Roots Workshop blog

I have uploaded all of the students’ final edits to the portfolios of the Roots Workshop website here.
And please check out the amazing slideshows of work by each student from the workshop below. I am so impressed with each and every one of them! Sit back, and turn your volume up (the YouTube quality isn’t the best, but it will give you a good taste!)! Each video starts with a portrait of the photographer (either taken by another workshop student or a self-portrait) and ends with the newspaper mock-up of their finished story.

I have to brag about my sweet J first. J was assigned to photograph the Race Point Lighthouse, accessible only by a 3-mile ATV road. The original lighthouse keeper’s house is available to rent for summer vacationers (an assignment I actually covered with the original lighthouse keeper’s great-grandchildren when I was an intern at the Cape Cod Times 10 years ago!). J spent many long hours covering the goings-on at this house, even staying over one of the evening’s so that he could properly capture both sunset and sunrise. I was speechless when his images were shown during the Thursday night presentation, and without notice, I had huge tears dropping down my cheeks. So proud of you, J! These images are gorgeous!

Stephen Bobb from the DC area is an associate photographer for Love Life Images (and the second shooter to Jennifer Domenick at my dear friend Erica’s wedding two years ago!), was assigned to photograph a traditional Cape Cod lobsterman Ben Bergquist. Despite rough seas and stinky smells, he produced a beautiful story of Ben and his brother in this family business. You can read more of his personal account here.

Stunning and equally sweet Shyla Dalirifar was assigned to photograph one of the oldest golf links in America. She wowed the group when she was able to find a killer sub-story of an adorable little boy who plays golf there every day and is heralded as the next Tiger Woods, beating all of the adult men he is paired with. Read more of Shyla’s personal account here.

Another DC photographer, Evan Bishop, and his feature of a very talented artistic Cape Cod family. I got an SOS phone call from Evan on the first day at 10a, saying that nothing was going on. When students first arrived on Sunday night, they were asked to share their perceived strengths and weaknesses. Evan shared that he is not patient and has trouble interacting intimately with people. Bingo. This was the perfect assignment for Evan, and just took a little time for him to get comfortable with waiting for the moment.

I met Neysa Ruhl two years ago when she was a student at the Foundation Workshop in Texas and I was a mentor. She has one of the most infectiously positive personalities. Neysa was assigned to cover the infamous Cape Cod Baseball League and an up-and-coming player everyone is watching from Notre Dame. Unfortunately, that player is a relief pitcher and it was uncertain whether he would play! Thanks to Neysa’s sticktuitiveness she came up with a Plan B (photographed a bit of the shortstop, too) and stayed until the end of each game. Eventually, he played on the last night! Thank you for adding such a great spirit to the week, Neysa! Read Neys’a personal account here.

Even a broken arm did not stop Georgia’s Ty Miller from making the overnight drive to Cape Cod for the workshop and producing a great picture story of a funky pottery shop in Cape Cod owned and operated by four sisters. If you’re ever visiting the Cape, Scargo Pottery is a must-see! I met Ty in Las Vegas at WPPI last year after accidentally pouring red wine on his white shirt when someone bumped me at a very crowded party. Still feel badly about that, Ty!

Linda Crayton is a very hard worker and one of the most genuine people you will ever meet. She worked every angle possible at the landmark Four Seas ice cream shop in Cape Cod, starting her day photographing the 5a ice cream making, and ending with the long lines of customers at sunset. Congratulations, Linda!

One student came all the way from Canada to attend Roots! Scott McQuarrie was originally assigned to cover a notorious drag queen club/inn complex in Provincetown, but on the last day made the decision to follow one of our mentors, Tyler Wirken, instead. Thanks so much for making the huge effort to come to Cape Cod, Scott! It was a pleasure getting to know you better and I am so proud of your growth! Read Scott’s account on his blog here.

Meredith Purdue is a very brave woman! Just months after graduating from college in North Carolina, a few weeks after moving to Maine, and days after buying a 5D, Meredith jumped head-first into the deep end at Roots. She was assigned to cover a traditional YMCA summer camp and, initially, decided to cover her story from the angle of the camp dog. Proving a challenge to chase this active pup at dog’s eye level, Meredith then followed a group of small girls instead, and witnessed a water rescue (which provided a little legal drama lesson for us all!). Meredith will be working with emilie inc.- something I will be properly announcing soon!

Dan Williams was another student who traveled a great distance to join us- from Arizona! A former health club owner, Dan has now embraced photography and has a growing business in Tucson. “Underwhelmed” by his first assignment (covering a sea life rehab non-profit which, fortunately and unfortunately, only had a few sea turtles to tend to), spent most of his time with a youth academy boot camp run by the sheriff’s department. With a background in the military, this was the perfect assignment for Dan and he certainly excelled.

Mellissa DeMille met instructor Greg Gibson at a photo convention last January and signed up for Roots immediately because she wanted to learn more! In addition to being a great cook, singer songwriter and all-around social person, Mellissa dug deep with her challenging assignment to cover the daily life of noted author Anne D. LeClaire. In the process of such an intimate assignment, Mellissa learned a lot about herself and how to approach people that I know she will be able to use in her new wedding photography business.

The first person to sign up for the workshop was Samantha DePoy Warren, but she actually didn’t even know it! Her parents and husband Kyle sent Sam as a surprise Christmas gift! Sam is a local Maine wedding photographer and very dear friend. I’ve known Sam for what seems like an eternity but is truly only a year or so, and started as J and I consulted her with business advice. It’s been an awesome process watching I Do Click, now Samantha Warren Weddings, take off! When Sam received her assignment to photograph the Monomoy Theatre and was disappointed, my heart broke. Personally, it was one of my favorite assignments and I knew would be challenging for Sam given the low light situations. Sam pushed through and produced a fantastic peek into this busy actors community.

James Bass and I had been corresponding for a long time over email, so I was excited to finally meet him in person at the workshop. I’ve told him this already, but if we were to hand out superlatives for everyone from the workshop, James Bass would receive kindest heart. What a great guy! James was completely open to the experience and might also get the award for most improved. He was assigned to photograph the Cape Cod AmeriCorps group as they picked up trash, cleaned waterways and cleared brush. It wasn’t a pretty assignment, and by the second day James was down in the dirt alongside them. And never once did I hear him complain. Read his personal account here.

As you can imagine, it took months of preparation to research all of these assignments. I had one assignment that was very different than the others and was not sure how it would go over with the other instructors. We huddled together on Sunday night to determine if it was something we should actually assign, or perhaps ask for a volunteer. We decided with the latter and approached Eric Laurits to see if he might be interested in documenting a nudist camp. The hitch? He would have to participate. Eric agreed, and produced a beautifully respectable, peaceful account of the camp owners’ daily life. Bravo for pushing yourself, Eric, and going beyond the norm to challenge how you see things. I knew, of anyone, you would be the perfect photographer to do this assignment justice and you definitely did not disappoint (and thanks to team leader Arn for paying Eric a mentor visit on site!). Read Eric’s entertaining and thoughtful personal account here.

Roots is over.

I am totally sleep deprived (4 hours each night), bug-bitten (how do bugs reach those hard-to-reach places anyway?), and sad… I have a lingering emptiness in my gut missing my new friends.

Organizing a workshop is much more work than I ever thought possible. And although it wasn’t perfect (which is hard for me to accept, as I most definitely struggle with being a perfectionist! Is there a support group for me?!), it was definitely outstanding. I’ll be posting highlights of the students’ work here this week, but first, a few snapshots of the end of the week…

By late-night Wednesday evening, Greg was editing from the couch with his feet up, and appletini on the brain- literally.

Thursday was spent completing the final edits, picking music & assembling slideshows for later that night, writing captions & headlines for the newspaper layouts, and the general shock & awe that things were wrapping up!

Capt. Smith pulled up to our dock that afternoon to treat everyone to a leisurely river cocktail cruise. It was exactly what we all needed!

Eric, per usual, was very excited about this.


Tyler grabbed my camera for this image. Students, notice the cool repetition and balance?

Sam and Meredith share a laugh.

When we arrived back at the house, Jake’s Bake was waiting for us!

Our chefs treated us to an amazing clambake. Aren’t they so cute?!

And Wild Bill Corney provided some Buffett-style tunes.

The first course was chowder and clams.

Sam wasn’t so sure.

Down the hatch!

Eric, per usual, was very excited about this (wait, have I said this before?!).

Stephen crammed in a little last minute editing.

Dear friend Jenn digging in.

Andrea, right, is Arnold’s wife and 6 months pregnant with their second child. Her belly was too cute not to photograph. She’s talking with Linda, who has to be one of the kindest people ever.


The next course was lobster, sweet corn, sausage (or tempeh and/or swordfish & veggie kabobs for me), potatoes and cole slaw. This was a first for many of the students.

Yum!



After dinner, we set up for the slideshow presentations on the deck. Watching everyone’s presentations under the stars was a surreal experience, made extra special by some of the students’ subjects who came by to watch the show. One such person is Anne LeClaire, noted author and family friend. We took a quick picture with her husband to show my family (so here you go, Grandma! This is for you!).

I didn’t take any photos during the slideshows, mostly because I was either a) talking, b) engrossed in watching or c) crying. Eric jumped up on the porch roof to capture this overall.

Thank you all SO much for working so hard and sharing of yourselves with us and this experience for the week. I am so proud of everyone and can’t wait for next year (more on that soon…).

Workshop participant (and excellent friend) Eric (:e:) shared a few images from around the house and out on location today with several of the students (his assignment wrapped up yesterday).

Dan at the Youth Academy.

Sam and Vince at the Monomoy Theatre.

Meredith at the YMCA.

portraits on the workshop lawn.

I can’t believe it’s already Wednesday! This workshop is flying by!! Students are wrapping up their assignments today, and we’ll spend tomorrow assembling slideshows and page designs of their work for the Thursday night clambake and student presentations.

I’ll catch you up on some more images taken around the workshop house (I’ll post pictures of the students on their assignments tomorrow!).

I woke up to this on the fridge- just like home! Sorta.

This is Greg’s editing room inside the main farmhouse.

I scored these great presentation screens from Office Max by Epson that have such a simple set-up. They just expand like an accordian.

The man himself. Love that smile, Greg!

Exhaustion begins to set in… (this is James).

It’s important to try and eat healthy during such an intense week of work and very little sleep…

But when Linda came back from her assignment at the ice cream shoppe with more than 10 flavors for us to try, nutrition was quickly forgotten.

This is Arn’s “Arnie Shack” team editing set-up.

Linda’s edit.

Vince takes a try at the editing chair with Stephen.

Meredith listens in.

I love this image of Vince.

The light at sunset is absolutely amazing here (wait until you see some of J’s sunset images from his assignment!).

Greg, Eric and I went outside to take advantage of it. Greg took this picture of Eric shooting me filming (Arn brought Newsday’s video equipment and I’m having a lot of fun with it!).

And another angle.

Eric takes to the the tree.


And Dan and James jump in, too.

Some quick portraits Greg took of me.




The light disappears quickly and then we settle in for the night.

J spent the night at his assignment last night (to get a sunrise image today) so Greg took a look at his work this afternoon.

Things started off well…


And then J realizes he forgot to do something Greg asked him to photograph.

And J contemplates if he should go back to try again.

Overall, J did an amazing job and I’m so proud of him! I can’t wait to post his final project soon!

We’ve been going to bed at 4a the last few nights. Brushing my teeth last night (this morning?), birds were singing and I could hear the putter of the fishing boats on the river heading out for a day of work. Crazy!

Wow (!!) is truly the only word that comes to mind that best describes the past few days of the Roots Workshop.

This is where we are staying for the duration, Churchill Farm in South Yarmouth.


The farmhouse houses most the bedrooms and Greg’s team editing room.





The guest cottage and bunk house, where Arn and his team are staying, quickly dubbed the Arnie Shack.

Our gorgeous little private paradise.

J and I arrived on Cape early Sunday morning to hit the grocery store (three carts later, we finally had the fridges-there are 5!- stocked with breakfast eats, munchies, coffee essentials, and of course, beer). Mentors Tyler and Jenn arrived first, and helped situate the students as they rolled in, helping each choose a bedroom and settle in for the evening. Each student received a pail with Cape Cod treats and workshop information on their arrival (a sweet play on the overnight guest bags often seen at the weddings we photograph).

We spent the early evening getting to know one another on the back deck as J played grill master and treated us all to some yummy burgers and dogs and other summer favorites like cole slaw, watermelon and make-your-own sundaes.

Later, we moved into the main house for some brief presentations on how to better prepare for the week (by me), a general Q & A (by Tyler) and the history of photojournalism (by Greg). Late night, the teams separated to have a more focused chat on individual strengths and weaknesses, and goals for the week. And then the staff reassembled to divvy up the assignments to the student whose self-described needs best matched each assignment.

After going to bed after 2a, things got rolling very early Monday morning with several students leaving for their assignments before the sun was up (lobster men start their day at 5a, as does the homemade ice cream production at a landmark Cape Cod ice cream shoppe). Students departed the rest of the morning in staggered patterns, first filling up on bacon & eggs & shared anxieties with those who gathered to fuel up for breakfast.

Mentors spent the entire day driving the length of the Cape to pay visits to students at their assignments… summer camp, a wildlife animal rehabilitation facility, classic baseball game, historic P-town lighthouse, and even a nudist campground (where the student was only allowed if he participated… something we knew in advance and had to carefully handpick a student who might be up for this sort of experience. The student, Eric, was immediately enthusiastic about the opportunity and has been doing an amazing job!).

Like in the morning, students rolled back to the house in stages and the out loud critiques began with each team. This is an excruciating process for those who have never had someone else look at their work, frame by frame, and dissect every choice you made as a photographer in capturing those images. There weren’t any tears, but there were many “aha” moments as students- sometimes not even those whose work was displayed on the screen- increased their knowledge of composition, lighting, lens choice, exposure and when exactly to release the shutter to capture the best moment. It was intense! And again, a late night. One group didn’t end until after 4a.

(A daytime editing session:)

The process will repeat itself again tonight and then tomorrow, before assembling a final edit for slideshow and newspaper mock design on Thursday. It’s challenging to operate on so little sleep, but the energy of the group is contagious and I really think everyone is gaining more than they imagined from the experience already. I know I am!

J is here as a participant and is doing so well! He has an assignment to cover a lighthouse keeper’s house that is available for families to rent during the summer. Tonight, he’s going the extra mile and staying overnight with the family to get a sunrise image tomorrow. Tyler snapped this sweet image of me (on the phone checking in with one of the mentors) as J heads out this morning.

More soon! Now that everything is flowing smoothly I can concentrate more on taking lots of images of our retreat experience.

It’s hard to believe it’s actually here, but my Roots Workshop starts today! J and I are on our way to Cape Cod to greet everyone as they arrive for the week this afternoon at our workshop house. Check the blog for updates and photos throughout the week! It’s going to be insanely busy, but hugely fun! I will return phone calls and emails whenever possible.