I don’t know if we’ve ever done this with one of our blog posts before, but, as we’re always going on about how hectic these workshops can be…I thought the format of a schedule may better convey just how much we actually do in a day. So, just for laughs, let’s look at yesterday’s schedule;

Tuesday, Jan 14: A Typical Shoot Day:

 9:00 – 11:00 – Critique – We review the three images for each student chosen from yesterday’s edit. Each student stands in front of the class and gives a little background information about why/how the image was made and why it was chosen. The group instructors give feedback on the images and comment on the technical and aesthetic elements that work well in the image and how it could possibly be improved. These critiques are all student-run, so while one student is in front of the class talking about their work, another has set up and is running the presentation.   

 11:00-11:15 – Break

 11:15-12:00 – Wendy’s Instructor Slideshow – Wendy showed a collection of her work and shared her experience shooting on location for assignment. She offered strategies for photographing relevant people, her approach to storytelling and answered questions in regards to preproduction and editing.  

 12:00 – 12:25 – Group Photo – We unpacked the cameras, grabbed our batteries and formatted our memory cards before heading out to grab a quick photo. Stay up to date with our blog for the rest of the week and you’ll get to see this in a couple of days! It’s a little keepsake of our time here with all these students and something we will surely cherish. And I’ll note that it can always be quite the feat to get all 40+ of us looking in the same direction… 

 12:30-1:20 – Lunch – Eat fast!

1:30-2:30 – Orientation – Our shooting partner for the day was an organization called Unidos. Their program matches children with disabilities to able-bodied volunteers of the same age and coordinates activities like shopping trips, lunches, park events, or play days. Yesterday they had arranged a day at La Fundidora and organized games for five groups of their clients and volunteers. Before we could head out for the afternoon we got an introduction from one of their staff detailing their protocols for interacting with their clients, and some of their standard practices.

2:30-2:45 – Transit to La Fundidora – If you need a rest, rest in the car!

2:45-4:00 – Photograph – We had just over one hour to shoot! Now, you have to remember this was the first assignment day for our students, so fighting nerves, that’s no time at all. On top of that, there were 50+ staff, volunteers, and clients, so it was chaos in every direction. There was so much going on that this could be an amazing shoot, or it could be a total disaster! It was really important that our students didn’t get swept up in the action of everything and miss the story completely! However, only time will tell.

Even the instructors got swept up in the activity when they weren’t peeking over a student’s shoulder or pushing them closer into the action. At one point, Fred was nearly bowled over by a tiny girl who wanted to take photos with his camera. She was over the moon with all the cameras around and thought she simply must have a turn taking photos too!  

4:00-4:30 – Transit Back to the Museum – With as much going on as there was in this park, we practically had to peel the students away. I’m surprised we EVER got everyone back in the vehicles.  

4:30 – 7:00 – Download/Edit – How bad could it be you ask? And why should it take 2.5 hours? Up until yesterday, most groups were clocking around 900 images in total. With our first location, however, some students shot more than that by themselves! So instructors and students buckled down for an epic edit. We edited down to the three critique images (which we’ll look at during tomorrow morning’s critique), selected and posted a photo for Facebook, packed up the cameras and got the batteries on their chargers. The kids split for dinner while we backed up all of our data.  

7:30 – Dinner – Somedays we just can’t do it all before dinner. So while we left our computers to backup in the classroom, we walked across the street to our favorite neighborhood restaurant: Oaxaca Madre. All we needed was a little mole was going to put things right.  

Sound like a hectic day? Well, that was just the start! Check back tomorrow for a report on the second location shoot and take a look below at some of the student’s images from the day;

STUDENT IMAGES FROM THE DAY:

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BEHIND THE SCENES:

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