long as we were back within 90 minutes.

The fun thing about these assignments was that they pushed us out of our comfort zones. The initial reaction upon hearing the assignment was invariably: how am I going to do that? But as we took our cameras and embarked on our voyage we found it exhilarating, if challenging. By breaking out of our usual approach we found that indeed we did begin to see more deeply.

Images. Taken November 2007 at the workshop. Can you guess what emotions these were meant to evoke?