What happens when you get a dozen photographers together, set them a series of tasks and set them free on a beach for a day? I found out on Saturday during my first ever workshop as part of Canon's Collective workshop series. Beach Culture has nowhere to hide when there is this much enthusiasm unleashed upon it.
We were lucky to even get out amongst it – early forecasts had showers dominating the day – and five-foot offshore conditions. The winds didn't materialise unfortunately, but luckily the rain didn't either. The surf was a classic West Coast washing machine with the odd clean wall doing its best to tempt us out.
The assembled photographers came from a wide range of backgrounds – from professionals to a handful just starting out on the adventure of photography. An adventure it was with jewellery designer Michael John, Rose Halfpenny, Sofia Levi and Talia Rose providing some talent for the day as we roved the beach in search of that classic "summertime" shot. At one point I turned around to see a full shooting gallery with their lenses aimed at our Italian model Sofia who was casting a long reflection in a rockpool. It was imagemaking at its best as the fan of photographers and Sofia worked the angles and the light. To add fuel to the frenzy, the Canon team joined us with lots of lenses and bodies for the photographers to play with. Candy on tap. It's amazing how many different angles and images could come from the day. As much as I was there to teach the photographers something, I actually learnt quite a lot myself.
Here's a couple of my favourites ...
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS Want to join us on an upcoming workshop? We're making a list of those who might be keen to join us on one in Dunedin, the Catlins and Samoa. Sound like a bit of you? Email us here.
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