Roots Workshop blog

After the teams were done sharing their slideshows with the group on the last night of the Roots Workshop, everyone was able to exhale and let loose a bit as the hard work was finally done. We had yummy pies and ice cream, hosted the (now annual) Chubby Bunny competition (images from that will not be finding their way to this blog. Some things shall remain a secret from the week!) and everyone piled into our sponsor photo booth, Snapshot Studio (created by Roots instructor Jenn Domenick), for some fun.

The rest of the images can be seen here.

Thursday was the last day of the Roots Workshop, a day seemingly simple in scope, but always a hectic flurry of activity right up until our celebratory clambake dinner. It included final edits of everyone’s picture stories, choosing a song by sponsor Triple Scoop Music, assembling slideshows and individual one-on-one mentor sessions. And once we finished feasting on lobster, we waited for the sun to go down and viewed everyone’s body of work from the week on a screen under the stars (undoubtedly one of my favorite days of the year). There was lots of laughter, and even tears, as students and their instructors explained each photographer’s assignment and remarkable growth transformation in front of the group. I’ll be sharing those slideshows here, with a round-up on the week, over the next few days.

(This last picture taken by student Ian Riley)

Hello to all my friends out there in the World Wide Net!

so today was another day of the students out in the field shooting – taking everything form their critique the night before and putting it into action. I managed to get around to see everyone in action – and it certainly was something incredible to behold…  so, again, I don’t really have too much insight to offer you… like I said, we’ll profile all the students and their specific assignments in depth when the workshop is over – but you might enjoy the little taste of them in action below…

some serious dedication… they emerged with leeches, you know… but I’ve seen the resulting image and it’s bloody fantastic. Totally worth it.

getting dirty – most of the time an absolute requirement.

critiques…. Hmmmm… NQT. Not Quite There.

humor is always a key element to try to work into certain stories…

ok, i’m feeling rather zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

eric

Dear World Wide Email Net,

Today the assignments begin! fun times all around. I don’t have too much to write tonight – you’ll be hearing all about the actual assignments in detail when we profile the individual participants… so for now you can play a little guessing game. Planes, boats, donuts, theater… lovely day :] What do you think their stories are? One of the best things about roots are the mentor site visits – it’s a chance to collect yourself, go over the images you’ve shot so far, and then get some instant feedback on shooting your story…

the lighter side of critique

rooted love,

eric

Hey Intertubes. I’m back.

Yeah, I know it’s late again. Which means I’m prone to bouts of delirium and nonsensical ramblings… so forgive the verbosity and oblivian with which I might be writing these days. There’s just too much good stuff going on to waste my time sleeping.

Day two started with a wonderful breakfast from J, rockstar that he is. Then the edumacation started. The morning was filled with conversations, lectures, shooting exercises… all aimed at establishing a baseline to work from and feel out where everybody is in their craft. Monday morning is always one of my favorite parts of the workshop – it’s like a pat on the back, swift kick to the ass, and powershot of caffeine all rolled into one. Officially Cape Awesome up here.

Mark and Tyler [not really pictured] talked about working a scene and how to approach all of the students’ assignments while preserving the integrity of the moment. To be honest, their jokes were only so-so. I’m thinking about a B for jokes. Expecting better this week :]

next came the first shooting exercise of the day – these are aimed at helping the instructors see where the students strengths and weaknesses are and aid in giving the assignments that will push them to grow in those areas that may benefit from a little extra attention. It sounds all formal and academic, doesn’t it? Well, in typical Roots fashion, it’s pretty crazy. And hilarious. And high energy. And LOUD!

the next step in the process is to head back to the edit rooms and look through the images, break ‘em down, and talk about why people made the decisions to shoot like they did.

the next shooting assignment brought everyone out the the local fair to add a little more visual chaos to the mix. Groups split up and the mentors traveled around with students watching the shoot, offering suggestions, and even providing the occasional brilliant insight :]

so this guy. er… a little odd. not a Roots participant but definitely a big big big big big fan.

so after a looong day shooting we returned back and it was assignment time! The staff takes a lot of time deliberating and choosing all sorts of great stories for folks to tell… you’ll hear some specifics as the week progresses…

ps. there’s awesome bugs here.

lots of love,

eric

Hello world!

This is eric – I’ll be guest blogging on here for the week from sunny Cape Cod where we’ve just started the 3rd incarnation of the Roots Workshop. We’re pretty stoked about it – some fabulous participants this year as well as a stalwart crew of instructors and mentors… and, most importantly the best chef this side of the Bass River… So anyways, I’ll be keeping you abreast of the fun goings on, assignments, frivolity, and debauchery that is tantamount to the Roots experience. Kick up your feet, grab a cold one, and enjoy the ride! If you’d like to communicate with us, you can always leave a comment here, reach out via twitter @rootsworkshop or you can throw up a twitter search column using #rootsworkshop to get up to the minute  kicks – we’ll all be tweeting about the hilarious and often inapropriate quotes that occur here in the midst of Camp Roots… on with the show!

this is us. if you think i’m going to go through and name everyone and give links to their sites… well… it’s 1:00am.

as everyone slowly rolled in from all over the country, many took a late afternoon respite from the heat off our personal dock in the Bass River

after a wonderful dinner, we had our official meet and greet… for all of us being in a similar profession we come from markedly different places. the varied wonders of the human spirit…

as the night began to fall, everyone broke into their teams to discuss the week and so the mentors could be caught up on where the students are in their craft and what they are hoping to accomplish from this intense week. Having a meeting in a place like this doesn’t mean cramping into a conference room…

we are artists and purveyors of the human condition… sometimes subtly and sometimes full of animation

after that it was chill/prep time for the students while the faculty got together to discuss things that a faculty gets together to discuss. Like Patty Cakes. [True story]

the end of the first day is filled with anticipation, anexiety, wonder, but most of all, a childlike excitement that will be tried, tested, and challenged throughout he grueling week. We prepare to grow. We prepare to bloom.

all the love, mirth, and wonder I can muster at this hour,

eric