2014 was a busy and exciting year for me photographically – certainly the best of all! Here are some of this year’s highlights.
- Streets of San Francisco – My photo buddy Doug Kaye and I really got into a groove this year as we practiced new learnings on the streets of San Francisco. Typically using the Ferry Building as our “home base” – and also the home of the Slanted Door, our favorite post-shooting lunch spot – we would walk the nearby streets looking for great light and fascinating shadows – and, of course, some very interesting people!
- Santa Fe, New Mexico – February 2014 – This was a long weekend mini-vacation with my wife – specifically not a photo workshop but just a delightful time to explore Santa Fe! And it was great fun to have dinner at Geronimo!
- New York Street Photography with Jay Maisel – May 2014 – An amazing week on the streets of New York learning from the critiques of each other and the master, Jay Maisel. Unforgettable experience – brought new intensity to thinking about getting composition right in the camera as the best way to start an image.
- Mystic Forest in California’s Redwoods with Michael Frye – June 2014 – A wonderful few days way up on the northern California coast with Michael Frye and his wife Claudia. Their approach to landscape work in this beautiful area was just a delight – from taking over a B&B for the workshop participants to have as a home base to the explorations into the forests and along the Pacific coastal beaches. Very much not street photography – but a return to nature at mid-year 2014. Michael’s workshops fill up very quickly – join his mailing list to get early notification about them.
- James Johnston House in Half Moon Bay with Chris Honeysett – August 2014 – A two day weekend workshop along the coast – beginning at this historic house just south of Half Moon Bay and then visiting one of my old favorites, Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, and the harbor area at Princeton. Watching Chris do his collodian prints was pretty amazing – such work those photographers went through back in the day to capture their images. An exhibit of Carlton Watkins prints earlier in the year at Cantor Arts Center at Stanford helped provide an example of beautiful work that he used back in the 1860’s with this process.
- San Francisco Street Photography with Ming Thein – September 2014 – This workshop with Ming was the most strenuous workshop all year for me – both physically and mentally. Ming is a superb photographer – and sets very high standards for the kind of work he enjoys. His work with us in the workshop definitely pushed us to evolve and improve – seeing things in some new ways and post-processing them differently.
- Paris Street Photography with Valérie Jardin – September 2014 – Late September turned out to be a spectacular time to be in Paris for this workshop with Valérie. We had a wonderful time walking, exploring and seeing Paris from many new angles. I especially enjoyed learning how to navigate the city using the buses – with their big windows they provide a panorama of views on the streets. She’s conducting several Paris workshops in 2015.
- Blue Angels from Alcatraz – October 2014 – We went out to Alcatraz on the Friday “dress rehearsal” day for the Blue Angels’ Fleet Week performance. Unfortunately, the fog was a pest this year and chased them away after only a couple of passes – but it was good fun nonetheless!
We also did some coastal exploring as well as a couple of spring visits to Filoli, one of our old favorites.
All in all, quite a year. I’m certainly shifting much more in the direction of street photography and away from my historical interest in more landscape work. As they say, the journey is the reward – and exploring these new approaches, new post-processing techniques, and just experimenting and learning is what photography is all about for me.