Eigg Workshop Participants images
It’s been a very busy past few weeks for me and I haven’t had time really, to write on this blog. For which I am very sorry.
I’m just back from Ethiopia where I made a lot of very nice portraits (I think!), so the films are off for processing as I type. :-)
So, I’ve been keen to show you all a contact sheet from my Eigg workshop this September, but I’ve decided that I’d like to show you individual images from each of the group members instead and ok, a contact sheet at the end too!
I felt the trip went really well and there were a few stunning images that the participants managed to make. Everyone I felt, managed to hit the button at some point through the week, which I always find very satisfying to see.
So without further a due, here are some of my personal favourites from the participants efforts:
What I try to convey in my workshops is that often, the best images are the simplest. If you’ve read my ‘Simplifying Composition’ eBook (bit of promotion there!), you’ll see that I’m a big fan of simple shapes and tones. Sonja clearly understood that message with this photo. I love the way the cloud starts high on the left hand side of the frame and then dips down to show the top of the isle of Rum peaking through. There is a helix type shape to the clouds through the frame. Plus, I feel that the clouds and the isle suggest a ‘flow’ towards the right.
Some participants get the idea of ‘flow’ and curves very quickly and Gerard illustrated this in the shot above. We found that the tide was very high during our stay on Eigg which meant that a lot of the features we’d normally shoot were obliterated. This lent for a much simpler landscape to shoot in and in this picture, Gerard completely removes the always present shape of the isle of Rum from the horizon to completely focus on this fault line of rock leading off to the distance. My only complaint about Gerard’s compositions were that he tends to frame things very neatly, not allowing for much breathing space between them and the edges of the frame. Still, I was really pleased to see this effort by him and wished I’d shot it myself.
João shot this near the singing sands. It was one of the few days where we didn’t see the Isle of Rum in the distance (fully) so he took full advantage of that as everyone had been saying how hard it was to make shots on the beaches without framing Rum in the distance.
My only criticism about this shot is the overly stretched feel from using an ultrawide – it’s something I tend to advise against. Plus, I really don’t like 3:2 aspect ratios…. they’re too tall and skinny in portrait mode, and I feel this shot would have been much more pleasing if it had been shot with a 24mm and composed with a 4×5 aspect ratio in mind. Those that come on the workshops soon find out that I personally feel that the 4×5 aspect ratio is a ‘golden ratio’. Anyway, I think he made a very dramatic shot of this pool of water with the waves lapping into it. Being able to anticipate how many moments in time can be accumulated to convey a sense of movement is an art in itself. I love the swirl in the foreground, it reminds of me a cauldron.
Beaches are great studies for light, tone and especially movement. Kenneth is from Holland and he’s never been to shoot at a beach before, and was really drawn by playing around with movement. My particular favourite part of this shot is the dancing waves. I think the long exposure works well even if the camera has been settling into the sand over the duration of the exposure. I felt there were a series of images at this particular shoot where Kenneth pressed all the buttons.
While we were at the Singing Sands, I noticed there was a section of the beach that was acting like a moat. Phil used this part of the beach to fill in the mid ground. To me, it feels like a whale is surfacing at this part of the beach. But I feel what really makes the shot is not just the Tyranosaurus-like head in the foreground, but the swirls of froth that suggest ‘flow’. These swirls also ‘marry’ both the whale and the Tyranosaur’s head together . It’s a lovely shot. That’s what I love about the workshops, I give people on the trips some criteria to shoot with and they come back with things that really surprise me. I’m sure Phil is very pleased with this image, as I am too.
Bo managed to do something here that I tend to do the opposite off – I often have dark vignettes to the edges of my image, but in this case, Bo’s used the reflections in the pool to suggest a lightened vignette, which I’m really taken with. I also love how the colours of the green seaweed are shown only by the shadow of the Rock in the foreground. My only criticism about this shot is maybe that the rock protrudes above the horizon. I often try to convey to participants that each object in a scene should have it’s own ‘breathing space’, but i really like this shot all the same.
Jürg turned out to be one of the most compelling shooters of the week. He often really surprised me by what he saw and shot. This is a perfect example of one of those surprising moments. He found this scene on the beach and it has a very dark, brooding feel to it. But don’t you think it looks like some Dinosaur bones? And the water is being used to convey an otherworldly mood to them?
On the first night of our trip, we had some really incredibly beautiful shapes of clouds and I spent a bit of time getting excited about them and trying to get everyone to point their cameras up into the sky. Mats shot this one which was one of my favourite images from that particular shoot out of all the guys on the trip. Often, just like I said at the beginning of this post, the most simplest images are the most successful and in this shot, Mats has just used what was there – those beautiful shapes in the clouds.
I felt that this September’s trip to Eigg was a really productive one. Each day brought surprising images from the group and I came home feeling that I’d had a group that had really run with my brief. They’d had their eyes open and had used simple shapes, tones and complimentary colours to make some really nice images.
Hi Bruce,
Thanks for your write-up of the workshop. I fully agree, it was a great week and I had a lot of fun and got some nice pictures as well. I really enjoyed the sharing amongst the participants, the open and fun atmosphere and afternoon discussions. It was good to be away from the daily grind and just think and talk photography.
Comment by Kenneth Verburg — 4 October, 2010 @ 7:26 pm
Dang!!! Some great shots there – I am desperate to get back to Eigg! Next trip though is up to Durness month
D
Comment by DavidLangan — 4 October, 2010 @ 7:42 pm
Hi Bruce,
Love that post – thanks very much. Great to see a picture from each one of us on your blog, really nice! Brings back a lot of good memories from a fab week with you and the other guys on Eigg. I think we all had a really good time :-).
Best wishes,
Sonja
Comment by Redhair — 5 October, 2010 @ 12:27 pm
We had a great time on Eigg and again many thanks to Bruce for his expert guidance and the rest of the team for the great company.
If anyone wants to see some more of the images I made during the workshop, I have just posted them up on my new website: http://www.philcorleyphotography.com
Already booked a return trip to Eigg next spring :-)
Thanks
Phil
Comment by PhilC — 6 October, 2010 @ 12:19 pm
I love reading this and once again see familiar images. I can only agree with the rest of the gang, it was a great, great time and I learned tons! :)
Looking forward to see the Ethiopia portfolio and so are a few friends of mine as well. ;)
Comment by Mats Berglund — 6 October, 2010 @ 7:47 pm
Yes, some very good memories come back by looking at these pictures! I particularly remember Bruce’s very constructive critic sessions – but also the great time I spent with the other guys (especially the two days with Joao on Muck with a dramatic rescue finish…).
Above all I enjoyed the time and freedom just to sit down and experience the beauty of the landscape and the island feeling!
Comment by Jürg Hut — 6 October, 2010 @ 8:50 pm
Hello Bruce,
Amazing workshop, fantastic participants and a wonderful landscape!
Yes, I’m truly pleased to had the chance to meet you, know your methods (4×5 crop… I’m already a fan! :-)), your knowledge and your incisive vision!
It was a marvellous experience, full of great memories… especially the “wave” in Laig Bay :-)!
I agree with the other guys about the critic sessions – what a blast! It rocked!
Yes, with Jürg on Muck was kind of a movie scene… but in the end it was everything ok… well, otherwise, I wouldn’t be here writing my testimony :).
I loved so much the final presentation with all the photos, that I purchased Martin Bennett’s music! Very nice!
Well, I’ll look forward to participate in another workshop and meet all the gang again.
If someone is interested to see more of my images, you can go to my blog: Http://pulseandvision.wordpress.com
Thanks Bruce for the unforgettable experience/learnig and good time.
João Pedro
Comment by pulseandvision — 7 October, 2010 @ 2:14 pm
So what happened on Muck?
Phil
Comment by PhilC — 7 October, 2010 @ 5:25 pm
I’m wondering about that as well, I did hear quite a few ferries did not run on the Tuesday, I can understand why standing at the Callanish Standing Stones that evening…
Comment by Kenneth Verburg — 7 October, 2010 @ 6:04 pm
Oh, and I bought the Hallaig song as well, used it for a slideshow for my parents :)
Comment by Kenneth Verburg — 7 October, 2010 @ 6:05 pm
I have just noticed that one of the photographs is called tyrannosaur – what is it with Bruce Percy Eigg Workshops and people seeing animals in the rocks! (happened when I was on Eigg with ?bruce!)
d
Comment by DavidLangan — 7 October, 2010 @ 6:50 pm
Hi Bruce
There are certainly some fantastic images from this workshop,and I felt compelled to leave a comment, my first even though I have been following your blog for a while now, my apologies I havnt commented earlier. I really enjoyed looking at the larger images but what I enjoyed most were your comments and critique of each image, I hope it is something you will do more of from future workshops. To look at the images and read what you see that does or doesn’t work is a real help for those of us who are for one reason or another not lucky enough to be able to attend one of your workshops.
Keep up the good work and congratulations to all the participants of the workshop for some fantastic images. :-)
Comment by martin — 7 October, 2010 @ 9:41 pm
It was really nice to have a bit of time tonight and see all these really nice comments about the trip, and it was also very encouraging to see that some of you went out there and bought Martyn Bennett’s music.
Hallaig is a terrific track and it just seems to set the mood and tone for the Highlands. Scotland, for me, is the best place on earth to make dramatic landscapes (it’s taken me a decade to realise that). Anyway, really pleased you felt inspired enough by my last night’s group-slide-presentation to go out there and get the same music.
Terrific.
Comment by Bruce Percy — 8 October, 2010 @ 9:43 pm
OK, this is what happened to Joao and me on Muck: Of course there were no ferries running but we were lucky or rather unlucky to get on a small vessel to bring us to Tobermory. I shall never forget these three hours on very rough sea with these huge waves and with a weird feeling in my stomach (… this is the end, my friend…). Brave Joao was still able to smoke a cigarette – well Portugal is a maritime nation, unfortunately we aren’t.
But some Tobermory single malt and a fantastic meal at the Fish Café (highly recommended) brought back the joie de vivre!
Comment by Jürg Hut — 9 October, 2010 @ 10:43 pm
This is an excellent series of shots, congrats to each of the participants! I particularly liked Bruce’s comments, it is always interesting and insightful to read them and learn from them.
Comment by pboehi — 14 October, 2010 @ 10:48 am