Roots Workshop blog » While on the Cape

2011 – Day 5

emilie — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 17:57:31 +0000

From Toast to Trophies! The final official day of Roots 2011 certainly did not disappoint. The Thursday of Roots is always such a bittersweet day with the amazing culmination of the week’s learning and shooting coming to a head at the evening’s slideshows. Our sponsors this year were incredibly gracious and we adore them and thank them for their impeccable support. Check them out over to the right! Mad props.

toast. made by….

Audra! Our stalwart chef extraordinaire for the week finally got to kick up her feet and relax for a little bit while preparations were being made for the evening’s feast.

Rachel, Tracey, and Kelly put some finishing touches on their presentations for the evening. See that fan rocking in the background? Yeah. It was that kind of a week. AC is for wimps.

Across the way in the bunkhouse Whitney is leafing through some last minute details of her presentation piece… I mean, seriously, how could you not smile with an assignment like hers :]

Guests, past participants, assignment subjects, and family joined in together for our presentations out on the porch in the amazing summer evening

and what would Thursday night be without the annual Chubby Bunny championship. Names get engraved on the trophy… added to the list of champions, Jeff. Way to go, man. You can stuff more marshmallows in your mouth then all the rest of us. A skill that will no doubt prove useful in your photographic explorations.

Stay tuned for a full reflective recap, links to student slideshows, and the workshop slideshow!

2011 – Day 4

emilie — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 04:30:31 +0000

More incredibly awesome assignments to share with you today. I went around to visit 6 students today… all documenting some amazing Cape Cod stories. You really should come visit. We have so much fun… and holy crap you should see everyone growing. More on that tomorrow but yikes. Watch out industry, you’re about to have your assumptions challenged…

First stop of the day was out to see Reuben and watch him telling the story of an adorable 4-H camp. I have a hysterical story about his relationship with the pigs… but that’s for another post.

Straight from the animals to the farm… this is no ordinary farm, however, it’s a hydro… uh.. aqua..ponics? Yeah, that sounds right. Aquaponics. Fish generating the nutrients and that water used for growing the food and plants without soil… just water! At least that’s what I could gather from my brief time there. It was really cool. Christina has been there for two days telling the story and I showed up right as Mark poked his head in to offer some feedback.

From Christina I went to visit our very own southern belle, Lucy who was tasked with finding a story at the local community center. It is a massive place with the potential for thousands of little stories… she was working out on the ice rink when I stopped by…

From water to water… though a little less solid. Jeff is working on his story about an extremely old, yet still operating railroad. There’s a nice shot with a beautiful reflection to be made, but, well, it takes some hanging out in a leechfield for an hour or so. We do what we have to do for the shot. Truth.

Maria was tasked with a pretty sweet assignment… skydiving. Basically shooting people either freaking out or in permagrin. Good times. She even was up in the teeny teeny plane shooting some really unique angles. I wasn’t around for that part but from what I hear it’s a very er… open experience

So after seeing all those awesome faces, I went to visit Kelly again and the cottages – the quintessential Cape Cod – and Tyler was there hanging out lending some feedback and guidance. The light was lovely, and incredible breeze off the water – a wonderful end to an intensely hectic day. All in good fun.

Everyone’s in the critiques now, so that’s where I’m going to to hang out for a bit. Before I fade into the ether… until tomorrow, don’t make crappy pictures!

2011 – Day 3

emilie — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 04:46:01 +0000

Day two is our first day of assignments. This year there are some many fun adventures everyone is out on! The day started bright and early, with everyone out meeting and exploring their new subjects. After a while of solo expeditions, the mentors started poking their heads in to check in, chat, and offer advice and guidance. I first popped in on Rachel mentoring Kelly. Kelly was charged with the task of telling a story at Day’s Cottages. They are a collection of small sea shanties that have been hosting some of the same extended families for over 70 years! Crazysauce…

Next stop was Whit. Mark also showed up to lend a hand. Whitney is staying with a husband/wife who are extremely accomplished [and elderly] Cape Cod artists. They were quite possibly the most endearing pair I’ve met… how charming!

Denise was shooting the dress rehearsal for a local children’s theatre production of The Jungle Book

Then to Sam and her hardbody of a subject at a world famous surfboard shaper studio.

Then I finished off the day with Tracey at the Hole in One donut shop. Yuuuuuuumm. They sent us home with some snacks :]

Upon our glorious return to the Roots Home, we ate and jumped right into the critiques. Sure, they contain intense moments, but often they are full of mirth as well.

ciao!

2011 – Day 2

emilie — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 03:33:56 +0000

Day One. All sorts of chocolaty goodness. As is tradition the first day begins with all sorts of lectures and presentations – history of photojournalism, working a scene, ingredients of a picture story, taking care of business, ethics… all the good stuff. There’s no shortage of information dispensed. It’s all about planting little seedlings of ideas so that we can grow our Roots this week.

After the morning’s lectures [and a delicious lunch... thanks Audra] we all headed out to the Barnstable County Fair for shooting exercises. We tackled the things discussed during the lectures, worked on building our own stories… so much fun, incredible character studies. No shortage of awesome. It’s true.

After the fair we wined and dined and settled into critiques. As I’m writing this, the instructors are all huddled around together dishing out this year’s assignments. This year we have some really amazing assignments… can’t wait to share them with you :]

2011 – Day 1

emilie — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 04:32:17 +0000

Hello my beautiful friends!

We’re back. The time of year has once again come for our annual retreat and learning extravaganza up [or down, depending on where you are] on the Cape. Stellar group of folks this time around. Stalwart instructors, fresh faces, returning friends… and I’ll be here for the entire week giving you a little glimpse at what life on the Root is like up here.

Right after everyone rolled in we hung out fr a bit, got our bearings, and jumped right in to some chatting and a wonderful BBQ provided by Chef Audra. Good times by all. We have folks from all over the country and globe here with us and I’m super stoked for the week ahead… so stay tuned and don’t touch that dial… we’re about ready for lift off…

see you tomorrow!

eric

Snapshot Studio at Roots Workshop

emilie — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:51:07 +0000

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.

2010- Day 5

emilie — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:50:07 +0000

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)

2010 – Day 4

emilie — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 05:38:41 +0000

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

2010 – Day 3

emilie — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 04:44:33 +0000

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

2010 – Day 2

emilie — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 05:54:46 +0000

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